Holiday Recap: December Fun

Like I've said, we were busy during the month of December. So much to get ready, so many fun things to do. Whether at home, school or out and about, it seemed like we were always going, going, going! Sometimes pictures were taken, sometimes they weren't. But here's a little taste of what we were up to last month.

First of all, we always tried to look our best during December.

Even with our busy schedules, we made sure to keep the kids clean and sweet-smelling!

The girls got hair cuts, hair bows (and lollipops) from a kid salon. This was Eliza's first hair cut ever!

Molly made sure to dress with flair in December.

Sometimes we were out in the community. One of our most fun activities was going to the holiday parade in a local neighborhood. So much fun to see high school bands, fancy cars, and community groups - especially when they tossed out candy! Plus the kids got to wear fun seasonal accessories! At school, Hayden got to be in a play about the Gingerbread Man. Eliza, Molly and I went to go watch the big performance in the library.

Reindeer Hayden: the most cutest reindeer of all.

Christmas Tree Eliza

Molly might have been overdressed for the weather in her 'fur-lined' jacket!

Molly doubling up on Christmas accessories. Doesn't she look thrilled?!

watching the parade. I just love that they are all wearing the headpieces!

Hayden and her castmates.

Can you guess her part? The dog! "I'll eat you up, Gingerbread Man!"

Sometimes we just stayed home to have fun. There was peek-a-boo. There were gingerbread houses. There were snack bonding sessions. What more could you ask for?

Peek-a-boo!

I see you!

Gotcha!

one for me, one for Blizzard....

techincally we started the gingerbread decorating at a friend's party. but we finished them at home.

Hayden's house. Notice the gummi bear chimney detail!

Eliza's house. She designed the gummi bear garden on the left.

 One of our final celebrations before the big holiday was going to a friend's caroling party. The girls were thrilled to get to dress up in holiday dresses. They also had a great time walking around (even though it was freezing) and knocking on random doors. But I think they liked eating cookies the best!

It doesn't get much cuter than this!

 And finally, we even had our very own Christmas miracle. We walked out on the back deck one day just before Christmas and lo and behold - we had broccoli! We'd planted it in October and hadn't paid too much attention to it, but there it was! In case you were wondering, yes, you can grow broccoli in a pot!

 Next up, Christmas Eve and Christmas!

Holiday Recap - the tree!

 We went to get our tree the 2nd weekend of December. Oddly enough, we got our tree from the rose garden where Jason and I got married. There wasn't a lot of ambiance for Christmas tree shopping (it was lovely for a wedding!), but we got to use our coupon and found a nice tree. The weather wasn't of the traditional Christmas variety, but we still had fun.  

Hayden is saying, this one is PER-fect! (She said that about every tree she looked at!)

Hayden also wanted a small one for her bedroom.

H strikes a pose in front of OUR Christmas tree.

Molly kept an eye on the proceedings from under her Santa hat.

Eliza, happy to pose since she found somewhere to get a glass of water. (Note the holiday pants and shirt plus a snazzy bow, fancy skirt and gold shoes! Quintessential Eliza fashion these days.)

 The kids were so excited about the tree, I think we decorated it that night. (Is that normal? Growing up, we always seemed to get a tree and then leave it out on the deck for a night or two in water. Are you supposed to do that?)  Molly wasn't quite sure what to make of the tree, but Hayden and Eliza eagerly dove into the box of ornaments. Eliza broke the first one she touched, but did pretty well after that. There aren't many pictures because after that first one, I realized that full contact supervision was required!

selecting an ornament to hang.

What are those sparkly things? (FYI, I don't know what happened to her pants.)

Let me try this standing thing in front of the tree. All the better to reach the ornaments!

not a great pic, but you can sense the energy of Eliza.

The finished tree! (actually on Christmas morning because that was the best pic I could find.)

 And since getting out the ornaments meant pulling out other Christmas decorations, we used that same weekend to get our our Christmas gear. Molly especially enjoyed the Little People nativity scene that we put out. It was always fun to check to see who had escaped from the "Activity Scene" (as Hayden continued to call them) each evening and try to round them up. One night we even lost the whole stable! Luckily it was easily located in a neighboring room.   

gotta love the nose wrinkle!

More holiday recap still to come! Parades! Outfits! Presents! Stay tuned!

The Reason

So yes, we are a bit behind on the blogging. Partly we've just been busy. Those presents don't buy and wrap themselves after all! (Nor do those cookies bake themselves.) But also, we've had this to deal with...



She's picking up speed EVERY day and having great fun with it!

So we've been just a little bit extra busy keeping up with her!

Holiday Recap - Thanksgiving!

I am, as usual, woefully behind on the blogging. We've had a lovely holiday season, even if you haven't caught glimpses of it on the blog, so it's time to catch up a bit. For Thanksgiving, the start of the holidays, we traveled up to Ohio to spend Thanksgiving with Grammy and Granddad. We had a lovely time - it was well worth the long drives on either end (9 hrs there, 11 hrs back!).  We even managed to get up to Michigan to visit Ammi and Poppa, AND see some snow! Quite the festive holiday!

First there was Thanksgiving day:

Making pumpkin pie

Helping Grammy mix the spices for pumpkin pie

watching football with Daddy

all dressed up for dinner

these stairs are so comfy

so pretty!

Grammy got to 'double-fist' grandddaughters a lot

pumpkin pie is goooooooood.

pants-less after dinner stair play - look I can touch the door!

heh-heh-ha-ha I'm so awesome without pants!

 The day after Thanksgiving we traded shopping for birthday celebrations

Happy Birthday to Ammi!

This contraption is GREAT for walking!

multi-level walking fun

Molly's first SNOW!!! (brrrr it was cold says the monkey)

showed the girls where Granddad grew up

 And on to the weekend:

M learned a new trick. And our laughter encouraged it's repeated performance.

Christmas cookies!

Merry Christmas!

I may not have written in a while, but that's just because we've been busy with holiday festivities. No time now to catch you up - just wanted to wish a very Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Hope your holidays are merry and bright!