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.

Happy Thanksgiving 2006

We're off to our friends house for lots of food and company. We miss ALL our out of town family and friends and wish you a safe and happy Thanksgiving.

Cupcake Fun

We made cupcakes and the girls frosted their own. It was finger licken' good.

This Time Last Year...

Carys and Helen on the swings last Fall.

Quiet Times

Cullen and I have been cooking every weekend for a while. We spend almost the entire Sunday preparing meals for the week. This has saved both of us untold stress of week-day dinners.

It was quiet one Sunday afternoon. We peeked into the living room and this is what we saw. Helen was kind enough to give us a play by play of how she got up there once we took her down the first time. Carys is not pictured here because for some reason she was only wearing underwear, and I hate for ya'll to think I let my girls run around naked all day.

Twinkle Twinkle

Helen is rapidly developing language and loves to communicate with her hands and words she picks up. She's quick to mimic words, but she loves twinkle twinkle b/c she can tell the story with her hands.

Halloween Parade

We did the Halloween parade in Oak Park this year. The girls were dressed and we walked down one of the main streets in Oak Park and trick or treated businesses. As you can see we were not the only ones there.

Pumpkin Creation

Carys and I decided to paint and glitter our pumpkins this year. I initially thought we might have some traditional pumpkin faces on them but it turned out more free flowing which is just like Carys envisioned it.

Trick or Treat

Carys and Helen were CUTE in their costumes. Carys did go trick or treating with the group of kids assembled at Tiffany's house. Helen and I did not go this time, we stayed warm and snuggled in Auntie Tiffany's house.

First Field Trip "The Great Pumpkin Patch"

Sorry there are not pumpkin pictures yet. Carys took her first field trip yesterday and she had a great time. She's modeling her new cut.

Early Snow

Earlier this month we had our earliest snow ever I believe. Our friends were on their way to Vermont when their layover in Chicago was delayed due to windy conditions, not snow. I know they were surprised to see snow the next day but thankful that the conditions were OK for them to continue with their planned vacation.

Carys is very interested in the snow but Helen is close to being mortified. I'm not sure if it was the cold in addition to the cold white flakes landing on her. It dropped temperature rapidly while we were walking home and poor Helen cried the whole way. Mommy also did not anticipate snow or temperature drops or I would have had her in a bigger coat.

It's going to be a great winter, we are mostly looking forward to the hot chocolate.