Christmas #3

I haven’t had time to post anything about our final Christmas celebration, which was at my family’s house over New Year’s weekend.  The weather is so nice today I sent the girls outside so I would have a few moments to update the blog.

As I just said, New Year’s was when we celebrated Christmas with my family.  The whole family was there, we played lots of games, and opened lots of presents.  With my family, there is never a shortage of gifts or food.

David looking at the stockings for our family.  Mom decided to put our stockings on top of bags filled with our stocking stuffers since she can never get everything in the stockings anyway.

The piles of presents which are not even completely passed out.  Also, my parents, brother, and youngest sister already exchanged their gifts on Christmas so this was just what was left.  My mom really loves giving.  Not only does she give to her family, neighbors, church family, etc., but she also makes sure that several needy families in other countries receive gifts of chickens, goats, etc. (through World Vision) in the girls’ names.  That is a wonderful tradition that I hope my girls will learn to appreciate as they get older.

My sister brought their kitten again (her name is Razzy), which the girls love; it is the only cat that will let the girls come near her (my parents have two cats also).  Razzy had a great time playing with the tissue and wrapping paper that was left on the floor.  She even buried herself in it, then Bentley decided to copy her.

Razzy in the paper.

You can hardly see her, but Bentley is under the paper trying to copy Razzy.

My mom has a little wooden sleigh that holds a couple of snowmen, and it seems every Christmas one of the girls has to climb into it.  Bria has gotten too big, and honestly Bentley is probably to big too, but she still sat in it anyway.  (This will have to be the last year or it is not going to make it through another Christmas.)

The sleigh is just her size.

Now that I have caught up all the Christmas posts, it is on to the next thing.

Christmas #2

We spent the actual Christmas weekend at David’s parents' house, along with his sisters and their families.  It is always a full house and we have a great time.  The cousins all get to play together, the adults get to catch up, and grandpa and grandma have all of their grandkids in one place.  Being able to get the whole family together is a blessing.

One of our favorite traditions is leaving the grandkids with grandpa and grandma while the adult siblings and their spouses get a night out together.  It is usually just for a meal, but it gives us time to visit, laugh, and take a break from the kids.  We started this tradition a while back and have continued it no matter what the weather has been like.  Of course, we can’t complain about the weather this year: it was 40+ degrees everyday through the weekend.

The kids enjoyed their time together, but they also enjoyed the gift opening.  Everyone wanted to play with each other's gifts just as much as they enjoyed their own.  We opened gifts on Christmas Eve, so they had several days to play with them before coming home.

Each of the girls opening one of their gifts.  They won the award for getting the gifts with the most pieces.  Almost every gift they opened had a lot of pieces to it.

Everyone opened their stockings on Christmas morning before we went to church.  After church and lunch, the pastor of David’s parents’ church rode their horses over to the house so the kids could see them.  All the kids loved it.

Bria and some of the cousins looking at one of the horses.

Bentley looking at the pastor’s dog with Aunt S.

What a great holiday!  I don’t know if I said this in the last post, in case I didn’t:

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Christmas at Home

Saturday morning we had our little Christmas with our girls.  We had company coming later in the day (and staying for a few days).  Then the girls were going with David’s parents until we go there for Christmas.  Saturday was the last day before Christmas that we could have our celebration.

The girls each took their items out of their stockings and opened their present.

This is the first year we have actually had something in their stockings—slippers for Bentley and kid friendly scissors for Bria.

Bria was reading her tag while Bentley got started opening her gift.

Bentley’s doll house castle.

Bria’s doll house stable.

The girls played with them quite a bit after opening them (especially Bria).  We hoped they wouldn’t fight over them since they were very similar, but Bria wanted both of them all to herself.  Bentley lost interest after a little while and Bria got her way.

After the gift opening, the girls and I made some Christmas cookies for the church Christmas program on Sunday evening.  David and I participated in it again this year, so all the grandparents took care of the girls while we performed.

The girls putting sprinkles on the Christmas cookies.  They loved it.  Bentley just wanted to keep going and figured out how to get the lid off of the sprinkles all by herself (Uh-Oh!).  They also helped me use the stand mixer and add the ingredients to the bowl, but I didn’t get pictures of that.

