Early Christmas Morn

Charlotte was up at 5:45 Christmas morning! She had to go to the bathroom and then just couldn't go back asleep. Sarah and I were able to sleep in till 6:30, which is still way to early for us. They both look so tired!


Charlotte got the gift she was really, really wanting: the Barbie Glamour Camper.


Sarah was very, very happy with her Strawberry Shortcake Berry Cafe.


Sleepyhead...

Christmas Eve

We don't quite have firmly established Christmas traditions, so this year we tried the something new of opening our stockings on Christmas Eve.

The girls got lots of cute things like a recorder, barrettes, and new markers and crayons. And they each got a pack of Starburst. Charlotte has been coveting them for some time, asking all the time if she can have some Starburst. I always say No (I'm totally mean and unreasonable like that), but I did put some in her stocking.

And wouldn't you know, she didn't even like them. (I was forced to eat them all myself.)

Holiday in Lights

We went to the Holiday in Lights at one of the big parks. The girls had their picture taken with Santa Claus (it turned out SO cute).

Michael dressed as Flannel Man that night.


Charlotte took some quiz about spiders or something.


There was a nice train display.


And lots of beautiful smiles (especially from Sarah).

Random from December

A little storytime action before bed one night.


My mom and I took Charlotte and Sarah to see The Nutcracker (at the HS for Creative and Performing Arts). We had a wonderful time, the girls enjoyed the show.


And have since had me play The Nutrcracker CD so they can do ballerina dancing.

Third Birthday Party

Our little Sarah turned Three Years old at the end of November. She requested a "baby" cake and a baby-themed party. She has been calling herself baby for some time now, so a baby party seemed just right for her.


She enjoyed opening and surveying her load of presents.



And of course blowing out her baby-themed candles.

Thanksgiving

Michael's brother Dave and SIL Shelley and their kids Will, Erin and Abby came to Ohio for Thanksgiving.

Charlotte and Sarah had a GREAT time playing with their cousins. We had a lot of fun.

Pre School Thanksgiving Feast

My how I have neglected the blog! Time for some big updates.

In November, Sarah's class had a Thanksgiving feast. She looked totally adorable in this turkey hat.



I volunteered for the Feast and Charlotte was my assistant. Although she really just participated in a 2 yr old preschool class rather than assisting me.


Making her cornucopia - why can't she be this responsible with glue at home?

Sarah playing school

Sarah randomly tossed around a bunch of toys today and called me in to play school with her. I grabbed the camera because she was so darn cute!

Here she is showing us how she can count to 20. It's quite funny! You can hear Charlotte laughing at one point.





And here she is showing her version of the ABCs. Also quite hilarious.

Sarah's "Wheelchair"

For the past couple of days, Sarah has decided that this little, plastic, blue chair is her wheelchair. She carried it to the bus stop one afternoon to pick up Charlotte.

Today she took it with us to drop Charlotte off at school.

She's mad that I'm trying to take her picture so she's hiding.


She tries to straddle the "wheel"chair as she walks to the car. Makes for some slowgoing.


The "wheel"chair helps her get into the van.


And then it's a launching point for 1-2-3 jumping into the car seat. Always creative is little Sarah Marie.

Cliff's Birthday

(I have no idea how to spell what sounds like "Paw Paw.")

Cliff and Teri joined us for dinner one evening recently to celebrate Cliff's birthday.

The girls wore their special dresses for the occasion.



(someone still likes to run away during the singing of Happy Birthday)

Renaissance Festival: Knights and Mazes

We thought watching the Jousting would be fun, but it was ... not really.


So we made our way to the maze.


It was actually a pretty cool maze. Took us quite awhile to get through it. We had lots of fun!


(Sarah and Daddy won though.)

Renaissance Festival: Camels and Slides

Rode a camel. The big hump is kinda soft and squishy actually. It was ... thrilling. Not really. But I think the kiddos enjoyed it.




That was followed by a ride down a giant slide. Did I mention that all of this costs money. It is quite feasible to spend a small fortune at this festival.