Holiday Card Outtakes: Part II

My second idea for a photo for our card was to use the self-timer to take a family photo with the chickens. You would think that since we found taking photos of our 2 children nearly impossible that adding in the chickens would be a total debacle, but I actually think these went a lot better. Maybe it was just that the chickens were so completely uncooperative that it made the kids seem quite accommodating.

Penny was the only chicken even willing to consider being in our photo. Max and Olivia were having none of it.

 This one was taken right as Penny flew off.

This one made the holiday card!

Holiday Card Outtakes: Part I

This was the first year in awhile that I didn't have a picture in mind for our holiday card when December rolled around. The first week of December some of the overachievers sent their cards and I started to panic. I decided we would try to take some pictures of the girls with the Christmas lights. This was definitely a case of mental image and reality coming out totally different from each other.

Unfortunately, Thomas erased the most ridiculous of the pictures from the camera before I had a chance to tell him I wanted them. Problem #1: in my mental image, I ironed the background sheet.

One of the few pictures where Thomas was actually able to capture Norsie, who was usually a blur of motion.

 This one is actually one of the three pictures that made it on this year's card.

Christmas and Hanukkah Prep

We have some busy bees around here getting ready for Christmas and Hanukkah, which starts on December 21st. 

I made the background to this advent calendar last year, then decided I didn't like how it turned out and hid it away in the garage. With a year's perspective it didn't look so horrible so I made the ornaments for it this year, just in time for December 1st. Sylvie is holding up the Max and Penny ornaments, her favorites.

Sylvie and Nora have been using liquid water colors to paint envelopes for some of our holiday cards. (If you do this, make sure you flip up the envelope flap so you don't seal your envelopes shut with watercolors. We learned the hard way.)

For our wrapping paper this year, I bought a big roll of butcher paper and the girls have been experimenting with different techniques to decorate it.

Stamping red and green dot paints for Christmas paper...

And using corks to stamp blue and silver glitter glue for Hanukkah paper...

On Friday, we brought home our Christmas tree.

We decided to hang only non-breakable ornaments on the tree this year. You can probably guess why.

So with our glass ornaments looking festive on the mantel, the tree was a little bare. The girls had a great time making salt dough ornaments to fill it up. The night before I won best cookie* at my friend's Cookie Exchange party and one of my prizes was ornament shaped cookie cutters that were perfect for making our salt dough ornaments.

The cookie cutters have also been perfect for playing with our peppermint-scented glitter play dough. My other prize was some Starbucks hot cocoa mix.

 * My winning cookie recipe was Peppermint Bark Rice Krispie Treats, which were regular Rice Krispie Treats with peppermint extract added to the marshmallow and drizzled with white chocolate and crushed candy cane. I only won by one vote and yes, I was embarrassed to win with a recipe I made in the microwave.

Reindeer Poop

Sylvie's really into trickery lately, so when I told her we could label bags of chocolate-covered raisins as "reindeer poop" for her school friends, she was all over it. And what preschooler doesn't love a poop joke? Sylvie thinks this is hilarious and we hope her friends love it too.

Christmas Parade

On Friday night, our family marched with Sylvie's school in the Seal Beach Christmas Parade. I didn't take any pictures during the parade because we had way too much fun marching, but here are a few pre-parade pictures.

On our way to the parade...

Just before the parade started we took a few pictures by the Christmas tree near the pier. Doesn't it seem like many of my pictures lately involve Sylvie trying to corral Nora?

After this, we started our march. Sylvie started out a little nervous, but fortunately Thomas bought 2 boxes of mini candy canes for Sylvie to pass out during the parade. She loved handing out those candy canes so much she felt like the Grand Marshal. The parade started at Nora's bedtime so I figured we'd put her in her pjs and let her ride the parade in the wagon. Nora had a different idea and about half way through she realized exactly what was going on and demanded to get out of the wagon and walk down Main Street in her pajamas waving like a pageant queen. We all had such a fun time in the parade. Thanks to Grandma and Papa for coming to cheer us on!

Christmas '10

Christmas morning, Nora and I woke up and headed into the kitchen to start some breakfast. I ask you, is this a normal sight for 9 am on Christmas morning?

Just when I thought Christmas morning would never start, the smell of cinnamon rolls must have finally woken them. Because about 15 minutes later, it looked like this:

Long story short: the PETCO near our house used to have kids carts, Sylvie loved them to pieces, PETCO got rid of them, Sylvie got her very own kids cart for Christmas. She has been having so much fun with her cart. And I have been having a lot of fun putting things like milk jugs, egg cartons, rolls of toilet paper and bags of rice in her "store" in the living room.

Sylvie made a gift for Nora. It's a drawing of a face that she did on fabric with fabric markers that we stuffed and sewed.  So it's a little stuffed guy for Nora, made by Sylvie.

I made the girls some hats. A flower hat for Nors...

and a Muno hat for Sylvie.

After a good breakfast, we drove out to cousin Bev's house in Riverside for a wonderful day with "the big cousins." Norsie and Grandma...

Nora and Big Cousin Amanda...

Sylvie eating Christmas dinner at the girls table...

Christmas Eve '10

As these girls grow, Christmas really does just get more and more fun each year. Sylvie and Amanda got their Christmas Eve off to the right start with some swinging in the backyard.

Christmas Eve at Besta and Papa Willie's is always a whirlwind of delicious food and piles of presents. What a feast Besta makes for us! Norsie loved her gifts, especially the wrapping paper.

Per tradition, the cousins end a fabulously fun night with a bath and new matching PJs.

Norsie gives her first Christmas Eve a thumbs up!

Christmas Eve 2009
Christmas Eve 2008
Christmas Eve 2007

Christmas is Coming: Part II

I love to bake but not so much clean up a huge mess in my kitchen. So Sylvie and I went more with dipping stuff in chocolate this year. We made caramel and chocolate dipped marshmallows and chocolate-covered kettle corn. But I did manage to make one of my favorite Christmas cookies, Lemon Rosemary Shortbread. 

We took our treats to our annual Friends Holiday Brunch at Zoe and Darci's house. Their mom, Hope, does such a beautiful job decorating their home. 

After brunch we went to Christmas Party #2 over at Baby Devyn's house, where they were collecting pajamas and books for the Pajama Program.

We had hoped to go back to Naples when it was less crowded than Boat Parade night to take in all of the lights. But the night we planned to go with our buddy Wes and family it was pouring rain, so we had them over for dinner instead. Which was just as much fun. We loved having some time to play with little man Wes! 

New Christmas shoes! 

All this rain is perfect hot chocolate drinking weather.

We have been very busy little elves around here. I love how naturally and enthusiastically children feel the joy of giving. Sylvie has been so excited to make and wrap her cards and presents.

Last night we went out for sushi with Grandma, Papa and Uncle Rich. This has nothing to do with Christmas, but it did make us very merry. Black sesame and coconut ice cream? Yum!

And tonight we had dinner with Mattie and family and then checked out the light displays on famous Olwyn Street in Tustin.

Wishing all of our family and friends a warm, cozy and meaningful Christmas!