Five Girls and their Guy

Overdue Post

2012-01-26T19:03:00.001-08:00

Remember this?

These two girls were pretty excited about their Kindles. They’re also pretty excited about these:

These are the Kindle Covers I made for them! It took a couple friends’ help in order to find the right books and figure out the process exactly, but we were all really excited to finish them before the end of Christmas vacation.

I can’t really provide a good tutorial, because it was kind of a “see-as-you-go” process, but I used the cover of an old book, some quilted fabric (which comes two sided), elastic, hem tape (the stuff you iron on), and hot glue. I used the Kindle itself as my guide for measuring and made it up as we went along. I think they turned out great!

The left side, with the button, is for storage and transporting the Kindle. The right side is for holding it while you’re reading, though sometimes they prefer to just take the Kindle out while they’re reading it. It’s nice, though, for those times you just want to hold a book in your hand, or might need to put it down fast.

I cut a slit in the elastic and used Fray Check in order to make the button holes…real technical.

It really was an easy project and someday when my sweet husband buys me a Kindle Fire or an iPad, I’m going to make one for myself and for his iPad.

Serenade

2012-01-19T15:36:00.001-08:00

This afternoon I was serenaded by Becca, Elise, and 3 neighbor girls. This was their song:

“This is the Mom Song. Moms are great! Moms are better than chocolate cake!”

Thank you very much.

I sincerely hope that tomorrow the roads will improve and we can venture out and go…somewhere. Anywhere. I can’t even remember the last time I didn’t leave my house for 4 days straight. Cabin fever has come upon us.

The last Snow fun before the wind…

2012-01-18T20:29:00.001-08:00

Today was cold. The northeasterly winds began last night and we woke up to frigid temperatures. Like 19 below zero with the wind chill. The snow from yesterday had turned into interesting swirls and drifts around the yard and there was no more playing outside in the white stuff. But before the wind picked up last night and the sun set completely, I got a few more pictures of the pretty scenery.

Evidence of the wind beginning to pick up…no more snow on the bare branches and sliding off the roof in interesting patterns…

The big field out back is great fun when it snows.

Tomorrow is another snow day, and then we have off school on Friday for a previously scheduled teacher work day, so that equals a full week off from school. We’ve only had two weeks of school since Christmas break, so it was a little long, but we definitely made the most of the situation! Movies and organizing and reading and relaxing and games and baking and gazing at Pinterest, blogs, and Facebook. The kids have had fun, too!

Snow Fun!

2012-01-17T12:55:00.001-08:00

We finally got our snow! After two years of waiting for another dusting of the white stuff, it came this past Saturday morning. But just a dusting. Other places nearby (Lynden! Which is only 7 miles west and about 100 feet higher!) had a bit more, maybe an inch or two. Sunday morning we had none, but had heard Lynden got a bit more. We packed up our snow pants, boots, gloves, coats, scarves, hats, socks, etc. so that the girls could play outside at my grandma’s after church. It was a beautiful day with sunshine and warmth and sparkling snow on the ground! They didn’t even need their coats or snow pants! Unfortunately, the crispy, sparkling snow wasn’t good for much, but they found ways to have fun!

Monday was Martin Luther King Jr. Day, so there was no school, but we woke up to about an inch of snow and got a couple more inches in the afternoon. It was a Snow Day, but since there was already no school, it didn’t quite qualify.

The morning began with lots of neighborhood fun, despite the minor amounts of snow.

They were building snow forts for the much anticipated afternoon snow ball fight. Good thing we got a bunch more snow before the actual snow ball fight because I don’t think this fort was offering much protection!

The little girls did a great job making a snowman all by themselves!

The picture below is from my neighbor who is a photographer. I have a nice camera, but I wish I had hers! She was kind enough to share this picture with me – I love it!

Then I hosted a neighborhood hot cocoa party!

