Fun Memories

We played lots of games at Grandmom and Pop's house! Maisie got the game "Pretty Pretty Princess." Maisie should know I love her when this mama plays that game with her. :)

 Analise got "Guess Who" and loved playing! 

 We gave Analise "Sorry" for Christmas but didn't have time to teach her how to play. Plus, I figured there was no one better to teach her than Aunt Peg. We played that game a lot growing up, so it was fun playing it again.

 Sadie liked to beat this tin.

 Some good friends gave the girls these red cowboy hats. Thanks B and G!

 The girls spent a morning playing in the snow since this was the first chance they'd had this winter.

 One evening after dinner out at the best Mexican restaurant, we took a drive through the fantasy of lights. We enjoyed all the displays, but this one was my fave.

 One morning we went for donuts at Dunkin' Donuts.

Christmas with Too Far Away Family

We left for Indiana on Weds. afternoon after Analise was finished with school at 1:15. We hit the road at 2:30 and made good time to our hotel five hours away. We were blessed to be upgraded to a bigger room, so that was nice having extra space! We let the girls swim for awhile before going to bed. And actually Analise was the only one that swam; the other two hung out in the hot tub with me. :)

We made rest of the long journey on Thursday. Thankfully Brandon found a way around the major city that always gives us fits. I'll choose quiet country roads over major traffic any day. The girls did awesome in the van. They played, colored, sang songs, did Mad Libs and watched movies. We now have enough headsets for each girls to have her own. Yeah!

 After a dinner of steak and salmon, the girls just HAD to take a bubble bath in the jet tub. Aunt Peg got to witness the crazy fun.

We had a quiet Christmas Eve at home. While the girls rested, Brandon and I ventured out to the mall so he could look for black shoes. We had pizza for dinner and then headed to church for the Christmas Eve service. It was wonderful to sing with my family and for the pastor to remind us what  a gift the Father sent to us - His Son Jesus! The girls did a nice job of sitting quietly during the service. It probably helped that the adults out numbered kids. After we got home from the service, we took a few pictures, put the girls to bed, and Brandon went to bed, too, because he wasn't feeling well. Rest of us played the game Sequence. I loved that time of togetherness filled with lots of laughter.  Here are some pictures from that night:

I was so proud of the girls on Christmas Day. First of all - they didn't get up super early! And when they did wake up, they were so patient in opening gifts. Brandon was still not feeling well, so he didn't come down until after lunch. We went ahead and opened stockings and Peg and Danny's gifts. We were SUPER blessed with great gifts. We did stockings first. Our stockings are the best; they are full of practical and impractical things. And they aren't small by any means.

Sadie and her stocking:

After stockings, we went upstairs and ate the traditional Christmas breakfast: cinnamon twist coffeecake and sausage/egg casserole. Mmmm...after that we opened part some of the gifts. I love how we open from youngest to oldest, one at a time. It stretches out the fun that way. :)

Aunt Peg and Uncle Danny blessed the girls with the Kid's Dance for the Wii. Lots of fun!

Though Brandon wasn't there, I let each of the girls open their Santa gift. I took video of it so he could see their reactions. I say Santa did pretty good. :)
Sadie and her new laptop.

A Cinderella set for Maisie, my princess girl

Whoo-hoo! Analise now has her own Razor scooter!

My mom made another delicious meal - salad, prime rib, mashed spuds, carrot souffle, rolls.

We were able to open gifts with Brandon in the late afternoon. Thankfully he was feeling better by then. Here he is with his stocking. I wonder where Analise is...

Maisie got her own camera!

Analise was excited and surprised to see she got Twinkle Toe shoes

Another George movie. Yeah! Each girl got her own Zhu Zhu Pet. See what Maisie's looks like...

We love Little People!

And I got another Vera Bradley bag. And I'm not even having a baby! :)

It was a fun filled day full of many blessings!

Arrest These Merry Gentlemen

Our church did a kid's Christmas musical this year. Analise sang in it, and I helped! It was so much fun!  It required more time at church on Sunday morning, but I didn't care. It was so fun to be with kids again. I came home with a kid high each week. :) Analise enjoyed the time with her friends and singing songs about the birth of Christ. She had a small role as an angel. Here she is:

Here we are standing in front of the little town of Bethlehem.

Our Christmas

We decided to have our family Christmas on Sunday evening. We didn't have many options left, so that worked well. We picked up some pizza on the way home from the musical and again had another meal by candle light.

 My aunt sent us a real pine center piece, and we loved it! We had a few meals by candle light (along with some Christmas tree lights) and the girls thought it was lots of fun. I think it will be the beginning of a new tradition. Thanks, AK!

 Here are the girls in their fun masks/glasses. What a hoot!

 Needless to say, the girls enjoyed opening their presents. We chose things that made them happy, so that made me happy.

 Maisie is into puzzles right now, so she was excited about a new George puzzle!

 Some new reading material for my reader. A Christan series...yeah!

 My little bow collector.

 I got a couple of new bird feeders to put out front in my little courtyard. Now while I stand at the sink (which seems like a lot!) I can see something to take my mind off the dishes.

Christmas With the Local Fam

We celebrated Christmas with the local family on the 18th. My MIL made two yummy soups for dinner, and then we took turns opening gifts. It was fun to be with everyone and seeing all the excitement when each gift was opened. We are SUPER blessed!

Analise was looking at one of her presents before we began opening. When she picked this one up (from her aunt) I figured she would know exactly what it was. Since all three love nail polish as much as they do, I was shocked when Analise says, "I know what this one is; it's a bullet!" We laughed and laughed  over that one. 

Sadie knew exactly what to do this year. I still had her sit on my lap though, so I could enjoy that time with her.

Here is Maisie, sitting on Grandma's lap, opening her "bullet."

Grandma got Sadie and Maisie cute tutus, along with masks. They have been worn a lot around the house! They seem to think when they put on their tutu, they are a princess.

All cozy while watching others open their gifts.