Partying with Santa - NOT!

Party season has officially begun.  The girls kicked off the season with a party at their school.  I dug out my old curling iron from the 80s and gave them both some curly locks for the party.  Their school always puts on great parties.  They had treats, ornament making, games, music and Santa even stopped by the party.

Kendall is a big 4 year old this year, so she participated in the Christmas performance.

The biggest surprise of all was when Santa arrived.  Both girls knew in advance that he was going to be there.  Kendall had quite a list of questions that she wanted to ask him:

What do the reindeer eat? 

What does he eat? 

How fast does his sleigh go?  etc.

Sidney was talking a big game.  She claimed that she was NOT going to sit on his lap, but she WOULD talk to him.  Well as soon as Santa arrived and shouted out his "Ho. Ho. Ho."  She began screaming and climbed up me like a spider monkey.  There was no way I was going to be able to pry her loose.  We immediately headed for the treat table.  She was perfectly content as long as she did not have to see him OR hear him.  Kendall decided that she was not very interested in seeing him either.  She said that she would like to go back and finish making ornaments.  So that is exactly what we did.  The only problem was we actually had to get within 50 feet of Santa to get to the craft room.  Sidney clung to me relentlessly as we made our way across the room.  Once they were safely inside the classroom, they were the last ones to leave the party.

Two days prior to the school party, Kendall and I were in Walmart doing some shopping.  She has never been fearful of Santa.  We were finishing up ou shoping, when they announced over the speaker that Santa was in the store.  I asked her if she wanted to go see him and she sort of half nodded.  I thought that was a bit strange, but in my own excitement did not pay too much attention.  I grabbed her hand, and we started trotting over to the garden area.  Suddenly I saw Santa in the distance.  He started waving at us and I picked up the pace.  At that instant, Kendall put the breaks on.  She pulled my hand back and said, "I don't want to go see him."  I asked, "Are you sure?  He is right there waving at us."  She said, "No mommy.  I do not want to go see him."  Okay.  So we turned on our heels, as I sadly waved goodbye to Santa. 

Then last Friday there was my work Christmas party.  Each year, Santa makes an appearance.  He brings each of the kids a gift.  It is pretty cool.  Sidney did not think it was so cool.  Here she is right after Santa arrived. 

Kendall braved the waters to go accept both her and Sidney's gifts from the jolly old man. 

This year at the work party, we had a 'kids" room setup.  The kids had movies, games, music, food and even had gingerbread men to decorate.  There was a wonderful girl named Andrea who kept the kids entertained, while the parents got to enjoy the festivities.

This strange fear of Santa has not dampened the holiday spirit though.  Kendall made a special request for her own Christmas tree this year. 

Sidney got a special penguin that lights up to decorate her room for the holidays.

The girls can hardly wait for Christmas this year.  A funny story happened last night.  Kevin and I got the girls Go Go Pups for Christmas this year.  They have been asking for them since last August when they saw Hallie's.  For those who may not be familiar, these pups are the loudest things, and they CANNOT be stopped.  We have been hiding them in our closet.  Every time I turn out the light I have to fake cough to drown out the barking.  Saturday night I wrapped them up and put them under the tree.  Kevin was thinking that if they were wrapped up that they would not bark.  No such luck.  He closed the doors to the sun room in hopes that the girls would not notice.  So yesterday afternoon, I was in the bedroom and Kevin was upstairs.  I came out to hear the girls in the sun room and Kendall exclaiming, "SID, IT IS A GO GO PUP.  SID, WE ARE GETTING GO GO PUPS!"  Kevin came down and tried to convince her that she was hearing things.  Then the girls proceeded to shake rattle and roll every present under the tree.  They grew especially excited if they saw their name on a tag.  Their anticipation and excitement is contagious.  They informed me tonight, "Only 6 more days until Christmas!"

Dance Recitals

The girls are both taking dance this year.  Today they had their informal "in-class" recital in which they showcased everything that they have been learning.  They started off with the Nutcracker's Sugar Plum Fairy and ended with the Toy Store Dance.  It was Sidney's first recital and I was excited to see how she would do.  She has been a rather shy mommy's girl until recently.  She has definitely started to become more social.  Today at the recital, she did amazing.  It was great to see her having so much fun!  She also insisted on showing off her Christmas socks for the recital.

Wave to the camera!

Leaping and turning!

Mom here is the picture you have been requesting...my new hair color.

Kendall is in her second year of dance.  It was great to see how much she had grown and developed over the last year.  All of the girls in her class had improved so much.  At the beginning of the recital, they demonstrated all of the different positions and moves they are learning. 

 They did several dances in which they incorporated props.  We did not get a picture of my favorite dance, where they wore bracelets of bells. 

Way to go ladies!

A Season for Giving.

