Merry Christmas

We had a lovely Christmas.

Santa came!

Peter is ready for duck hunting with Daddy!

American Girl dolls were at the top of the girls' lists. Caroline got the newest historical girl "Caroline" and Helen got a Bitty Baby, which she named "Helen".

Santa remembered to leave a treat for Tigger.

This was one of the only things Helen asked for - a "blow flute" just like her music teacher's at school.

Peter got lots of wheeled things. And balls. Hooray for boy things!

Princess karaoke

Our gift to each other was a new piece of artwork for our family room.

It was unintentionally a merry "Grizz-mas", due to all the gifted Grizzlies items. It just kind of happened. Peter got a mini Grizz from his sisters. Helen wanted to get Daddy a flag (no idea where that came from), so I ran with it and got him a flag pole set up and the official NBA Grizzlies flag. Not pictured is Kevin's new Grizzlies polo shirt Caroline picked out for him. Helen's favorite player is Mike Conley. Kevin found this jersey on sale several weeks before Christmas. She is really proud of it and has hopes of meeting Mike to show it to him. And I love scarves, so of course I love my Grizzlies arena scarf! I'd say we're all fixed up for game days!

Evidence of Christmas good times

It was just the 5 of us here at our house for Christmas eve and Christmas day. Kevin worked through Christmas day, so we celebrated with our families both before and after the actual holiday. Honestly, I kind of like stretching the holiday out for as long as possible. I think the kids do, too. Who doesn't love 4 different celebrations with loved ones?

~~~~~

As for all of the musical happenings, they all went well. I closed out Christmas Eve services with a midnight postlude that, although quiet, was so fitting. This tune appeared again and again in my musical involvements throughout the month. I took that as God giving me a not-so-subtle reminder. I don't know that I did the best job, but I tried throughout the month to reflect on the words of this hymn and remember that my ultimate goal here on earth not only at Christmas but every day is to rejoice in Him!

In dulci jubilo:

Good Christian men, rejoice
With heart and soul and voice;
Give ye heed to what we say:
Jesus Christ is born today!
Earth and heaven before him bow
And he is in the manger now.
Christ is born today! Christ is born today!

And because I'm a good music nerd, I looked up the English translation of the original Latin. I love the line about our hearts' joy lying in the manger.

In sweet rejoicing,
now sing and be glad!
Our hearts' joy
lies in the manger;
And it shines like the sun
in the mother's lap.
You are the alpha and omega!

May He be our hearts' joy not just at Christmastime, but every day! (And I'm counting that as my happy 2013 to all of you!)

Treats

Daddy worked a week of nights recently. After his last night, he brought doughnuts home for breakfast. The girls were thrilled! (Alright - Mommy was excited, too.)

I don't winter well and the spring-like weather we had at the beginning of February was very welcome. This is how Daddy helps Mommy with dinner preparations when the weather is nice. Hurry up, spring!

Hula hoop

Caroline is a hula hoop champ. She comes by it honestly - I won a few contests in my younger days. You didn't know that about me, did you? It's true.

And Helen is hilarious. I love that she's hula hooping in her own unique way. She's just so fun.

Snowed in

We've been snowed in for a couple of days.


But it hasn't been that bad.


I feel guilty saying "snowed in" when we have friends on the east coast that are really snowed in. This is nothin'.


We've wintered a lot this year and have made the most of it.


The girls and I were excited to finally get out of the house this afternoon.


But, come on, SPRING!

Tee-pee

The tee-pee...

There's a children's store just down the road from our house. I've never been in, but we walk past it to get to the world's most awesome children's book store (Blue Manatee). In the front windows sit two adorable fabric tee-pees. And guess what? Every time we walk past the store front (which is quite frequently because we all love books), I tell Kevin that it would be so cool to have one. Could I make it?

And this is when my husband normally tells me that I have too many ideas, too many unfinished sewing projects, it's more trouble than it's worth, just buy it if you want it. But not this time. Kevin came home, did the complicated geometry/trigonometry, and calculated how much fabric I needed.

The fabric arrived and we were able to put the entire thing together in a couple of late-night sewing sessions. I wish I had pictures of the construction process. I think we both thought this was going to be a royal flop. It is anything but a flop! The girls LOVE it. And I am really very proud that we were able to build this!



(If you want some generic guidelines to build your own, let me know. It was really very easy.)

I do have to tell you that for weeks before Christmas, Caroline was asking Santa for a "ladybug tent" that she had seen in a catalog. She was very specific about wanting a ladybug tent. We decided that this would take the place of the ladybug tent. I worried that Christmas morning would arrive and Caroline would look around and say, "Where's my ladybug tent?" Much to my relief, when she saw it and played in it she declared, "This is BETTER than a ladybug tent!" Whew!

Indian summer

Y'all, I've got so much to post and I'm so far behind in posting it!


We really, really enjoyed every moment of the warm weather two weeks ago. It was wonderful.


I let Caroline do some art projects out on the deck.


Helen is always up to something.


We took a trip to the zoo. It was perfect - warm weather, no crowds. Awesome.

We've been busy! More to come...

5 months

Sweet Pea turned 5 months old on August 25. She's still tiny, but growing up so beautifully.


And the big sister is growing up beautifully as well.


I still have to pinch myself. I have daughters. Incredible.

Craft time

Afternoons go so much more smoothly if we have some little project. I cut a door and a window into an OJ bottle with a box cutter and after some creative interior and exterior decorating by Caroline - voila! - instant fairy house. We went to Michael's and picked out some tiny wooden things to make the fairies' abode a bit more comfy. I got some peg dolls and fashioned some wings out of pipe cleaners and faces with markers.

The great thing about this project is that it has entertained her for hours. I had been looking at fairy dolls at toy stores for around $10. This entire setup probably cost me $10 and she loves it! A toy store doll would have been boring after a day, I'm certain. This homemade version has inspired a whole lot of imaginary play, flitting about, and pixie-dust sprinkling. Happy Caroline = Happy Mama!

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Get your own

Emily and Jonathan came to visit us last weekend. Saturday morning was yucky and rainy, so we waited until the afternoon to head downtown. We went to the Contemporary Art Center. It was built by a famous architect, so Emily and Jonathan really wanted to see it. It's also the home to the Unmuseum. Caroline had a blast exploring and touching and doing. I think the adults enjoyed it a little bit, too!

It's really easy to entertain two architects for an afternoon. We just hopped in the car and took them by all the neat and famous buildings in town. :-) There are quite a few, especially on the University of Cincinnati campus.

After the driving tour, we headed down to Newport and went to the Hofbrauhaus. It was very fun. Caroline is still doing the chicken dance.

Sunday, we had waffles at the Coffee Emporium - about 2 blocks away from our house. That's dangerous. Those waffles were delicious! Then we took Caroline to the park. Emily must have pushed Caroline in the swing for 30 minutes. Kevin swung the baby right to sleep. With all the children in expert hands, I really wished I had brought a book along with me.

It was another great weekend entertaining guests!

Play dough

Homemade play dough inspired an afternoon of creating.

Mommy made a bunny.

It was a very fun activity!

Park

June so far

We're only 11 days into the month of June and we've been very busy! In no particular order...

Kevin and I celebrated 9 years of marriage.


The girls grew some.


Kevin was awarded a scholarship for "exemplary academic and clinical competence in radiology residency". His superiors made it clear that Kevin is a great guy to work with. Can I just say that my husband is awesome?


We went to the Children's Museum with some very good friends.



We had a going away party for the same very good friends (and us).


Helen grew some more.


Oh yeah...and we're getting ready for moving day! More events to come...