Christmas AM

The girls actually slept until about 6:45. We set up santa presents the night before. It was basically everything we'd gotten them since we did not have the time or the energy to wrap this year and luckily our tree was full.

The kitchen set was the main gift for them both. This year we did not put tags on things becuase the whole pile was for both of them. At some point we will have to make a designation but it seems to be working out fine for now. For some of the gifts, I got two kinds of each, two strollers, two marble mazes, two coloring books etc. Some things are just too hard to share and more than that, sometimes they both want to play at the same time with things and yes, we do take turns too but they are still a little young to fully get it.

So they had an early morning exploring santa's gifts which gave Cullen and I some time to drink some coffee and get breakfast in the oven. We made a spinach and gruyere cheese strata last night and it needed an hour to bake this AM. All I can say it it was worth the wait!

Christmas Tree

Here is our tree bursting at the seams with gifts for us from family and friends. Thanks to all of you who truly help us make Christmas magical for the girls. We are trying to keep the focus on God and baby Jesus. We did make it to church on Sunday with the girls and Carys was tending to her "baby Jesus" on Christmas Eve. I think the girls will understand why we are so grateful and sharing during this season and how we should be that way all year long.

Christmas Dance

Carys and Helen danced a little Christmas Eve performance for us. Helen even dressed up for the first time although the feather boa did not stay on too long. Carys is really getting creative with her movement and this next session, she's moving up to the 4-5 year old class.

Dear Santa

One final note today without a picture. Carys found out she could ask Santa for presents. She did the cutest thing when we got out of the car the other day. She looked up into the sky and said "Dear Santa, I would like a crayon box and a play house for me and Helen". It was so cute, I had no choice, even though I'd already gotten their gifts, to go and get these items. When I asked what would happen if Santa didn't bring these things, she said "oh no, he told me he would" and that was that.

Breadmaking I

Poppy and Carys made some bread for the week-end. It is delicious! They had fun putting the ingredients together and the most fun eating the bread. Poppy made cheese bread, jam bread and the biggest hit, cinnamon and sugar bread. Yummmm.

Final Day of School

It was the last day of school before Christmas break and the girls were dressed too cute to go without posing in front of the tree. Helen is getting the hang of this picture thing FINALLY and did some cute poses with big sister.

Christmas at Tiffany's 2006

The girls had lots of fun at Tiffany's house for our Christmas get-together. Henry was there and they enjoyed (or fought) over their new aquisitions.

We had finger foods and Carys was free to roam the buffet table. If I had to call her favorite it would be a tie b/n the white chocolate covered pretzels and the bacon wrapped figs (a YUMMY Tiffany specialty).

Helen was happy with the cheese and veggies and chocolate she could grab from the table and her big sister.

Where's Carys?

In the same performance, Carys and the entire pre-school group sang Christmas carols for the parents. Can you find Carys?

Carys first Christmas Performance

Carys had her school Christmas performance last week. She had a great time. She met with her Japanese group and went over their story one last time before performing. The children did the story called "The Turnip" which was first read in Japanese. Poppy and I were not familiar with the story but after seeing the kids perform, we could guess that there was a turnip in the ground that a single kid could not pull out and each time he tried, he called another group of kids to help pull and once all the kids were helping, they were able to pull the turnip out.

Carys 'n Claire

Carys has a new buddy at school, Claire. She's younger than Carys and I think she reminds Carys of Helen. She's such the big sister with her and helps with EVERYTHING. The teachers are trying to encourage them to become independent without sacrificing the friendship. We are going to get together for a play date soon so they can have some fun outside of school.

Ready for the BIG Snow

I realized Carys did not have a snowsuit that fit after the first big snow of the season. After I bought this, she asks every day when it's going to snow. Of course, she doesn't understand I'm relieved it has not snowed again. I would like it to snow while we are on vacation but it will inveitably snow the week after. At any rate, Carys will be ready.

PINKY!

Helen LOVES Pinky. I'm not sure I can say the same about Pinky but they've just begun their friendship. For the most part she's gentle with him and he's VERY tolerant of her except in those cases where a tail is being pulled.

Flower Arrangement

I've seen a couple examples of what I call "montessori thinking". Carys is sorting and ordering things like crazy. Maybe it will counteract the scatter-brain genes she got from me.

Flowers!

These play flowers have been in our house for some time but we just let the girls have fun with them last week. They are bendy and easy to hold and apparently are lots of fun for babies.

Christmas Decorating

We've pulled the decorations and the tree from the basement. The girls had a quasi fun time waiting for us to get the tree together and decorate it. Helen was sorely diappointed when she discovered the ornaments were not for her.

Baby Pantry

We're trying to set up a pantry for the girls so they can grab their dishes, spoons and cups. I don't think this will be fully functional until they are a bit older, but they are getting the idea.

Shopping

Carys and Helen are great at imaginative play. They went on a shopping trip a couple of weeks ago to get candy and bananas.

Snowstorm 2006

We had our first BIG snow which was fun for Carys. Helen, not so much.