Afterwards, the girls spent pretty much the rest of the day playing outside with their friends with a lunch & snowflake-cutting break around 2:00. We sent the girls to bed under the impression that there would be school Tuesday, even though we knew there was a pretty high likelihood of at least a late start and, if the snow that was forecast actually did fall during the night, a snow day! Sure enough, 6:00 this morning I checked online and SCHOOL CANCELLED! Woo-hoo! An honest-to-goodness snow day!

We had 5-6 inches of snow overnight and it was a beautiful snow fall. No wind (yet) and light, powdery stuff. I went out before it was completely light to try to capture our tree in the blue light of morning and the light of the lamp post. It wasn’t exactly what I was hoping for, but still pretty.

I went out later on in the morning to take a few more photos around the homestead.

Snow on a lilac bud:

And on my winter berry plant – Beauty Berry or callicarpa??

We started the morning with homemade waffles:

And the outside fun didn’t last as long today since it’s much colder and a bit windy. The girls did manage to eat snow cones and make some snow angels before getting cold and heading inside. The little girls are now at the neighbor’s and the big girls are playing American Girl dolls with the neighborhood “big girls”. (YES! I have 2 teens and 2 pre-teens playing American Girl dolls together by their own free choice! LOVE that.)

(I actually took this one with my camera and I love how it turned out!)

And as I write this it is practically a blizzard out there, so we’re anticipating some more Snow Fun tomorrow! By Thursday I think I’ll be ready for routine, but the forecast doesn’t look too promising for normal routines to be in place by then. Ah well – it happens once every couple of years, so we’ll just take it and enjoy it!

A quick little project

2012-01-15T18:07:00.001-08:00

Take one old dictionary.

Tear out a few key pages (such as ‘love’, ‘family’, ‘laughter’). Then use a heart cookie cutter and some scissors to cut hearts out of those pages.

Then you’ll need some twine. Or some cording of some sort. And a stapler.

Staple the hearts to the cord (you could also stitch them, but stapling was quicker and this project was about cranking it out quickly to satisfy my creative cravings on my day off in a hurry).

Then use as you wish as simple Valentine décor.

Strung in front of a I-Corinthians-13-painting-by-your-teenage-daughter-on-canvas-as-a-Christmas-gift-to-her-parents is perfect.

Good morning, God

2012-01-10T21:24:00.001-08:00

We are often asked why we choose to send our children to a Christian school if it costs so much money, and I must admit that sometimes the answers are hard to articulate well. My answers that include phrases like “Christian worldview” and “Christian psychology of education” tend to cause people’s eyes to glaze over. How does one really explain what it is we are getting in return for our investment?

Every morning in the Kindergarten classroom where I am an aide, after the Bible Story, comes prayer time. The students are already quiet, calm, and their hearts are full from hearing the Word. The teacher tells the students that it is time to pray and they all get ready. They close their eyes and fold their hands on their laps as they sit on the rug in the corner of the room. The teacher always says something like, “We are going to talk to God now and if you haven’t said Good Morning to God yet this morning, you can do that right now.” And she begins her prayer with “Good morning, God.” Then she is quiet for a moment and you can hear the murmurs and the whispers of the children on the rug, echoing her voice and saying, “Good morning, God.” Sometimes there’s only a few voices, sometimes I hear all 18 voices. Sometimes I even hear other phrases, like “Thank you for the sunshine” or “Please help {student} to feel better.” The teacher then continues with her morning prayer, which is complete with adoration of God, confession, thankfulness, and supplication – a time of asking God to meet our many needs and for the many prayer requests that are in our classroom, school, and community.

The first time I heard the teacher lead them in prayer this way, it was moving. I thought to myself, “And that, right there, is enough.” Enough reason to invest in Christian education. To have other adults emulating this for my children, especially when I fail (and honestly, sometimes children listen better to others than they do to their own parents!), to have my children be purposefully taught that the most important part of their day is to say Good Morning to God and commune with Him, to have my children witness that God is the center of it all, the beginning of it all…just that is enough for me.

What happens when Elise plays with my dad’s iPad…

2012-01-06T07:28:00.001-08:00

Christmas Day!

