Waste of Time

I guess the 12 Posts of Christmas was a waste of my time. Macy has documented our month of December for us. Scott and I found this little gem under the Christmas tree when we were cleaning up late on Christmas night. It was a long rolled up peice of wrapping paper, with Christmas memories drawn on. It was her present to Scott.

1. We went to The Nutcracker   2. We watched Elf  3. The girls decorated their little tree.  4.  They helped me decorate  5. They played with their nutcrackers that live on the mantle.  6. They cleaned (?)

 



On the 1st Post of Christmas...

Merry Christmas!

Polly has announced for the 26th time that she CAN'T wait 'til Christmas to open her presnets.  Can't she just open ONE?  I called her bluff this morning and told her to open all the ones with her name on it. 
I was met with a blank stare. 
Guess she'll wait after all.

12 Posts of Christmas has been fun. 
Let's do it again next year!

On The 2nd Post of Christmas...

Dear Santa,
Macy is very excited for Christmas, and I think she's been pretty good.  She is a great big sister to Abe and she likes to take him into her room to "play".  This usually goes well.  Sometimes she tries hard to keep her emotions from getting out of control.  She does this by taking deep, loud breaths with her eyes closed.  I don't know where she may have seen this before!  She lost her first tooth this year, but the rest are staying put.  She likes the 1st grade, but only if you don't ask her.  She's a fantastic reader and prefers to read chapter books.  She very much likes to pick out her own clothes and she tries to add some flair when she can.  She's lovely.  Please bring her...(she's asked for about 30 things) the new Taylor Swift CD and a teddy bear.  (This perfectly describes Macy this year: growing up, but not.)



This is most defnitely the best Christmas Story I've seen.

So very cute.

Watch, please.

On the 3rd Post of Christmas...

Dear Santa,

Polly has had a good year. She started pre-school and is looking forward to next year when she can be dropped off with the big kids at Hillcrest.  I am not.  She is a sweet soul and an excellent snuggler. She has however, found her voice when it comes to Macy.  I'll just say Macy's carefully orchestrated plans don't always go her way anymore.  We are pleased.  For Polly, of course.  But not for our ears. One of her favorite games continues to be "What if".  The best one recently was,

"What if all our teeth were made of candy?  How would we eat candy?" 

It's funny.  Please bring her some face paint (hope you can find it!) and any animal that is miniature in size.

Also, if you take her picture, she often does this:

On the 4th Post of Christmas...

Homemade Peppermint Marshmallows!

This is NOT a food blog.

But I do kind of wish I had one.

If I did, then this post would include lovely pictures of the process.  I'll just tell you.  It was pretty easy, and the marshmallows are FLUFFY and delicious.  We put them in our Truffle-ball hot chocolate from a dear friend.  Mmmmm. 

On The 5th Post of Christmas...

Dear Santa,

Abraham has been good this year. Granted he only had 7 months of the year to receive that accolade, but he's been quite exceptional.  He obeys his parents.  This includes things like "Stay right there".  He gets along with his sisters, as long as their hair doesn't get into his hands.  Then it's really just a good game of tug o' war.  He's good at games.  He's been honing his talent of expectorating.  We think he's above average for his age.  What's expectorating?  Look it up.  Back to Abe.  He doesn't cry when he cuts 4 teeth at a time.  And he only uses them when he really has to. Gotta keep 'em sharp, right?  Please bring him some Cheerios, diapers (this area could use some improvement), and bananas.

UPDATE: He didn't even laugh at me when I dropped an entire bowl of warm syrup (SYRUP!) on the floor this morning.

On the 6th Post of Christmas...

We did the Nativity. 

Abe was a sheppard.

The End.

On the 7th post of Christmas...

Why am I counting from 12 to 1, instead of 1 to 12?

It's a mystery.

Too late to change course.

Let's proceed, shall we?

Do your children believe?

Mine do.

Sort of.

Macy seriously tackled the subject last year, and I told her!  But...she wants to believe, and so she does. And Polly believes what Macy believes. 

