HADLEY, PIPER, and BRYNDEL
Sisters, friends, blessed.
We squeezed 'our' little family Christmas into three hours Sunday evening. The three hours between pukey Hadley and bedtime, to be exact. And while it was rushed and replete of any real tradition (we are still working to create some of our own) it was defintely full of surprise, happiness, excitement, smiles, and warmth. Here are a couple of the highlights...
Piper was, quite obviously, thrilled with her new monkey towel. She was in desperate need of a new one, as her old (infant) one barely reached around her cute little belly. (She is making monkey sounds in the picture.)
Hadley was pretty particular this year about finding a seam to pull apart, instead of just tearing it open.
This was my favorite part of the whole evening. As Hadley opened this gift, she said with her face all aglow, "I have always wanted a polka dot robe, Mama!" Piper also got one, and was glad to be a 'matcher' with her sister, but wasn't quite sure about having it tied around her.
This was the big ticket item under the tree this year. Hadley even made sure to ask Santa for a scooter when we saw him last week. And she also informed me, way back in October when I first started shopping, that if I got her anything to ride on...it should be pink. Okay then.
Piper got into the scooting action too, but especially liked it when Hadley carefully pushed her around the kitchen, making stops at pretend gas stations and coffeeshops! This is reminiscent of a small brown haired boy/brother that I used to push home from school on my scooter.
We spent a lovely Christmas up North this year with the Anderson crew. The girls had a blast staying up late, playing with cousins, eating cookies, opening presents, eating ice cream, and even playing out in the snow. It was a very Merry Christmas!
Arriving at the candlelit Christmas Eve church service.
Excitedly waiting for the service to begin. Thankfully, Hadley sat with a very patient and watchful Auntie Kara, as Hadley's hair nearly caught fire a couple times (with all of her wiggly excitement :).
After a delicious prime rib & shrimp dinner, all of the (non-Alaska) cousins patiently waited to open presents! ~Ava, Paige, Piper, Sydney with Hayden behind, Hadley, & Brooke~
Christmas morning we were greeted with gifts from Santa on the fireplace, and a special gingerbread house project with Auntie Kara (who was once again, very patient!). The girls thoroughly enjoyed making and even sampling their houses.
The 'kid' table for Christmas Day lunch.
We were greeted by another nice surprise the following day, as Auntie Kara, Uncle Frank, and Brooke came down to do a little sledding with the girls. They were thrilled with the sliding, but even more impressed by Uncle Frank's uncanny ability to knock down 'delicious' icicles!
Getting in a little snuggle time with Brooke before we hit the road back home.
And, yes, that is just as it looks...a puke bucket for the ride home. And, no, we did not get it there in time. Kyle's truck has a 'nice' scent to it right now, and Hadley's carseat straps have seen cleaner days. But somehow, all the yuckies disappeared as we entered our house and discovered that Santa had been there, and we still had a lot more present to open! We will be hopeful & prayerful as we wash up the laundry (7 loads already today!), repack our suitcases, and prepare to ring in the New Year with my family just four short days from now, that no one else will need that (dang) puke bucket!
When I think of Christmas music, my first thought is always of our John Denver and the Muppets Christmas record that we (Michael, Nathan, & I) must have nearly worn out over the years. Hadley & Piper have taken a keen liking to it this season as well (they make it in CD form now!). Hadley's favorite song is Miss Piggy's rendition of "Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat..." and it makes her wiggle and jiggle and dance every time.
Here are a few other things that have truly reminded me this year that, Christmas is coming...
We put up a real tree in both Hadley & Piper's rooms this year. Their excitement was palpable as we strung the lights and allowed them to decorate. There have been many evenings as I'm making dinner, that I can hear them upstairs in their rooms singing made up Christmas songs together around their little trees.
You know Christmas is coming...when the tree skirt gets turned into a 'twirler'!
Hadley treated us to her first Christmas Program this past week, and was it ever wonderful! She came out waving away as she lead her class onto the risers (tall ones in back of course), beamed at the end of every song, often anticipated the next movement (starting it much before she was 'supposed' to), decided she needed to give a shout out to Piper during one of the songs (which made Piper incredibly happy!), sang every song with gusto and appropriate actions, and only pulled her dress up to her neck once. It was lovely. She could not have been more precious or sweet in our eyes, and was once again a reminder of all we have to be thankful for this Christmas.
These pictures were taken after the program in the little manager scene set up specifically for photos. (I'm not sure if Piper has ever looked so excited for a picture!)
As were the rest of the 'paparazzi' (aka parents & grandparents galore), we managed to get a couple of videos during the program. None of which are of great quality, but you'll get the idea anyway. The kids are closing/covering their eyes during this song, and when its time to open their eyes they are supposed to make the noise for the animal their teacher just added to the manager in front of them (Hadley is in the far right corner).
On the first day of Christmas,
my true love, Kyle, gave to me
our freezer full of dead coyote.
On the second day of Christmas,
my true love, Benelli, gave to me
two pine-sapped cat ears (drinking too much tree water),
and our freezer full of dead coyote.
On the third day of Christmas,
my true love, Piper, gave to me
three oozy boogers (smeared in her crib),
two pine-sapped ears,
and our freezer full of dead coyote.
