Picnic on the Deck

We are taking full advantage of the unseasonally warm weather.  When we got home from Gymkhana yesterday, Vivian asked when we could have a picnic in the front yard.  Since the grass was still damp, we decided to have one on the deck instead.  It was fun, and so easy to do.  We really should do this more often (I think I say that every time we do have a picnic at home :)  ).

Side note:  I am positive I used to sit like that as a kid, too.  Now, it just looks painful to me.  I guess that means I'm old?  ;)

Vivian refuses to let me snap a candid or smile for a posed shot these days ...

I think they both enjoyed using the fondue plates for the different things we had for lunch

Dipping carrots in hummus and licking them off won hands down with Annelee

Random

A post is overdue.  I have a couple brewing but don't seem to get around to actually download and edit the pictures and then get it all up on the treehouse.  Maybe in the next few days.  In the meantime, here are some random shots from my phone from the last week or so.

At the playground

Playing "Night Night" is her absolute favorite thing

Her doggie almost looks real, doesn't it. 

Warm weather has finally arrived, and with it, the chairs have reappeared in the front yard

For a little while, Annelee insisted on carrying the garden gnome everywhere

Water?  Who needs water when you have a bunch of stuffed animals ...

Close-up

I love Will's camera.  So much so that he has to pretty much ask me for it when he actually wants to use it (sorry, Will).  But when I dig out my camera on occasion, I remember how much I like it, too.  If only it wasn't so bulky.  Yet, as soon as I start snapping pictures, I'm thinking I really should upgrade it to one of the newer models ... one day.

In the meantime, here's a close-up of Annelee that I took today.  She is getting very, very excited about photos, seeing them on the little display.  Just like Vivian at that age though, she doesn't like the idea that she has to stand still for a second for me to actually take a photo before she can see it on the display.  I got a bunch of "Annelee being totally distraught" photos, too.  But this one was my favorite!

Christmas Part 3 (Christmas Day)

Once the kids were in bed, Santa went to work.  Luckily, he had already assembled and wrapped at least part of gifts; so he just snuck into the house, finished the work, put his gifts under the tree, filled the stockings, had some cookies and milk and then went on his merry way to the next house.

Around 4am a sleepy Vivian appeared in our bed, asking if we thought Santa had already been here.  Luckily, Will was thinking quick and said he wasn't sure and we should sleep some more just in case.  It worked!  I wonder if we can use this ploy again next year if necessary!

At a much more civilized 8am, we finally got up and went downstairs.  Santa had indeed come!  Both girls were happy to discover a doll house (Vivian), a play kitchen (Annelee), a ginormous stuffed dog, and several other little gifts and the filled stockings.

Then we had eggs in the hole for breakfast, but with Christmas shapes (even though it's not that easy to see in the photo).  There were so yummy that we've made them a few more times for breakfast since - with extra cut-out circles so that we had mini grilled-cheese sandwiches, too.  Yum!

After that, we spent the rest of the day hanging out, making sauces for the fondue and playing with the new toys.

It was a very nice relaxing day.  Mommy, Daddy (and Santa) did good!

Over the next few days, as people asked Vivian if Santa had brought her something, her story about him coming to our house evolved from "I think I heard the sleigh bells" to her hearing and seeing a whole lot of Santa.  He clearly needs to be more quiet next time!

The end  :)

Christmas 2011 Part 2 (Christmas Eve)

This was the first Christmas since we've had children where we didn't travel either to Virginia or Germany for the holidays.  That's probably why we actually got in the spirit this year and did some decorating and discussed our childhood Christmas traditions and which ones we wanted to carry on and how we wanted to merge them.

We ended up having gifts from each other and relatives Christmas Eve, and we hung up stockings, put out cookies and milk and Santa came and left gifts to be opened Christmas Day.  Initially, we had planned to have meat fondue for dinner on Christmas Eve, but because we didn't want to rush it and also wanted to go to church, we postponed it to Christmas Day.  A good decision, I think.

Will put up both indoor and outdoor lighting and we bought an artificial Christmas tree and some more ornaments.

The day before Christmas, we assembled the tree (still a funny thought for me, not having a life tree, but we bought a nice one and I don't think we will regret that decision) and decorated it.  Will and I did the lights, then we split up the tasks ... I hung the gold stars, Will hung the breakable ornaments and Vivian hung the non-breakable ones where she could reach.  It turned out beautifully. I believe the Santa hat on top (which matches the Santa tree skirt that you can't really see beneath the presents) may just be our new standard tree topper  :)

I quickly abandoned any effort of taking even just a passable photo of both girls in front of the tree and settled for individual photos.

Our princess

I don't know why Annelee seems to be wearing a binky in every December picture ... we don't even use it that much anymore during the day.  Or so I thought ...

And then we went to church and came home and opened presents ...

Before going to bed, Vivian and Annelee put out some milk (Vivian insisted that Santa would want chocolate milk) and cookies for Santa.

To be continued ...

Christmas 2011 Part 1 (Virginia)

As I'm slowly working my way through my December photos, we are inching toward Christmas.  The weekend before Christmas, we went to Virginia to hang out with the family and have a first Christmas celebration.  I have to say, I loved it.  I loved being home with the children for the actual Christmas, but I also loved spreading Christmas out over a couple of weeks ... the toys don't get so overwhelming and actually have a chance to become favorites before the next set of new toys arrives.  Plus, (and this goes without saying) it is always great to see everyone and hang out!

Bath-time

These days, bath time is pretty crowded at our house.  At a minimum, there are two little girls, two or three Barbies (often more) and a bunch of random toys in the bath tub.  Most toys are in the tub, but not actually played with, but still have to go in ... little girl logic  :)

Once the girls are in, I go and get their pajamas and diapers/pull-ups, put on a short-sleeved T-shirt and get the towels ready while they play.  Then the work begins.  Soap down Annelee, then Vivian, then wash hair for both of them and then convince them it's time to get out of the tub.  I'm just glad that neither one minds this too much; otherwise there's a good chance they would only get bathed once a month or so.

Now that Annelee can stand up, drying her off has gotten so much easier. I simply stand her on a towel, sit down in front of her and towel her off. She usually also practices her kisses on me since I'm sitting right in front of her (bonus!).

I also dry off Vivian's hair so it doesn't constantly drip down her back, but she does the rest herself.  Once everyone is dry, we put on our jammies, brush teeth and hair and are all ready for bed.

Night, night!  :)

Of course the chef's children play with kitchen gadgets in the bath tub!