2012-01-05T07:33:00.001-08:00

Since Bethany had been sick on Christmas Eve and we were all pretty exhausted from a couple night’s worth of not sleeping, we decided to sleep in on Christmas morning and not go to church. We figured it was better for all of us if we did not over-do and risk more sickness, and not spread the sickness further – again.

I decided that Christmas morning deserves a special breakfast and I had found a recipe via my SIL on Pinterest for “sticky buns” using Grands Biscuits. It looked delicious! The directions said to use a Bundt pan, but I couldn’t find mine, so I used an angel food cake pan. That would have been fine. Except…

Well, if you’re smarter than me, you would have figured the problem out BEFORE you put it in the oven. The “sticky” part of the “sticky bun” recipe was pancake syrup and brown sugar. Which you’re supposed to pour on the bottom of the pan before you place the biscuits in a ring in the pan. And then you pour more syrup and sugar over top.

Angel Food Cake Pans come in two pieces…a flat part with the tube that sits inside the second part, a ring with sides. Which is OK when the liquid you pour in is very thick and doesn’t seep underneath the flat part and out the ring onto the bottom of the oven.

Pancake syrup? Not so thick. The result?

Shortly after putting the sticky buns in the oven, I started to smell something burning. I checked, and found the pan dripping syrup onto the bottom of the oven! Smoke was pouring into the kitchen! I stuck a cookie sheet on the rack below the sticky buns, opened windows, and turned on fans. Soon, the syrup on the bottom had cooked itself to a crisp and I simply lifted it off with a spatula. My house was still pretty smoky and burnt-smelling, but the sticky buns ended up being very edible and delicious, despite losing half their sticky & sugary goodness out the bottom of the pan!

And that, my friends, is how you make a low-fat version of Christmas Morning Sticky Buns.

After we were induced into our sugar coma, since we had skipped church, we cozied up in the family room to finish the devotional story book we’d been reading for Advent, Jotham’s Journey. It was SO good. It was nothing like what I expected when we started it (picked it up for 25 cents at a garage sale on the recommendation of a friend) and we loved it. From what I hear, there are additional books and one for Lent/Easter! I can’t wait to read them!

Then it was time to get ready to host Christmas dinner! It was a small crowd, but we were looking forward to having my parents and my grandma come for dinner, gifts, and presents. The girls & I set out a treat table, made punch, and assembled a fruit tree as an appetizer! It was so fun and turned out awesome, despite how it looked when we got started…

Then everyone got dressed and we had an awesome ham dinner with my mom’s famous potatoes, pear salad, applesauce, veggies, and rolls. We are blessed.

We played some games, Skyped with my MI bro, and opened gifts from Grandma. Once the company had left for the evening and dinner was somewhat cleaned up, the girls had the opportunity to open the rest of their gifts under the tree!

Yes, I realize there are no pictures of Bethany. I don’t know how that happened. I promise I love her, too.

We interrupt the regularly scheduled blogging…

2012-01-03T20:37:00.001-08:00

…to proudly and with gratitude and love announce the arrival of my new niece, Claire Elizabeth!

She arrived 11 days ahead of schedule, and in a HUGE hurry to see the world! I can’t wait to meet you in April, little one. In the meantime, behave for your parents and your brother, all right?

Christmas Eve

2012-01-03T07:52:00.001-08:00

About 4:00 a.m. on Christmas Eve morning, Bethany was the 5th victim of the stomach bug that worked its way through most of our family. We weren’t able to go to Coupeville for the extended family gathering because she was sick, which was a bummer, but by mid-morning she was feeling sort of OK, so we let the girls open their stockings in order to cheer them up a bit. We were bummed to miss our only opportunity to see cousins of any sort this year!

The highlight of the little girls’ stockings was the spinning toothbrushes with stickers for decorating! Bethany’s favorite stocking gift was the silver treble clef necklace and Sarah was excited about her Jamie Grace CD! We ended up with a pretty relaxing & family-centered Christmas Eve day,watching movies & playing games & reading books – whatever Bethany was feeling up for.