On the fourth day of Christmas,
my true loves, the girls, gave to me
four bare feet (warming on the heat vent; every morning!),
three oozy boogers,
two pine-sapped ears,
and our freezer full of dead coyote.
On the fifth day of Christmas,
my true love, the coffee pot, gave to me
F-I-V-E cups of coffee (shhhh, don't tell my husband),
four bare feet,
three oozy boogers,
two pine-sapped ears,
and our freezer full of dead coyote.
On the sixth day of Christmas,
my true love, Kyle, gave to me
six mounted animals (half of which are in my bedroom),
F-I-V-E cups of coffee,
four bare feet,
three oozy boogers,
two pine-sapped ears,
and our freezer full of dead coyote.
On the seventh day of Christmas,
my true loves, the girls, gave to me
seven loads of laundry (potty training = skid marks),
six mounted animals,
F-I-V-E cups of coffee,
four bare feet,
three oozy boogers,
two pine-sapped ears,
and our freezer full of dead coyote.
On the eighth day of Christmas,
my true love, Hadley, gave to me
eight different outfits/costumes (all needing to be washed),
seven loads of laundry,
six mounted animals,
F-I-V-E cups of coffee,
four bare feet,
three oozy boogers,
two pine-sapped ears,
and our freezer full of dead coyote.
On the ninth day of Christmas,
my true loves, the girls, gave to me
nine messy rooms (with carefully laid pillow houses),
eight different costumes,
seven loads of laundry,
six mounted animals,
F-I-V-E cups of coffee,
four bare feet,
three oozy boogers,
two pine-sapped ears,
and our freezer full of dead coyote.
On the tenth day of Christmas,
my true loves, the girls, gave to me
ten sparkly fingerprints (glitter glue is the coolest!),
nine messy rooms,
eight different costumes,
seven loads of laundry,
six mounted animals,
F-I-V-E cups of coffee,
four bare feet,
three oozy boogers,
two pine-sapped ears,
and our freezer full of dead coyote.
On the eleventh day of Christmas,
my true love, Piper, gave to me
eleven Pipers piping (she thinks this is funny every time),
ten sparkly fingerprints,
nine messy rooms,
eight different costumes,
seven loads of laundry,
six mounted animals,
F-I-V-E cups of coffee,
four bare feet,
three oozy boogers,
two pine-sapped ears,
and our freezer full of dead coyote.
On the twelfth day of Christmas
my true love, Hadley, gave to me
twelve invented Christmas songs (long, but oh so sweet)
eleven Pipers piping,
ten sparkly fingerprints,
nine messy rooms,
eight different costumes,
seven loads of laundry,
six mounted animals,
F-I-V-E cups of coffee,
four bare feet,
three oozy boogers,
two pine-sapped ears,
and our freezer full of dead coyote.
{I am, of course, incredibly grateful for all of them! Well, maybe not exactly the current condition of our freezer, but the rest of them - definitely!}
WOW! What an incredibly beautiful day we have here! We've probably already seen close to a foot of snow, and it just keeps coming down. Both sides of our family have gotten a ton of snow over the past couple of weeks, but much to the girls disbelief we have gotten very little. Up until today that is! As you can imagine, the girls are ecstatic about all of the white fluffy stuff and have been plastered to the window watching it tumble down upon our yard, porch rooftop, and even the swingset (they find that hilarious). Apparently, we are going to get quite a bit more yet today, and then we are in for a serious cold snap. With that in mind, we took the girls out this morning so they could get their fix of snow angels and their personal favorite...eating snow. Here is just the anticipation of going out into the snow:
If you can't get your mittens off to eat the snow, just dive in face first and lick it with your tongue.
Kyle and I have accumlated a few random videos of the girls over the past month. They aren't important or even really very special for that matter, but they are proof that living with two little girls can make just about anything important or special or funny. The first one: I snuck up on Hadley one afternoon while she was singing a 'love ballad' to Benelli, something about always being there for her, by her, and loving her...
The second one: Is actually of Hadley again, but this time sharing her current favorite song from preschool (Thanks Mike & Jill for the great size 3T Packers uniform that Hadley insists on squeezing into, hehe)...
The third one: Is what Piper likes to call the 'Dinda Dance'. On that particular day, Hadley changed her version to the 'Vinda Dance' which is not a suprise considering we do live in Dr.Suess's house of rhyme....
And the fourth one: Is from just last night, as we popped our popcorn in preparation to watch 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' together. This was Piper's first experience with the air popper, and apparently it was hilarious. Hadley laughed equally as hard at the Grinch's puppy Max, while Kyle and I were transported back to our childhood snuggled up on the couch together...
This was my favorite part of the whole evening. As Hadley opened this gift, she said with her face all aglow, "I have always wanted a polka dot robe, Mama!" Piper also got one, and was glad to be a 'matcher' with her sister, but wasn't quite sure about having it tied around her.
This was the big ticket item under the tree this year. Hadley even made sure to ask Santa for a scooter when we saw him last week. And she also informed me, way back in October when I first started shopping, that if I got her anything to ride on...it should be pink. Okay then.
Piper got into the scooting action too, but especially liked it when Hadley carefully pushed her around the kitchen, making stops at pretend gas stations and coffeeshops! This is reminiscent of a small brown haired boy/brother that I used to push home from school on my scooter. 
