One Last Christopher Post...

Christopher was extremely busy the days before Christmas... He made an appearance several days in a row and took very few days off to head back to the North Pole.  That made Quinn and Sullivan very happy girls!  Here is what he was up to in our house...

Fishing

Wrapping Sullivan's Blankies

(and then hanging them throughout the house)

Making Snow Angels

Kissing Barbie

(under the mistletoe kissing ball)

Reading to Barbie

(Christopher vanished before I could get a picture of him...)

Napping with Lalaloopsy

As you can see, we had a very busy elf this season!  Christopher is back at the North Pole right now resting up and brainstorming new and creative ways to surprise us next year!  We can't wait to see what's in store!!!  

Old and New Traditions...

Christmas time is always filled with traditions. Some of them have carried on for years and years and others for a short while.  None the less, they are memories made with the ones we love.  This year we partook in a lot of those old traditions and embarked in a couple of new ones.

Our annual traditions of creating our gingerbread house took place a few weeks ago.  The girls always look forward to decorating our gingerbread house.  It never, NEVER turns out to look like the picture on the box.  But in my opinion, it looks way more creative and way better!!!

Another tradition we always enjoy is getting the treats ready for Santa and his reindeer.  Cookies are an absolute must for Santa, so we bake chocolate chip cookies a few days before.  Sullivan and Quinn assure us that the reindeer love carrots and oatmeal.  So we gathered both for them.  And what would some cookies for Santa be without a huge glass of milk?!?

Along those same lines, Quinn's class made some magic reindeer food at school this year.  It was a concoction of oatmeal and sprinkles.  The intent of this magic food was to be sprinkled in your front yard so that the reindeer could easily find our house on Christmas night.

Ryan and the girls sprinkled the concoction in the yard, and wouldn't you know, the reindeer found it and snarfed it up!  There was very little evidence of the concoction in the morning.  A new tradition for feeding the reindeer has been born.

Our final tradition that started this year was getting new Christmas pajamas for the holiday season.  This was started by my mom, who bought the girls their new pajamas.  We probably should have saved the pj's until Christmas eve night, but honestly, we couldn't wait.  The girls loved their new pajamas and were so excited to sport them on Christmas Eve night. Here they are in front of the Christmas tree.

And a funny one for good measure...

So many great traditions, both old and new.  So many great memories.  More to come on the time spent with family over the holiday season...

Yearly Ornaments...

There are many, many things that I love about the holidays.  Too many to even begin to count.  But one thing I absolutely love that is worth noting is searching for and buying new Christmas ornaments for the girls.  Buying ornaments gives me a time to reflect on the year's happenings and what was note-worthy for that particular year for both Quinn and Sullivan.

This year I had a blast searching for their ornaments.  Here are the ornaments for 2013...

Quinn

Crayola Crayons

Quinn is ALWAYS coloring or creating, so this ornament was very fitting for her. She absolutely loves art and wants to be an art teacher when she grows up.  She has always taken a liking to arts and crafts ever since she was little bitty.  So it is surprising that we have never gotten an ornament to remember this love of hers.  Until now.

Tooth Fairy

Quinn lost her first tooth this year.  She waited for months and months and months for that first tooth to fall out.  After that one fell out, several more fell out right after that one like popcorn.  To commemorate the Tooth Fairy's first, second, third and fourth visit to our house this year, we found this cute ornament on Etsy!

Sullivan

Gum 

Sullivan is in LOVE with gum. I can not count the number of times in a day that she asks for a piece of gum.  She could serve as a poster child for the gum industry.  She has a million reasons why she should be able to have gum.

Bike

Sullivan accomplished a big feat this spring/summer.  She learned to ride her bike with no training wheels.  It took her no time at all to get the hang of it.  By the end of the summer, she was trying to show off with no hands on her handle bars.... we might just have a broken bone ornament on the tree next year! Stay tuned!

Quinn and Sullivan

Kitchen

The girls saw this ornament at the store early in the holiday season and fell in love with it.  It doesn't match their play kitchen exactly, but it is a great representation of the countless hours the girls spent playing with their kitchen.  Ryan and I have consumed more fake burgers, fries, shakes, sodas, and desserts than we can count.  But each one of them was magically tasty!  And with the passing of time, we passed our play kitchen on to Judson and Crew recently so that they can enjoy it as much as our girls have!

