Elle & Kate: Christmas Songs Vol. 1

Here they are - in all their off-key, Santa hat-wearing, jingle bell-shaking glory.  Too cute.  Somehow shorty-short Kate got stuck in the back, so you can't see her as well, but trust me, she was precious!

Preschool Partay

OMG.  Preschool Christmas parties?  They are so cute.  Or maybe it's just the kids are so cute and not the actual party.  Probably a little bit of both.  They sang songs for us, we got to help them decorate "trees" and have snacks together.  It was just sweet.  And really fun to see how they interact with their school friends and how well they listen to their teachers.  They DO listen!  They really DO! 


We also got to take home all the Christmas crafts they'd made - A LOT.  The girls had been busy bees in the craft department.  I'm telling you, I don't know what to do with them all! 

They seemed so excited to have us there and were so proud to show us their seats and their room and their favorite toys.  This school has been so great for them and they love it.  And I love them. 

By the way, Tyler was actually there - promise.  He had my phone, which we were using as the camera, the whole time, so there are no pics of him!  The girls were SUPER excited he was there though.  Oh, and don't worry, there will be video coming of their big performance.  :)

Their cute little classroom

The sweetest little angel ornaments

Totally teared up.

Helping Santa Elle with her tree

Helping Santa Kate

Hanging with friends

Ready to dig in to her festive snack!

Reindeer and Hot Dogs

Since the girls had enjoyed the previous puppet show so much and because I love Rudolph (ha), we took a family/friend outing to see the Red-Nosed Reindeer and his friends at the Center for Puppetry Arts.  It was amazing!  The show looked just like the cartoon I grew up watching and still love.  I was a little nervous about the girls' reaction to the Abominable Snowman, but they took it like champs.  Due in part to me making them watch it several times before we went.  Both for my entertainment and to teach them that he is, at the end, a nice snowman (with no teeth) who puts the star on the top of the tree.  See?  It's all about education, people.  Education and figuring out ways to make them watch really old Christmas cartoons because I love them. 

They did great throughout the show - it was an hour long, so they started getting a little antsy, i.e., "Mommy??  Is it OVER yet?" - but held it together nicely with the promise of water and snacks at the end.  And boy did they get more than that.  Their first trip to The Varsity!  It was a big day, folks.  Rudolph and Varsity hats.  Good times.  They thoroughly enjoyed their hot dogs - Elle even ate 1/2 of my chili cheese dog.  The girl was a machine.  Nothing says Christmas like reindeer and hot dogs! 

RUDOLPH!

If you don't hear from me for a while, it's because Tyler killed me for posting this picture of him. 

Cambie!

Kater

Three little heads watching Santa & his reindeer.  Cuteness.

Ketchup for hot dog?  Check.

Friends to dine with?  Check.

Contemplating the ever important question - "What'll ya have?  What'll ya have?"

Bellies full and now onto Daddy's lap

Gingerbread House Making

Continuing with the Christmas festivities - we made Gingerbread houses with our friends Jessica & Campbell again this year!

Clearly, neither me or Jessica are engineers as you might notice quite a large architectural flaw in our houses.  Ah well.  To me, it looks more like a stable.  So it's more authentic, right?  RIGHT?!

The girls had great fun decorating with and eating all the tasty candy.  They even got to add a little snow at the end.  And by a little, I mean a LOT.  An avalanche landed on our roof, effectively covering the lovely "E" & "K" we had added to the top.  Snow is way fun though - in whatever form we can get it!

And the finishing touch?  Icing trees they decorated at their preschool Christmas party.  More on that later.  :)

Getting started

Elle taking a snack break

Kate taking her snack break

Checking out Campbell's handiwork

Pre-avalanche

Pointers from Miss Jessica

A Charlie Brown Christmas (Tree)

We went on our annual pilgrimage to Home Depot this year to find the perfect tree.  Yes, going to Home Depot is definitely a pilgrimage

Elle was not so interested in picking a tree as she was in running up and down the aisle of trees.  Kate, however, was pretty into it this year.  So, we let her choose the tree.  And, fittingly, we ended up with a very spunky tree - much like our Kate!  We weren't quite aware of how spunky it actually was until we got it home.  Ah well - I liken it to Charlie Brown's Christmas tree - we just had to give it a little love & affection.  It was the perfect tree for us.

Here are a few pics of the decorating process.  Amazingly, no big light issues or fights that always seem to revolve around this annual tradition - hooray!  And, apparently, decorating the Christmas tree with no pants on is the way to go.  Take note, everyone.  Elle is on the cutting edge. 

This picture of Tyler makes me laugh.  Not sure what's going on.

Please excuse the placement of Elle's hand.  We are working on that.

The finished product.

Almost there....

I'm almost to Christmas, y'all!  And it's only January 11th!

But before Christmas, there are a few random snapshots that I wanted to make sure made it on the blog.  These girls are quite hilarious, sweet and crazy so I must record all of that for posterity.

When left to her own devices with makeup...

Painting Daddy's fingernails

Playing in leaves is SO.  MUCH. FUN.

Fun at the park

This is how we picnic, yo.

"Look mom, I'm a punkin head! Take my picture!"

Crazy family portrait

They like to give each other "rides" on their trikes.

Big pile of leaves + Daddy = Awesome

Hanging at the Aquarium

Princess Party!

The girls were all about birthday parties this fall (still are!) - they get SO excited when they get an invitation in the mail and promptly begin asking "Is it time for *insert friends name HERE* party yet?"  "I REALLY want to go!" 

So, needless to say, they were super excited for their friend Campbell's Princess Party!  They had so much fun decorating tiaras, painting their nails, practicing proper princess etiquette and of course, having a princess fashion show/dance party!  When asked what to do with their napkins, the fact that both of my girls knew they were supposed to put them in their lap was both unexpected and delightful.  Yes, um, I TOTALLY taught them that. 

Campbell is one of our BFF's & we are so glad we were able to celebrate with her and her royal parents.  :)

Pics below!

Toddler princesses

Daddy helping with tiara decorating

Princess Elle

Getting her nails did.

Ariel having a little trouble with the bubbles.

Practicing their manners. 

Very excited about the pink lemonade in REAL teacups

Singing Happy Birthday!

Cutie

The 2 Ariels.  AKA Caroline & Kate.

Not to be left out, Tyler also got a mani.

Group shot!