One of the things that we have trying to focus on this year is teaching the girls that Christmas is not all about them!  Just try teaching that to a four year old that has a Christmas list that could wrap around the neighborhood several times.  Today we took them to Toys-R-Us with the sole mission of buying toys for other boys and girls.  We explained to them that not all parents can afford gifts for their children.  We gave them the task of picking out a toy that they would really want to receive for Christmas.  The only catch was that when we left the store we would put it in the Toys for Tots box.  Kevin ran through the scenario several times.  They were well prepped. 

Sidney ran around the store changing her mind every 30 seconds.  She finally settled on a little dolly that came with a pacifier and several other accessories.  Kendall settled on an electronic train set.  As we were waiting in line to pay, a fight ensued amongst the girls.  The semi-humorous thing was that they were fighting over playing with the toys while in line, but then every few seconds one of them would say "Sid (or Kendall) this is not yours to keep.  We are going to give it to another boy or girl so they will smile on Christmas morning."  I stress that this was only semi-humorous because they were fighting nonetheless.  Once we paid for the items, the girls walked to the toy bin.  I half expected them to start the negotiations with us to keep the toys, but they did not.  Kendall put her toy right in.  Sid held hers above the box for about 30 seconds before letting go.  As we left the store, they were both pretty excited about making someone else's Christmas just a little bit brighter.

Adventures on Ice

Kevin and I decided to take the girls on their first ice skating experience yesterday.  We felt pretty confident that this would be a good idea, after all the rink has walkers that we can rent for the girls.  We packed everybody up and headed for the ice skating rink.  Once we got our skates on, I asked for two of the walkers to rent.  What?  You do not have anymore?  There must be a mistake.  Well, adventure it would be.  We geared up and headed for the ice.

We got there just in time to see the Zamboni machine finish cleaning the ice.  The girls were very excited.

It took us a couple of spins around the ice before we found our groove.  The girls did excellent.  Sidney sang Jingle Bells at the top of her lungs (she literally had a sore throat that evening from singing so much).  She kept yelling, "I LOVE ICE SKATING!"

Kendall did awesome.  It took her a minute to figure out how to keep the skates pointed straight.  She secretly told me that Daddy was having a hard time keeping his skates straight too:)

About halfway through somebody with a walker was leaving, and they generously asked if Kendall would like to use it.  She took off like a speed skater.  There was no turning back for her.  Sidney tried the walker out a couple of times, but I think she did much better skating between my legs. 

Sidney taking a break while the Zamboni machine cleaned the ice for a second time.  The girls kept saying that the ice was so golden and beautiful.

I took Kendall around the ice one last time before we headed out.  The last 1/4 of the circle she started going super slow.  I asked her if she was getting tired.  Her reply was, "No, I am just going very slow because this is my last time.  I love skating and when I get to the door I have to stop."  I suppose that means we will be heading back sometime soon.  Kevin and I were laughing as we were both so tired and sore.  It was a lot of work (or are we out of shape)?  Hmm...

Sporty Girls

Kevin and I decided that we had to make the most of the cheer outfits that Grandma T. sent the girls.  Photo Opp!  Kevin went with us and we had a great time.  Here is the one that he set up...

  

Child's Play

I have really enjoyed watching the girls grow and play lately.  Last weekend while my mom was here, the girls wanted to go shopping with the money that they had been saving.  Sidney has a grocery cart that my sister had gotten her for Christmas a couple of years ago and it has recently broken.  So when I asked her what she wanted to buy, she said a new shopping cart.  I explained that is was going to take every single penny that she had and it would be the only thing that she could purchase.  She acted as if she was okay with that.  I was certain that once we got to the store, she would change her mind.  We stopped at the Dollar Store first and Kendall bought a ton of little trinkets.  Sidney kept eyeing things and picking them up, but she would put them back promptly.  Kendall paid for her purchases and on the way out Sidney said, "Can we go buy my shopping cart now?"  I took her to Fred Meyer and we found the very last shopping cart.  She was ecstatic and pushed the cart around the entire store.  My mom and I were amazed at how well she got the concept.  Her first big purchase!

Sunday after my parents left, we decorated for Christmas and the girls spent the entire day playing.  If you could only hear them.  They were holding up their barbies shouting, "Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the main event."  I promise you we do not watch WWF around here.  Again, something that I have no idea where they picked it up.

"Cheers!".  Kendall has been wanting a nutcracker very badly.  She was super excited when I unpacked these.  I bought them 20 years ago (I must have been only 3 or 4 when I purchased them)!  Who believes that one?

Sidney brought down all of her farm animals.  About 10 minutes after I took this picture she turned on the music box and laid all of the animals on their sides.  She told me that they were taking a nap. 

