Christmas in January

Okay, I vow to get the blog back on track. Honestly! Over a month late. Whew.

Okay - let's start with a speed look at Christmas. Our little drummer boy got us all ready for Christmas eve...

Not only did we go to church, followed by racing around in the grass afterwards to let off steam...

But Papa showed up with a box of goodies that was too good to be true.  A little something for everyone. It was almost better than Christmas. Almost.

And the now-famous cinnamon rolls were prepped for the next morning...

We put together our first train to go around the tree (thanks, Grandmama and Pop Pop!) with Fordy saying "All Aboard!"

There was Grinch watching (Mom! I'm not scared this year!) with Papa after dinner...with at least one of them in Christmas jammies...

And of course, tracking Santa. What did we do before computers? Oh yeah. We sent letters.

And Grant was more excited about this than Fordy.

His very own Ford.

And soon they were off to bed with visions of sugar plums and these two little elves (and Grant, too) were wrapping and putting together very complicated thing with Christmas Vacation play in the background. Gotta have a little Chevy Chase when nuts and bolts and involved, right? (Thanks mom and dad!)

And here we are Christmas morning with Grandma holding them back....

And this, my friends, is the look of getting exactly what you asked for from Santa. Screaming. Yelling. Happiness.

Is it tears? Or is it joy? Periwinkle and Tinkerbell!!!!!

Look Papa!!!!!!!

And then there's Fordy, sleepily taking in the dump truck. He think's it's pretty cool (as long as he has two pacis at once -- this should answer the question as to whether I've weaned him of this habit yet!)

The trampoline was a big success....

And Ford is already driving dangerously in his very own Ford...

We thought the kitchen would be a big hit for sissy but it's quickly becoming brothers favorite thing. Cookies, anyone?

And later that day, sis donned her ridiculously cute "roller skating jacket" with her name on the front and Cinderella on the back. Are you kidding me, Aunt Christi? A winner. And Tink and Peri have not left her side...

This guy was having fun with Grandmama on the "wiiiiiing!"

And these frozen toes were pretty cute (still, socks are an issue, people!)

And the whole grandparent gang. What a group. What a blessing.

810. cinnamon rolls that turned out delish

811. family that graciously comes to us

812. band aids still being a big hit

813. actually remembering Jesus on Christmas amid the chaos 

Sunny December Disney Days

Are you ready for the great blog catch-up? I'm a tad behind...

Fordy is really getting old enough now to have some real fun. When sis was still in school before Christmas break, he and I would get some shopping done, grab a coffee (and for him, a scone) and have a sweet little time. I really, really love this age. No talking back. Slight complaining and lots and lots of hugs. Oh how I love this age. Truly. No doors slamming, name calling or attitude throwing. And also, less of an ability to see any spiritual (i can only hope) growth in them. So, there you go.

Here he is, surrounded by ladies who want to see the dimples in the local coffee place...

And him cruising in Old Town Pasadena just a week before the big parade came through...

And as soon as sis was out of school, we headed to Disneyland with Uncle Kev, Aunt Christi and Katy. It's become a tradition and I actually heard my anti-Disney husband say that he had a great time. Ha! Ba-schmumbug!

The kids were just a wee bit anxious for us to leave...

And this is how we tooled around the park...

As soon as we got inside and hooked up with the fam, Ford got a massive smile on his face when Aunt Christi grabbed him.

A Nieporte sandwiched between two Heatherlys...and just like last year, Katy bent over backwards to make sure our kids had a wonderful day. There was no Haunted House, Pirates of the Carribean or Space Mountain for our group (except one California Screamin' for Daddy and Uncle Kev!).

When Ford saw "Pooooooh!" during the parade. He's fascinated with Pooh. Absolutely obsessed.

When Abby saw Cinderella....

And later, up close and personal...

And now Belle is her favorite...

"This way, Fordy, to Bugs Land..." (wouldn't let go of Tigger all day)

The cutest cousins in the west....

