Outdoor Adventure

Evy asked to go on an outdoor adventure. It was a balmy 27 degrees today so we hit up our local recreation area. The adventure started off with a bang when we spotted 8 deer followed by "a boy deer" with antlers. Evy loved looking for animal tracks and plowing through the snow.

Starting to lose steam, the girls took a rest in the snow.

I'm not sure if you can zoom in on the photo to get a look at their faces, but it's priceless. By the end of the walk Charlie was crying, falling, and asking to be carried. Evy was walking on her knees because her "legs and ankles hurt so bad." After carrying Charlie I too was eagerly looking for the end of the path.

Christmas at Home

 

Scott had Christmas Eve off which gave us a rare two days at home with no obligations. On Christmas Eve we went ice skating, out to lunch, to the grocery store (big mistake!) and drove around looking at the Christmas lights.

 

 

Evy picked out Keebler Fudge Stripe cookies for Santa...I decided to eliminate one task from my list this year and that was the homemade cookies. The reindeer carrots were leftover from our lunch.

 

The girls slept together in the bunk beds, fell asleep immediately and slept until 7 a.m. I think our Santa threats finally had an impact.

Doesn't her hair make her look like a crazy elf?

Evy snuggling with her Fur Real kitty from Santa. Definitely her most favorite gift!

I think Charlie ate four pieces of candy before 8 a.m. 

We had a big breakfast so the kitchen was closed for lunch. Charlie chose to have oatmeal for her lunch. Or as she calls it, Oad-a-mole.

Week in Review

Maybe if I blog once a week I can keep up with things. Let's try it once.

 

On Monday, Evy had her pre-school holiday program. Her class sang 4 songs. The program is soooo funny as the kids jump, scream, and or dance along to their songs. Such a fun way to celebrate a special time of year with Evy's classmates and teachers.

 

Evy's teacher, Ms. Nancy is pictured. Ms. Nancy is a retired kindergarten teacher and we feel so lucky to have her as Evy's pre-K teacher. She is amazing with the kids! 

 

  

We spent the weekend at my parent's house celebrating Christmas.

 

 

Great-Grandma Max with the big kids.

These three spent a lot of time at the cookie tray.

Five inches of fresh snow!

Charlie loved sledding with her cousins!

On Friday, Charlie's Christmas present arrived. She has been asking for a big girl bed. We selfishly decided to get her a bunk bed so we could sacrifice Charlotte to try to get Evy to sleep through the night. We've been struggling with Evy for three months and this is the last idea we have up our sleeve. Operation sacrifice Charlie started tonight. Evy was asleep within 5 minutes--normally it takes her 45 minutes. Fingers crossed that we aren't awake all night!

Christmas Cheer!

Last night we completed our holiday project--purchasing and wrapping gifts for a family who needs a little assistance. Such a fun thing to do with great friends. Why weren't the Dads included in the photo? Because they sat around watching football while we did all of the work. 

When we got home the girls discovered that our elf, Elfie, had left them Christmas Pajamas! Evy said Charlie looked just like Santa with her big tummy! Grammy Sherry sent the dancing santa home for the girls and they love turning it on and watching him dance.

This is the first picture I took of the girls. Look at Evy's pose. Good grief! I told her to stand "normal" and then I took another shot. Five going on twenty-five.

Weekend Trip

Scott spent the weekend deer hunting so the girls and I rode along with Grandma Joan and Papa Jake to Jacob's birthday party in the 'burbs. After celebrating Jacob's birthday it's becoming tradition to walk two blocks and see the most ridiculously decorated house that you've ever seen! These people obviously love Christmas! They generously host Santa and give out hot chocolate and only ask for a donation to charity in exchange. Charlie asked for a big girl bed. Evy clarified that she meant a bunk bed. Evy asked for an orange kitty toy that has a purple toy you can play with.

All the cousins and all the lights!

 

 

Uncle Caleb snapped this shot. Beautiful girl. 

This is what our ride home looked like. Boo!

 

I Surrender

[Charlie went without clothes for most of the day and the blueberry yogurt and strawberry jelly stayed on her face a little longer than normal.]

 

The girls have generously shared their cough and cold with me. I'm tired. And I'm sick. I didn't have much fight left in me yesterday so I let the girls watch too much TV, eat too many chocolate chip cookies, and eat a random buffet of junk for lunch. Parenting is pretty easy when you don't fight battles. This troop commander needed a day off!

Curls

 

I don't think Charlotte will have these perfect ringlets for her entire life so I thought I should document them. Aren't they adorable? Five perfect little curls. Her hair is unruly and if you brush it it just makes it worse. She has a flap of hair in the front that is flat, no curls. I think it just adds to her big personality so I don't try to tame it. She will likely be doomed to have the half wavy, half straight hair that I have as an adult. For now, I will enjoy the messy cuteness that comes with these curls.

 

Evy wanted me to take a picture of the back of her hair too. She has hair exactly like me. One random wave through the back with some wayward curls underneath. If you brush it it looks ok for awhile but mostly looks like a mess. It takes a straightening iron to get it under control.