Later that evening, we attended the Christmas Eve service at church (Sarah played and I read a prayer & even Bethany felt well enough to go sit in the balcony) and then we went to Mom & Dad’s for dinner and our traditional gift-opening fun!

LOVED Sarah’s reaction when she realized her gift from Grandpa F. was a Kindle! A great series of pictures follows…

They LOVE their Kindles!

The roller blades the little girls got from Grandpa F. were also a big hit! They’ve been out roller blading several times during break and are getting pretty good at it…well, except for stopping. They usually just run off the edge of the patio onto the grass or bonk into the gate.

Bethany with her American Girl 1930’s circle camera from the MI cousins!

Dad opening his WA-state-shaped-cutting board from us and the CA family!

Mom reading her new cookbook with special recipes from Aunt S!

Mom seemed to like the picture window I put together for her with one of Dad’s old windows.

I took a quick shot with my iPhone before I wrapped it. I was happy with the simplicity and the way the pictures take center stage. Updates will come soon after the new baby arrives in MI, I hope!

We loved the simplicity of Christmas Eve Day this year, but not so much the sickness and the fact that there were not cousins and sleepovers and such. Hopefully next year!

Happy Birthday!

2012-01-02T07:58:00.001-08:00

Happy Birthday to my favoritist baby brother of all time!

We miss you & your awesome family LOTS!

Christmasy Odds & Ends

2012-01-01T09:35:00.001-08:00

What follows is an assortment of photos from the month of December that really have no place of belonging, but are important photos none-the-less. Many were taken on my iPhone, hence the poor image quality. ALL are good memories.

Our finished tree

A little craft project I made for myself and the piano/violin teacher…get a styrofoam tree from the craft store, along with a wooden finial, pick up a glass candlestick for 49 cents at the thrift store, paint both the candlestick and the finial black with spray paint, use a circle punch to make many circles out of Christmas music, hot glue the tree to the candlestick, using a glue gun place the circles on the tree (beginning on the bottom, and layering as you go up), at the top place one circle down flat and glue the edges down and then make sure that the top layer of circles on the styrofoam tree sticks up over the top, then glue on the finial! It was REALLY fun and REALLY easy to make!

One of my favorite Christmas treats from Trader Joe’s

Another favorite Christmas treat!

This has nothing to do with Christmas, but isn’t she cute all dressed up for Colonial/Pioneer Day?

Elise’s Story Hour class came to sing to the mom’s at Bible Study. Always fun!

On December 16, I gave Ed his Christmas present a little early! It was supposed to be a big surprise, but there were several instances which gave him much to be suspicious about and in the end the only thing he was a bit surprised about was our destination. Ah well, it was a great evening! I bought him tickets to hear the Messiah in Seattle at Benaroya Hall, performed by the Seattle Chorale & Symphony!! Ever since we moved from Michigan, he’s wanted to see a real performance of the Messiah again, and we finally had the opportunity. It was a great night!

A very cool blown glass sculpture (HUGE!) at Benaroya Hall

The recital hall was not nearly as large as I expected, but it was beautiful and the sound was fantastic!

Unfortunately we came home to a stomach-sick Elise, (I had been a touch sick the day before), which was followed by a stomach-sick Sarah, Ed, & Bethany. The only one who hasn’t been sick is Becca…now that it’s been a week since the last illness, I’m hoping we are in the clear for now!

School Christmas Party #2!

2011-12-31T08:49:00.001-08:00

After the white capes & red bows, most of the classes have their Christmas party. S&B are now too old for their mother to snoop around the parties with the camera, but I was able to help out a little with Becca’s party and snap a few pictures as well!

The parents of the students in Miss K’s class pooled their money together and bought her a new tall conductor’s chair…she has had one since she started teaching, but this fall it gave out on her. Her reaction to the card with the picture and the poem telling her about the chair was priceless! I think she was surprised and excited and blessed!