So many great memories from 2013... I can't wait to see what next year holds for us!

Santa 2013...

We were able to visit Santa this weekend.  On the way downtown the girls were rehearsing what they were going to ask for.  Quinn and Sullivan had three things each that they wanted to tell Santa about.

We got in line - a very, very slow moving line - and eagerly anticipated our turn with Santa.  

When the time finally arrived, it was all we hoped for and more!

The girls were so enamored with Santa that they got a little shy.  They could only remember one thing to ask for.

Quinn asked Santa for a Lego Friends Dolphin Cruiser...

Sullivan asked Santa for a Lalaloopsy Hair doll....

Santa promised he would do his best to bring them something special, even if it wasn't exactly what they had asked for....

Here's hoping for that very special toy - straight from the North Pole - sent with love from Santa!

A Snicklefritz Christmas...

We experienced a "last" in our house this past weekend.  After celebrating preschool Christmas programs since 2009, we had our last Snicklefritz Christmas program on Saturday.  So sad.  The girls are growing up to fast.

Sullivan Grace wanted to wear a "pretty, fancy dress."  And we were happy to oblige.

Sullivan did an amazing job standing up there singing.  She sang boldly and with great animation.

Here Sullivan is singing a song with the lyrics, "I may never march in the infantry, ride in the cavalry, shoot the artillery.  I may never fly over the enemy, but I'm in the Lord's army. "  They have great actions that go with it.  But funny enough, Sullivan changed the lyrics some.  Instead, she thinks you may never "ride in the calorie (not cavalry)."  Too cute!

Sullivan had lots of great family there watching her perform...

Nana and Papa, Grandma Jane, and Uncle Eric were there.  Lots of proud people all there for her!  

Sullivan did such a great job.  Such a bittersweet day - so happy to celebrate the season with such great singing.  Nothing can beat little kiddos singing, especially our Sullivan Grace.  But so sad to close that chapter of our lives.  

Star Student

Last week Sullivan was the Star of Week at her preschool.  She had been waiting for this week for quite some time.

To highlight a little of Sullivan, her teacher asked her to make a poster about herself including ten facts.  We made it last weekend.  I helped with the headings and Sulla wrote her answers.

I didn't get a good picture of the final product, but I will do so this week and post it.

She was also allowed to bring a Star Snack to share with her friends.  Her daycare is completely peanut-free, so we settled on star shaped sugar cookies.

She was so proud to share them with her classmates.

I had the opportunity to take her picture next to the Star Student door when we were there for her Christmas program this weekend (more to come on that...).

Doesn't my Star look so big?!  SO hard to believe she will be my kindergartner next year!

Up to No Good...

Christopher has made several appearances since I posted last.  It appears that he really is up to no good. Quinn and Sullivan absolutely love his mischievous.  So do we.

Here is what he has been up to lately...

Nose Painting

The night after Christopher surprised the girls by painting their noses, he struck again.  This time he got Ryan and I.  Do we look like Rudolph or what?!

Playing Peek-a-Boo

Christopher bounced from plant to plant in our kitchen one day.  He started out in the poinsettia and moved to the plant above our cabinets.

Drinking Syrup

Christopher must have been super thirsty one night.  We woke up to find he had sipped the entire bottle of maple syrup in the middle of the night. Isn't that one incredibly long straw he made?

Hanging out

One thing I remember about seasons' past, Christoper loves acrobatic acts.  This year is no exception.  He used the girls' candy canes to make a swing and then hung upside down.

The day that Christopher came to visit on his swing, our cleaning lady was scheduled to come.  Quinn was extremely worried that Lori was going to touch him when she was cleaning.  Legend has it, if Christopher is touched by a human, he loses all his magical powers and he won't be able to visit us again.  So to prevent this from happening, Quinn left Lori a note...

"Please don't touch this elf."  

Thankfully Lori must not have touched him because it appears as though he still has his full magical powers.  I can't wait to see what's next.