Merry Christmas!

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas! The girls were so excited. Our advent calendar had helped Ellie to count down, and we chose cookies for Santa's plate the night before (as well as a carrot for Rudolph!).  I thought it would be dificult to get them asleep since, Ellie especially, was so excited. But. thankfully, she was out pretty quick- we had some work to do! We were doing the final assembly of the dollhouse from Nana... and some deliveries ;)... all in all, I think it was about midnight when we were all finished. So then, 5 o'clock rolled around, and Lia was the first to arrive at our bedside (which isn't exactly unusual), so I pulled her in to cuddle, and then Ellie arrived. She was pulled in too, and though I thought the two had fallen back asleep, the moment Bill whispered one word, Ellie shot up and asked, "Are you awake!?" Too cute...she was just waiting for a sign that we could go :) Off we went then, with Aurie still asleep in her crib. I thought it would be fun to share the first moments of that morning...(I think you can tell they were excited ;)

Snow!?

 Yes! Snow! in Avondale, Arizona! :) Our neighborhood had their holiday party for the kids on Saturday, and we brought the girls over to play in the snow, ride the train, and visit Santa. It was a lot of fun! They came back for lunch, chattering away about it. (Lia wants to go back and play in the snow this morning!)

 Where's that Santa Claus?

 Aurie loves going out- she's all eyes, taking in the action. And, it's fun for mommy to get all the compliments about our tiny cutie... ;)

 So, our little Lia... Mittens? No way. Touch the snow? No way. But, after seeing Ellie have so much fun getting daddy with snowballs, we decide to give it a little try :) Darn that girl is stubborn!

 So, Lia would not come down from the slide to sit on Santa's lap, but after our turn, she did sidle up to have a little chat- especially since he called to her by name :) It was cute. I have to say (and good thing Santa did the right shopping!), these girls have been pretty consistent for the past month- Ellie's dying for a Jessie doll from Toy Story, and Lia, "a big Wheezy" (the penguin, from the same movie.). 

 And then, after all that lookin', we tucker out :)

 Back to the snow with daddy... now we'll take mittens...oh, those are quite handy! ;)

 Good thing I love this darling, beautiful girl so much! :)

So then, with our Christmas spirit aglow (and only because evrybody took a nap!), we decided to take the gang up to Glendale Glitters, a local festival with dancers, lights, etc. We had a really terrific time. The girls really liked watching the performers from local dance troupes (Lia, even more so than Ellie!), and all the lights were pretty amazing- some even reminded us of our time in Disney last Christmas. We had a super yummy dinner at a German restaurant nearby that we've always wanted to try, talked to the owner and all, since she was truly from Germany, and runs the place with her husband cooking. Then, daddy indulged the girls (groan!) and they chose these humongous light sabers as their "prize"....oh boy...you can see how excited they were. I was thinking it was not a smart idea considering all that's out at home for Christmas decorations, but really they've done well since. They're mostly excited about how they glow, and stick them under the couch and such. 

 (What a sassy pose!)

Playing in the Snow with Daddy

Bill and I decided that we could definitely imagine hours of playing in the backyard, in the snow. (Along with a whole new set of messes, we imagine....wet mittens and slushy boots at the back door ;) Fingers crossed, maybe this year will see us moving to a place where this could be true for the girls next Christmas... 

Ballerina Dreams

 Sooooo sweet! Thank you Grandma and Grandpap for the beautiful new pj's... (Lia's says "Snow Belle") I know I have to be thankful that my girls are drawn towards girlie girl kinds of things. Ellie really does love pink, the both of them love princesses and Ellie has really taken to ballet- she flutters around the house, taking bath, and even while we're out. I'm so thrilled she loves it. I can only pray the 'girlie'ness lasts! ;)

 Out for a bit of sunshine at the park...

 Watch out Noah... ;) Lia's got a younger suitor ;) (Hmmm....will it be the older man, more experienced, knowledgeable....or a younger, impulsive studmuffin...hee hee hee...only time will tell...) 

 So intent on watchin' the Rudolph special...

Aurie's not...watching the special, that is. This is actually at a different time, and I noticed this pose- seriously, arms up behind her head, feet crossed. Chillin', catchin' a good show (apparently!). 

Jello-Mints!

My funny girls... on a random night, last week, with Ellie playing...a tv hostess? We had to laugh at the 'ladies and jello-mints' :) !

