Trimming the Tree

One of my favorite holiday traditions in decorating the Christmas tree, and this year that would be trees (plural, as in 9 trees). It was fun watching the girls unwrap the ornaments and then hang them on the tree. By the end of the night, all the ornaments were in about three clusters, high, middle, and low.

John then decided to take the girls sledding as I rearranged the the ornaments, so they are a little more spatially pleasing, but it was absolutely wonderful sharing that tradition with two new family members.

Polar Express

On Saturday, Carolyn and Ielah went to the Imax 3D Polar Express with us. We began the day at 10 am, with our 1 1/2 hour drive to Davenport, we ate at Olive Garden, went to the Imax and seen the movie, and then drove back home. It was a wonderful day and we all enjoyed ourselves, at least I think Ielah and Carolyn did. I was very impressed with how well behaved the girls were in the car and out in public eating - I wouldn't hesitate to take them out again.

And they LOVED the Imax. Our older one definitely got more out of the movie, mainly because she kept her glasses on the whole time, but they were both all smiles at the end of the movie.

All Smiles

Our Two Cuties!

Good Night

Night time has been a wonderful time lately. The girls are 2 of the easiest kids we have ever put to bed. Lately though, we have been letting them fall asleep out in the living room with us, and then carrying them to bed (I know mom, a bad habit to get into). It sure has been fun snuggling with them pre-bed time though.

The Shortest Lived Snowman

Everybody loves a snowman. Young and old alike laugh and giggle while creating a beloved snowman. And the perfect snowman is no easy task.

We rotated the snowball just right every so many rolls, so it is nice and even. Then we used the golden triangle to figure out the perfect body and head snowball ratio's. And finally, picked out all the perfect accessories, like arms, and buttons, and mouth and nose, and hat. After what seemed like hours - the perfect snowman was born.

Then, we went inside to enjoy some warm cocoa, only to go back outside - 30 min. later - to find our perfect snowman, laying on its side. Dead from some unknown cause or minor miscalculation of body / head ratio.

Lanes Christmas Program

We were so lucky! The girls stayed with us on a Thursday night and we got to go up to Lane's Christmas program, which was a very nice program. Here are a few pictures the girls took.

How Many. . .

Kids can ride on a rocking horse?



Comfortably 1 - maybe 2 - but since when do kids really care about comfort, unless they are being asked to get into their seat belt!

13 pictures later

and hours of editing - this picture never did make it to the final cut. But I do like it, so I thought I would share it all with you anyway.

Some like 'em Up, Some like 'em down

John has taught the girls "thumbs up" and then they came up with "thumbs down". Or maybe they already knew all about this wonderful hand gesture and John just renewed their interest in it.


The girls spent all week trying out their new sign language on all of us, which was accompanied with lots of laughs.

Last Meal

Unbeknown to them, this was probably their last meat meal in this kitchen.

They look so happy - their last pepperoni bagel bites (thanks to Aunt Julie and Uncle Mat, we raided their freezer for a quick meal), in our kitchen.

John and I have had many discussions about how we are going to deal with the whole meat issue, or should I say meatless issue, with the girls. We spend hours discussing what to say and when they could have it and all that other mambo jumbo adults think are so important. So far not once have the girls said anything about missing the meat. However, I am sure there will come a time when they say they want hamburgers for supper, and I have to explain why we will not have hamburgers at the house. We have decided not to make the girls vegetarians though. They will go meatless here, but if we are out (which happens rarely), they may order meat. What is interesting though, is if we suggest a meatless entree, like cheese pizza, they will choose that. We are secretly hoping they will take our lead and go meatless too :)

Don't they look so happy!

Best Birthday Ever

I am not discounting any past birthday, but currently I can't recall a better birthday night. Money really can't buy everything and this picture proves my point. Sure it took money to have the wonderful house I live in and to feed everyone in this picture - but even if I didn't have any extra $$$ to spend, this would be all I would need.

We all climbed up on the couch, snuggled in and watched Spongebob Squarepants, when Meeka decided she would join us too. The adore the animals, so were thrilled to have the extra company.
It has been funny listening to the girls figure things out. This would have been the first weekend alone they spent with us and they were already staking claims. They would say, "This my dog, right?" and I would say, "Yes, Betsy is your dog." Then they would say, "This my cat, right?" and I would say, "Yes, Meeka is your cat." They spent most of the weekend wanting confirmation that the things they liked were theirs. It was nice to see them making healthy attachments.

Love at First sight

Most parents have long birth stories, "I was in 20 hours of horrible back labor", but we don't have that with our girls - so we decided to make up our first stories and for me, it was love at first kiss.

It started on a cold November morning, we had received our first snow fall of the year - one of those crisp, clean snowfalls. Two shy, little girls made their way into the house and played in the living room for awhile, until it was decided that we would brave the cold November air to spy on the chickens. I picked the youngest one up, sat her on the kitchen island, looked deep into her hazel eyes (much the reflection of my own), and smooshed my nose to hers for an Eskimo kiss. . . that was when I fell in love with her. I can still hear little giggle and see the laughter light up her eyes.

For the older on it took a bit longer and was much subtler. But the moment of LOVE happened one evening, after a long day filled with many struggles. I tucked her into bed and gave Lexi her Paris kiss, which consists of a kiss on each check, "Maw, Maw" and at the end there is a, "Darling" with the flip of the wrist. I usually attempt this with she, but she just stares at me like she just isn't sure about the whole thing. BUT that night, as I leaned over to give her a kiss on her cheek. . . she smiled up at me with her two huge dimples, and a smile in her eyes, and said, "Me too - I want one too" and as I gave her the Paris kiss, she said it along with me and then said, "huggy".

We all have those moments in life, when we look into the eyes of those we love and it all clicks. I know have two more lives to love now.