Isabel getting in the spirit with the help of a little preschool Christmas craft and some silly putty.Spencer and the kids spent the night at my parents house along with my sister, my brother, and my nieces. I, on the other hand, spent both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day nights at work with my peeps. :) Someone's gotta do it.
Kiana, Isabel, and Milo showing off their Christmas Eve jammies and books (Kiana got a Barack Obama picture book--she is his biggest fan, Issy got Berenstain Bears and the Bad Influence, and Milo got I Wanna Iguana--one of the cutest illustrators ever.)Our Christmas present "rules" are like so...Santa brings each child one big present and fills their stockings. Mom & Dad supply a book and jammies on Christmas Eve (to be opened with cousins) and one present on Christmas Day. Grandparents provide much additional spoiling and excitement. :)
Santa scored big with new bikes for both kids. Milo's had a bell (that says I HEART MY MOMMY) and a sweet horn. Isabel's has streamers and a basket. She also got a bonus doll seat for the back from Grandma Cathryn.
Just a wee little pirate putting together some Star Wars Legos.
Oh wow. Turns out, a 4 year old's life can be completed by the addition of 1) a Fancy Nancy Doll 2) a new bike with streamers that "blow like maniacs Mom!" and 3) a doll seat for the back of said bike.
Isabel and Milo both got handmade aprons from Grandma Kim. They've been used for everything from cooking breakfast with Daddy to playing restaurant for HOURS.
Fancy Brows herself. I could do an entire post about our first encounter with play makeup. I mean really. Here's her attempt at mimicking Fancy Nancy's eyebrows and also attempting to channel the blue-eyeshadow-wearing clerk at Target whom she was admiring earlier in the week.
The next makeup encounter involved a little conversation like this;
Isabel: "Mom, I know you probably don't really know how to do this but...(dramatic pause)...could you maybe help me to put on some makeup?"
Now call me crazy but I read a little bit of "Mom, I know you're a stinkin' hippie and all but could you break out of your comfort zone for a bit and help me glam it up?" She is SO the fancy one in our plain family. (Refer to the Fancy Nancy books for reference.)
Cruisin'. Seriously, streamers and a basket? Awesome.
Milo on the other hand, preferred to live on the wild side. He got a new skateboard (just his size), pads, and wrist guard things. I know, I know. Many of you are wondering if I, being the paranoid nurse that I am, really let him ride that thing. Well, I will have you know that I would have wrapped the kid in bubble wrap before letting him have at it. Or at least stuffed a bunch of TP inside his clothes. But, hey, skateboards and other such potentially damaging play equipment are what dads are for right?
The retreat. Also known as the frigid walk of shame. The Saturday after Christmas we attempted to go snowshoeing as a family for my dad's birthday. After a long drive up and out of our beautiful sunny (and fairly) warm weather, we arrived at our destination to discover that a) it's 1 degree outside--without windchill and b) it's windier than an Oklahoma twister outside. It was easily 30 below with windchill. But, hey, we'd packed everyone up, bundled up, made the drive, and all these other people (granted they were adults in very expensive-looking layers of NASA material clothing) were getting out and heading for the trail! So, we tried. We made it all of about 50 feet. It was somewhere very far beyond cold.
Sadly, Spencer was apparently too cold to open his eyes for any of the 55 family picture attempts. ;)All in all, a lovely holiday season. A few other highlights: learning about other holidays at preschool and incorporating some of those traditions into our holidays (we lit candles on our preschool-made menorahs through Hanukkah), eating yummy food courtesy of Grandma Kim, getting great gifts from far and wide (thanks fam!), reading all of your Christmas letters/posts and oohing and aweing at everyone's growing families in their Christmas photos, and being amazed at how often I&M wanted the nativity story retold and retold. Helped keep us in the spirit for sure! A lowlight: having family all over the darn country! We miss you all!
5 comments:
Ah did Spencers eyelashes get frozen shut. He he.
Sounds like a great time. If your kids are anything like Ken they will be out on those bikes anytime the weather is even remotely warm enough to ride. So much fun! Now we can go biking with the kiddos and not have to pull them.
I love that you have a "Fancy Nancy" too. I do not have a good relationship with play make up. It has stained my walls, counter tops, carpets and towels...but I can't deny Eden her fanciness so now she knows that she is only allowed to put it on in her bathroom with only certain already stained towels on hand.
I just have to say that Issy's long blond locks are to die for!
Hey--Merry Christmas, you guys! I miss getting destroyed in couple's trivial pursuit by you. Thanks for the entertaining blog--we've shared many a good laugh...
funny post.
Isabel's bike is awesome! baby seat makes it that much better. and the bell on Milo's is funny, dads are great for loosening those paranoid mom's up!
way to go on the brave attempt at snowshoeing!
You crack me up! Sounds and looks like you had a great Christmas- bummer that you had to work.
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