I'm not sure what Macy asked for.  Polly would neither sit on his lap, nor look at him, nor talk to him.  She's only standing by him for the candy cane. 

On the 8th Post of Christmas

Counting it down

I let my girls eat the chocolates that are inside at 7:00 A.M. when they run out of their room with sleepy eyes and wild hair.  Chocolate in the morning is worth waking up for.  Should I be doing this?

On the 9th Post...BEST PHOTOS EVER!!

I hosted myself a little Ugly Christmas Sweater party last weekend.  I'm not saying all the sweaters were ugly, but...

I'll let you decide.

This is the best photo I got of the first to arrive.

I think the turtle neck really sets the outfit off.  And to quote my sister Annie, the sweater vest was perfectly unflattering.

Then Annie and Jed went and took these photos for a party they attended.

Then I cried I laughed so hard,

 Then I laughed even harder, and died.



On the 10th post of Christmas...

Macy and I went to went to The Nutcracker, where she re-defined the term "edge of her seat".  Literally.  She also talked my ear off.  Explaining the plot, Why did they do that?, I would be good at her part, how did those girls fit under that dress?, that costume is the prettiest one!, do you think Polly would like this, mom?, why didn't you bring money for treats?

She loved the fancy theater and she insisted I take a picture of the curtain.

 Yes, for those who asked, she got her haircut (upon her request) into a darling little a-line.  She loves it and so do I.

On the 11th post of Christmas...

The ladies were very much looking forward to dinner by the Christmas tree. I won't say it was a gourmet dinner, but it included candles and Martinelli's in fancy cups, so that made up for it.

After, we watched "Miracle on 34th Street".  Everyone was mostly bored except for me.  I enjoyed the things I remembered from forever ago.  Like the squeaky voice of Freddy the janitor who just wants to play Santa instead of push brooms.  It reminded me that we don't have to accept our current lot in life.  We can aim high.

12 Posts of Christmas

12 Christmasy posts.  That's the plan.

Day 12:
We made a Christmas list a while ago of things we must do.
It's posted on the fridge.

2010
Make a popcorn garland
Watch "It's a Wonderful Life
Make hot chocolate with home-made marshmallows
Make Christmas pillowcases
Have dinner by the tree
Watch "A Christmas Story"
Make and decorate Christmas cookies
Make snowflakes
Host Ugly Christmas Sweater party
Make cookies for Santa
Make paper Mr. and Mrs. Claus (Macy)
Make Saltine Toffee for neighbors
Watch "Miracle on 34th Street"
Make peanut butter bars (Polly)

I think it's coming along well. 
Is there a glaring hole in our list?
If so, please share.

Restraint

Abe is 6 months

6 1/2 if you want to be precise (and I do)

Abe can sit (evidenced)

He's breaking some top teeth

He loves his affectionate sisters

His loves his dad

Polly makes him laugh the hardest

His likes vegetables straight up (no cereal)

He tolerates fruit

(unless it's bananas, which he devours with lip smacks)

He spits when he's mad

It makes us laugh

I must restrain myself from gobbling him straight up.

Proof!

My children do listen in primary.

proof#1:

(we learned about service)

After Scott announce he was headed out to shovel the 73" of snow that fell Sunday, the little nuggets wanted to play in the snow. Then Macy whispers that she's going to shovel for dad while she's out there. There was a lot of snow folks. They did their best.

Sometimes it takes two.

(sing it with me)

Proof #2:

As I'm cleaning the kitchen (I'm known to do this on occasion) Monday morning, Polly says

"Mom! I know someone who gives us presents on Christmas besides you, dad and santa."

oh yeah, who?

"Heavenly Father gave us his son... and that is the hugest present ever...

AND IT'S NOT EVEN WRAPPED!"

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Thank you November

Macy had a Thanksgiving Feast in Miss Anderson's class. The individually made headgear/vest/necklace/placemats were the best part.

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Our Thankful Turkey was mostly a list of everyone we know.

You might be on a feather somewhere. (or your dog.)

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We are indeed thankful.