Kendall sat for nearly an hour just listening to the music box.  Grandma Terrell gave me this music box a few years ago.  There are little skaters that move to the music.

Kendall is an extremely giving girl, so I was slightly shocked when we set out to make Christmas gifts for her Aunties and Grandmas.  She spent much of the time trying to talk me into keeping them.  She literally cried at one point.  I tried to explain the concept of giving, which I thought she had already understood.  After a few minutes it dawned on me that she was not being selfish, per say, she just enjoyed making the gifts so much that she just didn't want to give them up.  However once she saw the cool packaging that we were going to wrap them in, she got over it.  Here are Sidney and Kendall carrying their creations to the Christmas tree.  Now they cannot wait for the recipients to open them.

  

A Very Yummy Thanksgiving!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend.  My parents arrived last Wednesday.  We were very excited to show them our new home.  My mom brought down my re-vamped drapes.  These were the drapes that my mom made for me last Christmas.  They were in the master bedroom at the old house, but we wanted to put them in the dining room at our new house.  The only trick was that they were about 18 inches too short.  My mom came up with a great idea.  She used some very nice trim and then used the reverse side of the same fabric to add a bit of contrast.  They turned out very nice.  Her talent never ceases to amaze me.  Thank you mom!

We started off Thanksgiving with Cinnamon rolls and yummy appetizers.  My dad made his famous bacon-wrapped water chestnuts!  Don't look at the clock too closely, you may see that it was not even noon before the wine corks were popped.

Kendall even got in on some of the action as she helped my mom with some of the appetizers and prep work.

Sidney mostly enjoyed eating the fruits of our labor.  Here she is with the last two olives on her fingertips. 

The Brandt's joined us for dinner.  It was a great time.  Emily just came right in and started playing with the girls.  As she was leaving that day, I heard her invite the girls over to her house to play.  She told them, "You should come over to my house.  We have different toys we can play with."  Such a sweet girl! 

Claire got to sit at the kiddie table with the bigger girls.  I think she thought she was pretty hot stuff!

My girls got to have their first taste of "real" cranberries courtesy of Kristin (as opposed to the kind that come out of a can).  They absolutely loved them.  Later that evening when I asked them what their favorite thing was, they both told me cranberries.  My favorite thing was most definitely the sweet potatoes that Chris brought!

The girls got a lot of snuggle time with my parents. 

My parents dragged me to Walmart at 10pm on Thanksgiving Day to get one of the door busters.  After nearly watching two grown adults break into a fist fight, we left empty handed.  We all agreed that was a very dangerous place to be.  After returning home, I logged onto the computer at midnight and was able to get the "door buster deal" online, no problem.  We did a lot of eating, a lot of sleeping, a bit of shopping and took quite a few long walks exploring the new neighborhood.  It was a great weekend!

I'll take one of everything please.

This weekend Kevin and I decided to rent a hotel room and take the girls on a mini-vacation.  We chose one with a very large swimming pool and requested an early check-in.  It was VERY fun!  We all played in the pool and oscillated from pool to jacuzzi for several hours.  Kendall practiced her belly-flops (at least that is how it appeared) and Sidney was actually jumping all the way into the pool by herself.  Kevin and I had a lot of fun as both of us are pretty strong swimmers, but rarely take the opportunity to do so nowadays.  Kevin impressed us all by swimming from one end of the pool to the next without coming up for air.  Both girls were amazed that their parents could do "stop bad guy, stop" and "ice cream scoops".  Oh what skills we have! 

 After a long pool time, the girls and Kevin went up to the room while I ran out and grabbed some food for dinner.  We gorged.  Then Kevin did the biggest party foul of them all.  He dropped a brand new bottle of Bailey's on the tile floor.  WHAT???  Of course that was totally unacceptable, and he quickly ran out for a replacement bottle. 

The girls snuggled up into the bed and watched cartoons while Kevin and I sat in the other room and watched football (Kevin) and developed a landscaping plan (Heather).  The Bailey's turned on my creative side and I came up with an outstanding plan.  We'll have to see what we think of the Bailey's infused yard arrangement in a few more days...

This morning Sidney's eyes were open at 6am and her first words were "I am ready for breakfast".  So, I took her down to show her the buffet.  She was in awe.  In fact she literally sampled everything on the buffet.  I will list just a few:  oatmeal, french toast sticks, waffles, banana nut muffin, bagel, sausage, froot loops, apple juice, milk, etc.  It was hilarious.  She literally ate one bite of everything.  I have never seen anything like it.  When we returned to the room, she complained that her stomach hurt.  Gee, I wonder why.

After breakfast settled, it was time to hit the pool again for a few more hours of swimming.  When we got home Kendall sat on the couch and fell asleep in about 2 minutes.  It was a great time.  Something so simple, yet so much fun!