She’s showing Becca the card and the picture of the chair which will be assembled and waiting for her when she gets back from Christmas break. We can’t wait to see it either!

White Capes & Red Bows

2011-12-30T08:53:00.001-08:00

Absolutely one of my favorite days of the year…the elementary Christmas program. Since the beginning of time (or at least since I was in elementary school), white capes & red crepe paper bows have been the traditional dress of elementary school children at the annual Christmas program. It’s corny and amazingly awesome and beautiful.

This year, I was WORKING on the day of the program, so I had the honor of escorting my kindergarteners over to the high school gym and helping them get their coats off before they ascended the bleachers and found their seat. This also meant that I was not able to be in the gym at the crack of dawn to save seats for the rest of my family. Ed had that duty this year and he did quite well – 4th row, center aisle. Good job, dear! Anyway, I *did* get to sit in the front row and so had a great view of certain things – not so great of other things, as you can see from the pictures!

These are my sweet Kindergarteners! I say “my”, but I’m just an aide in their classroom…but I still call them “my class.” I absolutely adore and love each and every one of them. I took this shot just after they all sat down and were waiting for the other Kindergarteners to come and fill in the bleachers below.

This, however, is my favoritist Kindergartener of all! Look at that corny grin – window in her mouth and flyaway hair. Love. it. all.

My sweet 2nd grader with one of her BFF’s!

She was ready to sing and boy, did she! Sang her heart out to *every* song!

Watch the entire elementary sing “For Unto us a Child is Born” here.

Here are all the Kindergarteners!

Watch the Kindergarteners sing “Gloria in Excelsis Deo” here. This was written just for them BY their music teacher!

Here’s Becca singing “Hot Chocolate” – obviously one of the favorites of the kids. I don’t have a video link for that one, but I’m asking around.

Watch the 2nd graders sing “Where did He come from?” here.

See – I didn’t have great angles to get shots of the many other kids we know in the program…this is one of the best.

During the last song, “Ere Zij God”, Becca & her BFF smiled and stared at each other the entire time. It was so cute. Later, her BFF’s mom told me that her daughter said, “I looked at Becca through that whole song because that song makes Becca cry and I wanted her to keep smiling.” Awwwww. And yes, it does make us all cry. You can read about why here.

And here’s the video of this year’s version.

Until next year…

Best Friends

2011-12-29T08:22:00.001-08:00

School Christmas Party #1

2011-12-28T07:56:00.001-08:00

I know what you’re thinking. “She’s got 4 kids in school, plus she works in another classroom! Does that mean there’s going to be FIVE Christmas party posts? Please, NOOOOO!”

Lucky for you, I only attended TWO school Christmas parties. This here is numero uno.

Elise had her party last week Monday, Dec. 19, the day before school let out for Christmas break. Kindergarteners don’t go to school after the Christmas program, they all go home with their parents when they’re done singing, so that means Kindergarten parties have to happen a day or two beforehand. It was your typical Kindergarten Christmas party…cookie decorating, making a Christmas ornament, finger painting, good stuff!

Here we are together at the cookie decorating center!

She had to add some sprinkles to her masterpiece!

This was a “relay race” of sorts…the kids had to put on gloves, unwrap a Hershey Kiss, eat it, and then run back. But there was not really a winner…it was just for fun, of course!

Really the memorable portion of this party for me came immediately after this relay race, but unfortunately I have no pictures of it and I don’t think I still have the “evidence.” The game was to close your eyes and draw on a paper whatever the teacher read to you. She dictated the drawing of a snowman, “Draw a big circle. Now draw a smaller circle on top of the big circle” and so on. Of course they were supposed to do this with their eyes closed and so when they opened their eyes, it should look nothing like a snowman because the bits and pieces of the snowman were all over the paper. One little girl sitting on the floor next to Elise had drawn an absolutely perfect snowman. Elise’s snowman parts were all over the paper. Elise looked at her paper, then at the girl’s paper next to her (not the paper of the girl in the above photo, by the way), and back at her paper again. Then she promptly and matter-of-factly announced to the other girl, “You were peeking.”