Katy putting up with Abby's princess fascination. Tiana! Who told them not to "kiss any frogs, ya hear?"

Our crazy group (minus Grant)...

And as the evening wore on, the kids were glad I brought those new blankets from Grandmama...

And we stayed and stayed until Fordy and his new Tigger were wiped out. What a day!

805. warmer weather
806. layers to perfection
807. a very generous aunt who spoils the kids
808. a very generous cousin who did what we wanted
809. a very generous uncle who knew where to find the good drinks & churros!

Fear of the Great Mouse King Overcome

Grandmama came to visit in December in order to see Abby's ballet recital (all three minutes of it). She decided to bring Santa a little early....and it was a massive hit with the kids. Little Disney backpacks with blankets inside.

They both would not take off their "bookbags" as Grandmama called them...and Ford literally started crying until we realized he wanted his blanket on him.

And the next morning was the recital, with three of her best buds.

Fordy even wore red for the occasion.

And the daddies conspired behind their daughters flowers.

Proud mamas...

The actual performance (don't blink!) right before it was over.

And it was Abby's choice for lunch afterwards. Of course, it was sushi. Brother got a drawing lesson from Grandmama.

And the very next day Grandmama and Abby and I got dressed up (furs!) and headed to the Nutcracker. The Nutcracker! I thought she'd never make it past the first 10 minutes. She was afraid of the Mouse King before we even arrived. The large bag of gummies in purse was hopefully going to send her in the right direction.

Here she is with her "glass slippers", a top knot and a fake fur. Grandmama and I loved it.

Her nerves started kicking in, just as we saw Clara when we walked in. (Since then, she has wanted to sit in a chair, with her ballet shoes on, holding a Nutcracker "just like Clara.")

Did I mention the pearls?

We left for 5 minutes to give the Mouse King his stage time and then we were back, eating all the gummies and floating on that sugar high, dancing to the music in her seat. It was a grand success.

We think we've started a family tradition.

801. December traditions
802. anticipation
803. looking forward to advent readings
804. ballet success

Gingerbread House Girlie Afternoon

Before Christmas, one of Abby's little friends came over for an afternoon. Her mom and I figured that a gingerbread house would keep them busy for a bit.

After monitoring Fordy and trying to "help" them, after awhile I noticed that when I came back to them, they would both freeze and just look at me. Then after a second, they'd both chew once. Freeze again. Those sneaky little candy thieves were shoving in as much as they could and when I'd turn around they thought they were caught. Sugar high ensued!

Which lead to an afternoon of Nightgown Happiness. Two three year olds in Princess nightgowns. The best.

796. friends that come over
797. getting along
798. learning lessons
799. laughing til it hurts
800. living 5 minutes away

Prep and More Prep

In the mid-winter excitement, there was a series of days when we tried on her ballet recital costume again and again. This was risky.... if she freaked out and decided she just would not wear it "because it hurts!!!!" that was that. Horrible day-of, melt-down was likely to ensue. Not fun for any of us.

But.

If I was able to get her used to it, she'd be thrilled and even more excited for the recital. And, praise the Lord, that's what happened.

That and she raided my shoe closet (do I have a shoe closet? No... the area of my closet where my shoes are crammed) :





Things were looking up in terms of recital prep.

And after every ballet class, in order to prepare for Christmas, our dear friends would bring some books along and the girls would sit in a little circle, eat some snacks and while Ford ran circles around them, they were read a story.

We read The Sparkle Box this year. The main theme is that when we do good deeds, we write them down and put them in a special, sparkly box -- and on Christmas morning, that was Jesus' birthday gift. Cute idea. Although I often forgot to implement it!

Here are the girls after they made their sparkle boxes :

And we got a super duper fun gift this year -- an early visit from Grandma so we could make Christmas cookies! Remember last year? We're loving this tradition.



791. easy, peasy costume
792. borrowing every bit of it
793. ice cream love
794. on time flights
795. getting up with Grandma