Papa's birthday

Christmas festivities and preparations always take a break on the 21st to make room for a birthday celebration. Dinner and cherry pie were in order for my dad's special day. There were a couple of gifts too, but I'm sure just spending the day with his family (especially those adorable granddaughters) was gift enough.

more candy houses

Round two for candy houses! On the Saturday before Christmas, Elise made a second candy house - this time with Nana, Papa, Avery and Linnea. Another chance to have way too much candy within arms reach?! Elise was certainly happy to participate.

decorating a candy house takes lots of concentration!

Nana couldn't resist and joined in again this year. :)

The girls were busy and Papa was on baby duty.

proud of their work!

Elise's Preschool Christmas Program

Last Thursday was Elise's Christmas program and party at school. She did a great job!

playmates

My sister-in-law Carol has gone back to work and now I get to watch my niece Linnea. It was a great first week!

Today the girls had lots of fun together. They painted... helped make gingerbread cookies...

and completed a puzzle without any assistance from Aunt Andrea (which, by the way, is what Elise now occasionally calls me.)

Christmas fun's begun...

Yesterday Elise made her first candy house (aka gingerbread house) of the season. Our sweet friend Sarah hosted a little playdate/sugar fest at her house for a small group of kids. Elise loved it of course, and spent an impressive amount of time covering every inch of frosting with skittles, gum drops, and licorice. (Later I discovered that her focused investment in her candy house had nothing to do with the artistic enjoyment. Rather, Elise was under the impression that she would get to eat her candy house and therefore worked tirelessly to put as many candies on her house as possible.)

Needless to say, all of that hard work and the inevitable sugar crash resulted in a much needed nap...
on the floor.

This is the first time in Elise's life that she fell asleep on the floor. She was so exhausted when we got home that she walked in the door, took a few steps to the boppy pillow, got cozy on the hardwood floor and fell asleep!

Claire, on the other hand, was still ready to party...

solid food

On Wednesday night Claire had her first taste of rice cereal. Most of it dribbled down her chin and she seemed a little indifferent, but the rest of us were quite entertained. Looking forward to the fruits and veggies!

Snow Day in Junction!

On Tuesday morning we were greeted by almost a foot of snow! Not bad for the "high dessert."

5 months old

On Monday, December 7th (Poppy's birthday!), Claire was exactly 5 months old. We absolutely love our Claire bear. She is such a honey. We are blessed by the joy she adds to our house. :)

Christmas Tree Traditions

Toby and Elise on the hunt...
We found the one!

Happy girls despite the cold

Our family - with Toby blinking :(

Decorating together with eggnog, finger foods, and Christmas music

Michigan Trip

The good news - I'm finally posting some photos! Bad news - I hardly took any pictures while in Michigan. Oh well. I can't do it all. Here are a few that are blog-worthy.

Claire's first airplane ride.

Excited to see Nana and Papa in Detroit.

Breakfast with Papa.

Meeting Uncle Justin. :) Both girls took to him right away.

My sweet girlies

Nana holding a sleeping Elise at Aunt Tarami's bridal shower.



Later the flower girl awoke and happily helped open presents.

Making Swedish pancakes with Gramma.