Yes, Elise. You are correct. Her paper has a perfect snowman because she was peeking. But let’s go have a talk about not saying everything that pops into our brains, shall we?

Miracle on Main Street

2011-12-27T08:36:00.001-08:00

On December 18, the youth of our church presented a fabulous Christmas musical, “Miracle on Main Street”, under the great direction of Amy VDB & Jill S. It was such fun to watch how these kids learned the songs and their parts over the course of the fall and then put on their show! I had an especially great time because it was one of few times that the girls have participated in something like this and I was totally uninvolved! LOL! I was so proud of the girls and ALL the Sunday School kids and so grateful for all the teachers and directors and parents who WERE involved, but it was pure joy to just sit and ENJOY the show! (Fair warning: this post is picture-heavy…I should have probably done a web album, but I didn’t, so just keep scrolling!)

Bethany and a few friends were the kids in the show who were trying to put on a Christmas pageant on Main Street, but were being shut down by the mayor because Christmas isn’t “PC”.

A Soloist

Our SS kids singing their hearts out! I loved watching them smile and praise Jesus! The little boy in green in the front row was so adorable to watch – he watched Elise and copied all her motions!

Even Sarah had a part as the mayor’s daughter, a young mom.

This picture makes me smile! Look at that cute dimple in Sarah’s cheek! She reminds me of Ed’s mom in this picture.

Miss Becca had her first public solo (she’s had MANY solos in the privacy of our own home and in the shower, of course!) and she did a beautiful job! I’m so proud of her.

Bethany had a solo on the first verse of “Go Light Your World.” Loved listening to her sing, again.

Some cute boys with some cute lines.

These twins did a marvelous job on their narration.

The cutest Nativity I’ve ever seen. Great work, costume ladies! That blonde shepherd is my favorite.

There was one adult IN the performance – Mr. V played the part of the mayor. He did great and was very entertaining to watch! In case you’re wondering how the play turns out, the kids go door to door to try to get the people to change the mayor’s mind. They meet the mayor’s daughter and she tells him to let the pageant go on. He does, and of course is so moved by the story of Christmas that he vows to allow it every year, and he wants to be IN the pageant in the future, even if it does cost him votes!

“Incredible, Wonderful, Beautiful Miracle of GOD!”

Christmas Goodies

2011-12-26T10:02:00.001-08:00

I had several projects and ideas in the works for this Christmas season. Most of them I did finally accomplish…not all, but most. There aren’t pictures of everything, but of most things, at least. Also included in this post are some other odds and ends that don’t fit anywhere else, but are important, in one way or another, to me.

Over my birthday weekend we went to a craft show at the ferry terminal and it was already decorated for Christmas. I loved some of these old-fashioned ornaments.

Teacher gifts this year included this Chai Loaf and Vanilla Chai Tea Mix (which also went to a few neighbors).

My crafty friend Tam made this ornament for a birthday gift! I love it and love having it hang on my perfect tree!

The girls helped me finish the blankets for their DeJong cousins.

We made some M&M cookies and Christmas cut-out cookies for both us and for some neighbors and friends. Those cut-out cookies are absolutely the best ever. The recipe calls for sour cream and it makes the fluffiest, softest cut-out cookies ever. Topped with homemade powdered sugar frosting, they are a.maz.ing. (and unfortunately irresistible).

We’ve also gone swimming with friends, shopped, crafted more projects, relaxed together, had family game night, movie night, & driven around to see Christmas lights over this holiday season. Still to come: The Nutcracker Ballet in Seattle with my parents for the girls, a walk through the Gallery Walk of Faith in Bellingham, time with friends, and more hanging out!

A blessed Christmas to you

2011-12-25T08:17:00.001-08:00

Our prayer for each of you is that you will know this Jesus, this Messiah, whose birth we celebrate today, and know that He was born for you. To live, love, teach, die, & be raised in order to save YOU. Because He is our Redeemer and Savior. Because He is Mighty God and He. Loves. You. May our Prince of Peace be your Light & King & Lord today and throughout the new year ahead!