Little Explorer

As the cold weather becomes more frequent it is harder to find ways for the girls to be entertained.  When the weather is decent enough I make sure they get outside, or if there is snow on the ground they get all bundled up and head out.  But what is there to do when it is just plain cold and there is no snow?  They have spent a lot of time coloring, building jungle-gyms out of all the couch cushions and pillows, and looking at books.  Sometimes one of them will get dressed up in something silly from the small assortment of clothes and various hats that are in their toy box.  Yesterday, Bentley decided to be an explorer.

Bentley dressed herself this way, but usually it is Bria who dresses Bentley up. 

Bria has been using the Christmas aprons that grandma brought and putting two on at a time, one backwards, and pretending they are dresses.  I didn’t get a picture of that one yet.  They have entertained themselves so far, but their attitudes tell me they are already tired of being cooped up.

Thanksgiving

It is wonderful how holidays still bring families together despite the miles and the schedules.  I am grateful that we still make the time for each other.  Over the years I’ve found that we laugh the most with our families, and that is something to look forward to every year.

This Thanksgiving was relatively laid back.  We spent our time at my parents’ house, and had 70+ degree weather on Thanksgiving day allowing us to get outside and have some fun.

Bria helping rake the last of the fall leaves.

Bentley sitting in the huge pile that was made.

Both girls in the pile.

Grandpa blowing the leaves off Bentley while she was swinging with Uncle C.

Aunt T trying to stay clean.  Uncle C made sure she had a few leaves on her later.

Bria cuddling with Uncle N, during the parade I think.

Bentley helping me with something in the kitchen, while Grandma and Aunt D did the real work.

All the leaf dust made Bentley quite congested.  Now that we are home she has so nicely shared it with me, but she seems to be doing a lot better.

Holiday Cheer

We had our first snow of the season on Saturday and the girls couldn’t have been more excited.  As soon as Bentley saw the snow she kept saying “Winter Outside”.  I didn’t know that she understood that snow and winter went together.  The girls, especially Bria, spent hours outside in the snow despite the cold. 

Each one played their own way out in the snow, so it was hard to get a picture of them together.  The large snowflakes made it hard for the camera to focus on the girls in the pictures.

With the first snow, being gone for Thanksgiving, and wanting to have the Christmas decorations up when we get home from Thanksgiving, we decided to decorate our house for Christmas yesterday.  Again, the girls couldn’t have been more excited.  David and I got the tree out and put together, strung the lights, hung the stockings, and wrapped the garland on the bannister.  The girls wanted to hang the ornaments on the tree, so we gave them some the non-breakable ornaments and their ornaments and let them hang them how they wanted.  David and I hung our own ornaments after the girls had all of theirs’ up.  Now when we get home from Thanksgiving we can turn on all the lights.

Bria trying to look Christmassy in her own way.

Bentley with some extra Christmas stockings on her feet like socks.

The girls deciding who should hang each ornament on the tree.

When Bentley comes out of her room from naps and in the morning, she says excitedly, “Christmas time.”  I also enjoy the cheer of the holiday lights on the dark winter nights.

After church yesterday, we had a Thanksgiving potluck. We don’t want to miss the special time to be thankful for all the blessings God has given us, or let Christmas excitement overshadow Thanksgiving.  Both holidays, however, are something we should remember and celebrate all throughout the year, not just on the days that have been set aside for them.

Twin Cities Weekend

This last weekend, we took a long weekend to visit David’s and my sisters in the twin cities.  The girls played with their cousins and my sister’s new kitty, and we had some time with adults and to do some Christmas shopping.  We thought the drive would be a bit long for the girls, but they actually did quite well (better on the way home than on the way there).  We had good time with both our families, but it still felt short.  The holidays are coming so we can see both of them again very soon.

Bentley with cousin L playing in the hide-a-bed where David and I slept.

All the cousins getting ready for bed.

Bentley wondering why cousin L would put himself in a timeout.

Bentley and Bria still trying to play with the kitty even after they wore her out.

Bria and Bentley at Uncle C and Aunt T’s apartment.