The Stockings Were Hung

The girls were excited to finally hang their stockings by the fire this morning

 

A Few of My Favorite Things

 My favorite views of the house at Christmas time

Too Good to Forget

A few things heard from Millie today that are just too good to forget :).

 After talking about donating a toy as our Christmas activity for the day: 

         "Four is too many for our family, I want to donate Merrill"

Talking about the little boy who hit her on the head at school today:

         "I will never forget that boy, even when I am grown-up.  I will tell my children about him when my husband is at work."   That poor boy -- I have no doubt that she is not kidding about this!  

Random thought:

         "I'm not as smart as I was before, my smartness went away.  My sickness made my smartness get less."    Hmmm, I hope not :(.

Magic

So last Friday the girls not only had a gingerbread-house-making play date and met their cousin for the first time, they also went to the Magic House that night with my parents.  Whew, what a day!  The girls had a great time making snowflakes, eating (more) gingerbread, and exploring the Magic House at night!  Millie really enjoyed the Magic Treehouse exhibit where she got to play school and be a teacher.  Thanks, mom and dad for a fun night out for the girls!  (and Scott and me as we got to go shopping at the mall kid free :) )

Gingerbread

I wasn't so sure about this whole gingerbread house making thing when I started it as it didn't seem like the houses were going to stay together ... but we finally figured it out and they turned out pretty cute!  It made for a fun play date for the girls too!

Cousins

The girls really enjoyed meeting their new cousin, Baby Peyton, at the hospital on Friday.  Both girls were so sweet with her and intent on giving her lots of hugs and kisses :).  Merrill and I got to visit her and Jason and LoLo at home today too.  I think I'm going to love being an auntie to that sweet baby girl!

Santa and Babies

It's been a big week around here.  It seems like everyday has been packed with errands, decorating, Christmas activities,Santa,  family ... fun but also exhausting!  Plus, the best part of the week, my beautiful niece Peyton was born!! 

Painting ornaments on December 6th

Visiting Santa at the train station on December 8th

 Waiting for Santa, list in hand -- thank goodness there were books there!

Merrill slowly warmed up to Santa

Merrill bonding with Santa while Millie hammed it up for the camera

sharing her list with Santa -- best buds now!

After visiting with Santa, I got a chance to go up to the hospital and meet Peyton.  She is absolutely adorable, it was impossible not to fall in love with her on first sight.  My sister is doing great and she and Jason are already great parents.  It's really going to be a fabulous Christmas this year!

Merry Christmas to US!

Many thanks to our parents for helping us get a new range for Christmas.  It wasn't originally on our list, but the stove on our old one cracked making 2 of the 4 burners unusable.   Looks like we'll be getting a matching microwave for our birthdays in June!

I Made That!

My first homemade dress -- made 100% by ME!!  Complete with pockets, pleats, buttons/button holes, and a blind hem.  That last picture pretty much sums up my feelings on the subject :).