End of the season

2011-12-24T07:46:00.001-08:00

Sarah’s basketball season ended pretty well. She improved, though not as much as she wanted to, but she’s far too hard on herself. The team went undefeated and, more importantly, grew & matured in both their knowledge of the game and the concept of teamwork. I was really impressed with the coach and his dedication and we are thankful Sarah had this opportunity to play basketball for her school. We’re not sure what the future holds as far as basketball for her, since running is what she loves and excels at so far, and basketball season in high school falls during the school musical, which she might like to be involved in at some point. Whether she plays basketball for LC again or not, we’re sure God has great plans for this girl in high school!

Putting up some good defense, as usual.

Looking to pass to a teammate…

And pass complete!

Sarah saw me focus in on her while she was on the bench and decided to stick her tongue out at her mother. Never a wise choice for a teenager…

And the winner is…

2011-12-23T07:44:00.001-08:00

uh…almost no one. Everyone who commented on the Santa post guessed Elise. One person made their guess in person and she was correct. She better get it right, considering that she’s the guilty party’s future Mother-in-law…

Yes, it was Becca. And Dee guessed it.

The Great Christmas Tree Adventure of 2011

2011-12-22T08:48:00.001-08:00

Okay, so there wasn’t anything so majorly exciting about our adventure to cut down and then decorate our Christmas tree…except that I think this year our tree is one of the prettiest we’ve ever had!

We headed east and south to our favorite tree farm, Alpine Meadows, and once there, headed towards the road since we had found a beautiful tree there in that area last year and it was not “picked over” like other areas of the farm. It wasn’t long and we had decided on our tree and so had M&D.

We have a tradition of holding up one of the girls to be the “angel” on top of the tree for the annual Christmas tree farm picture. Sarah pointed out that it had been several years since she had a turn, so Ed obliged her by picking her up so she could be the angel!

Elise thought perhaps she should haul the tree back to the cabin after we cut it down…maybe not, Elise.

Later that night, we decorated the tree, as well as our two fake trees – this little one above where I put all the girls’ snowflake pictures that my parents made with them several times or from preschool, and another skinny fake tree we bought this year for our front window.

This cracks me up! I think Elise just kissed that ornament because she was so happy to see it again! If you look closely, you can see Sarah peering at her out of the corners of her eyes. Hee hee.

Ed was the official photographer for the tree decorating event and I thought this shot was quite artsy! I’m wondering if it was Sarah’s idea…

It was also Sarah’s turn to place the tree topper on the tree. But alas! She is not tall enough to do it alone! Woo-hoo!

She needed a boost from her daddy. Thankfully Ed didn’t put his back out by picking this “child” up twice in one day! LOL!

The girls in front of our completed & beautiful tree!

Playing dolls

2011-12-21T09:48:00.001-08:00

It’s not very often I sit down and play dolls with any of the girls. But early in December Elise & I found ourselves with a chunk of time to hang out. So we played with her American Girl doll. Mostly she played, told me what was happening, and made me change the clothes that she had trouble with. It was fun and I really should do that with her and her sisters more often!

Love those blue eyes on *my* baby doll!

Time to get caught up on photos!

2011-12-20T21:29:00.001-08:00

So I’ve been pretty bad about posting photos and writing entertaining prose. I’m going to attempt to at least do the former! Perhaps over the next two weeks while we’re on Christmas break (YAY!) I’ll even attempt to entertain you once or twice as I get “caught up” on blogging!

I posted songs from the girls’ piano/violin recital here and I have just a couple pictures…mostly I’m posting them for the sake of my future scrapbooks, as they’re nothing earth-shattering to any of you, my faithful readers.

Guess who?

2011-12-19T15:54:00.001-08:00

Guess which one of my offspring said this: “Mom, when I’m talking to somebody who actually believes in Santa, I just tell them that Santa doesn’t come to my house because I’m naughty.”