Mommy's Angel...

       

(Yes, we tried to get something cute in her hair :)

So the shirt says I love daddy, but it's mommy who's head over heels...

(Had to get one of the entire outfit...too cute :) You gotta love Carter's. I'm going to cry when Ellie doesn't fit into their clothes anymore :(

LOVE this sweet look :)

This is our latest collection of photos displayed, the ones I had taken to mark Aurie's 4 months...

I know I've said it before, and maybe I can see how my mom favored (yes, you did! :) my little brother, 'cause this little one has me just simply, in love. I am so grateful for this tiny blessing. She is joy.

A Visit to See Santa!

 We decided to go pay Santa a visit today. Ellie, who had never wanted anything to do with characters or Santa last year, sat on his lap and had a full-out conversation. She smiled when she asked for her "Jesse" and he knew all the other guys' names from Toy Story! As much as we tried, Lia just was not going to come over, though she did exchange a few words from afar, and accepted a candy cane at the end. Ellie filled Santa in on Lia's behalf (too cute!). And Aurie...just sat through it all, the angel baby that she is :)...then, konked out and had a nice nap in the stroller in her darling tutu outfit (thank you Nana!).

The other day, the girls asked to make gingerbread men, so we went to work. They love to "help" and had a blast with their own piece of dough and some cookie cutters (though you should have seen the floor at the end!). I had found these make-you-smile aprons (guess who wouldn't put one on? ;) and was so glad to make use of them. That story about the gingerbread man is one of their favorites in one of our children's stories collections (one my mom used to read to us :). We found some candy while out today to decorate them...I bet that's the favorite part! :)

Scarf Dancing

Here's the second one...

Working Videos

You just had to see these shakin' hips, and I couldn't get the one in the next post to play very easily, so here it is again...

Catching Up

Well, my posting has petered out lately, because I filled my quota of space, and had to figure out how to erase old stuff so I could continue. Here I am :) Finally found the time. (Contrary to what I hear so often- I don't know how you find the time- I don't sometimes! :) So...lots of funnies to tell- I'll space them throughout. The girls are SO excited about Christmas coming. We're counting down the days on our advent calendar and talking about 'baby Jesus' (with mommy trying to keep fingers off of my beautiful nativity- has anyone ever seen one for kids to play with?). They love to see Christmas lights on houses in the evening, and wrapping presents (though Lia wants to open them- even if they are for other people, and she knows it (she wrapped them!)! I know how to keep Ellie busy for a while- give her free reign on wrapping a present herself- took her about a half an hour to wrap Pap-pap's. (And even then I had to step in- she got frustrated when it didn't look like the way mommy does it...hey, she wanted to do it herself!) Our house is all decked out, and Herbie (our Elf on the Shelf) still flys to see Santa every night and the girls' favorite part is to find where he has chosen to sit the next morning. We've been out to take our family Christmas pictures, and are going to see Santa this week. Hope all of you are getting into the Christmas spirit!

Some Christmas Picture Out-Takes...
Thank you Nana for the beautiful dresses that just made the pictures! 

Our Christmas lights, with our new Snoopy blow-up....

 Ellie's latest performance...

 A kiss for her sister afterwards (like they are long lost friends and haven't just seen each other). This is where I have to stop and tell about this happening lately. Bill took Ellie, and I took Lia and Aurie one day, to do errands. We met up for lunch, where Ellie and Lia ran to each other, and met in the middle of the restaurant in a huge display of hugs and kisses after running to each other...it was darling and hilarious. You'd think they hadn't seen each other for years.

A bit of the performance...

This was scarf dance time, where they can free dance, and the music stops every so often for the teacher to reinforce a dance concept (ie. 'show me a plie'). Well, we were so proud of Ellie who truly did dance during that time, and not just either stand there, or run around, like her classmates. I do think she truly loves it. (I've been getting a curtsy and a 'yes, your magesty' every so often at home when I ask her to do something too!)

A trip to the Children's Museum...always a favorite.

Ellie's first hockey game with daddy... (it was Star Wars night)

 Ellie came back telling us about the "fancy ladies" (cheerleaders!) at the hockey game :) Her other funny lately was explaining when she had the sniffles...her 'nose was broken'. :) 

Just some recent ballet cuteness...

 This cutie looks up at the reindeer I put in the kitchen above the cabinets and says, "Look mom! Rudolph with the great nose!"