Christmas

For Christmas this year we stayed home and both agreed that it was nice to not mess with the crowds, blizzards, and chaos of flying with 2 kids at Christmas-time! We will be flying to CA in March (Uncle Matt is getting married!) , Joel to Wisco in July (bachelor party), and then Wisco in August (Ryan's wedding). Anyway here's a few pics from the holidays--I didn't take too many.

Emily gave us the "elf on the shelf" this year. It's an elf that watches over the girls each day and then at night he flies to the North Pole and tells Santa if they've been good (it comes with a book that tells all about the elf). Each morning he comes back and is sitting in a different spot in the house. They LOVED looking for him each morning. Here they are talking to him (he's in the rain boot) and asking him what he did at Santa's house the night before.

Decorating cookies with Cat-mama on Christmas Eve. My favorite quote from Willa, "HEY! Santa ate all my cookies!! We gotta get 'em back!!"

Santa brought the girls a dollhouse, some "sewing stuff" for Larkin (she loves to sew), and lots of games we can all play together. We opened presents at our house Christmas morning, and then drove to Round Rock and opened even more presents! Larkin kept saying, "Maybe when I wake up from my nap Santa will come again!"


Larkin with her "princess crown." She is really into princesses and the color pink right now!!

Planting the seed

A few moms from our playgroup and I sponsored a needy family for Christmas. We chose a family that has two kids, a 9 yr old boy and a 10 yr old girl. They live in east Austin in a tiny house (300 sq feet) and the mom just had heart surgery. The dad is unemployed. When I called her on the phone to see what her needs were, she was so excited to hear that she had a sponsor. She said they needed groceries, clothing, and toys for the kids. She kept saying that they were just having a very hard time right now and thanked me profusely for helping.

It's been neat to see Larkin's reaction to all of this. When I first told her about the family, she pretty much just understood that a little boy was cold and didn't have a coat, so we were going to buy him one. Then after a few days she started asking questions like, "Why doesn't the boy have a coat?" and "Why don't they have any money? Why don't they have a job?"

Once everyone brought all the presents over so that Emily and I could deliver them, Larkin said, "I wish people would come over and bring ME presents!!" I turned that comment around and talked about how happy the little boy and girl were going to be when they got their gifts. She agreed but still thought people bringing her gifts was a great idea. Can't blame her!

Larkin came with me to drop the gifts off. She didn't say anything while we were there, but she did carry a gift inside all by herself and keeps talking about how she wants to wrap her front door in wrapping paper "just like our family." The family invited us inside their house and the kids were so incredibly excited and grateful for the gifts. As we left we could hear them all squealing behind the door. There were five of us who pitched in together to help them, so they got quite the jackpot of gifts, food, and clothes!

This afternoon Larkin and Willa were flipping through my cookie cookbook and Larkin was trying to pick out the cookies she wanted to make today. She pointed at some of them to make for Daddy, some for Willa, and some for "our family" (meaning the family we adopted.)

Then tonight I read Larkin Jack and Beanstalk at bedtime, and when it talked about how poor the mom and Jack were Larkin immediately interrupted me and said, "We should give them some food! But they probably live far away."

Joel and I agreed that this is something that we want to do with the girls every year, so next year we're going to adopt a family by ourselves and all go deliver the gifts together.

If anyone is interested in adopting a family this year or in the future, google Christmas Bureau of Austin.

Potty-time

Someone wants to be just like her big sister! Willa is refusing to wear a diaper on most mornings-"No! I want unner-wear! No diaper!!" Here's some pics of her in her undies after eating some spaghetti! Larkin is her cheering squad for potty training and always supervises closely. Willa has told Larkin, "Get out. I need my privacy!" but Larkin doesn't listen. Oh, those sisters!

Luminations

Last weekend we went to Luminations at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. They light up the trails there with paper bags and candles and you can walk through in the dark. The girls loved it! Their favorite part was chasing each other down the long pathways and giggling as they darted around other people. This first picture was me experimenting with the settings on my camera. As you can see, I have not yet learned how to photograph well in the dark!!

They also loved pretending to blow out the candles!

There is a lookout tower that has a view of the whole city. Here's some of the lighted pathways.

Everyday they are looking more and more alike! They are also the same weight now (28 lbs). Willa's belly is MUCH bigger than Larkin's. Willa is big and round and Larkin is tall and thin--but somehow it evens out and they can wear a lot of the same clothes now!

Santa

Emily and I took the girls to the mall today to deliver the kids' letters to Santa and to ride the train. We waited in line for maybe 15 minutes and then got to see Santa. All week Willa has been saying that she will not sit on Santa's lap--only Daddy should sit on Santa.

We walked up to Santa and they both gave him their letters, and then we had a short conversation with him about the cookies we will be leaving out for him. I got them to sit in his lap for maybe 20 seconds, but then Willa started freaking out and that scared Larkin, so we didn't get a picture. But at least we made it to his lap! I'm hopeful now for next year!!

Willa got a little scared of the train, so Daphne and Larkin rode it without her. They giggled and talked to each other as it circled round and round.

The three musketeers!

Uncle Matt and Uncle Pat's visit

Uncle Matt had a training to give in Waco this week, so Patrick bought a ticket too and came down as well. Cat-mama and Papa took us to our favorite German place, the Walburg restaurant near Georgetown. It was great to have everyone together again!

Matt and his girlfriend Laura. Laura gave Larkin a new dress (she's wearing it here) and so Larkin immediately fell in love with her!!

independent play

I am falling behind on this blog, but here's a few pics I took last week. The girls are starting to have a fascination with bunkbeds (Larkin begs me for one all the time--and wants to sleep on the top!). Now they've started creating their own with the coffee table. Willa really should sleep on the top though b/c all she does is bonk her head continously on the bottom!!!


After breakfast they are always in a good mood and usually run off and play together without me. Everyday they decide to do something different, but a few times this week they made beds on the floor and read books to themselves. They run around and collect all the items they need (perfect pillow, specific blankets, babies, etc.) and then make their beds. They even turned off the lights and pretended to go to sleep. I came in with the camera but was told, "Get outta here, we're playing with our babies. Don't talk to us please."

Reading to pink bear and baby Cara.

"Cara likes it when I put my arm around her like this when we go to sleep." Immediately after she said that I heard, "Now go somewhere else Mommy. I'm sleeping."

snip snip!

Well, it had to happen sooner or later! Larkin and I were cutting and painting paper snowflakes this afternoon with grown up scissors. She's very good with scissors now and I don't really have to worry about her cutting her fingers. We had finished all the cutting and she was just painting her snowflakes, so I ran to the bathroom (but left the scissors on the table--big mistake!). When I returned, I couldn't find her. Then she came out from under the kitchen table with my pair of scissors and I immediately said, "Oh my God! You cut your hair??!!" and then I started giggling.

She denied it at first but once she realized that I wasn't mad, she really was quite proud of herself!! I'm just glad that I had her hair in a ponytail--she wasn't able to grab anything other than her bangs. No telling what she would have done if ALL her hair had been down!! Needless to say Mommy's scissors will be locked away for a long time!!!

We wish you a wedgie Christmas??

Their idea, not mine!! Willa loves to give herself wedgies with these pants, and Larkin decided to do it too! So far this is the front runner for our Christmas card this year, so I better get busy!!