More fun with Braiding. . .

With Christmas break upon us, I had more time to experiment again with braiding.  I found a new favorite.  It is actually one that looks great on both girls.  This can be difficult since they have opposite hair types - straight vs. curl, dark vs. light, thick vs. thin.  Anika is also sporting the double french braid which I still need to work on.  More ideas for my GEMS girls since we are working on our hair braiding badges!

The Minivan Express

Oh, what a night!  Thanks to Jen Vander Muelen for this terrific idea that she found here.  On this first day of Christmas vacation, we decided to have a movie night and watch "The Polar Express".  Then we gathered the kids up and got them ready for bed, but . . . what to their wondering eyes did appear but a golden ticket sitting on each pillow.  After much astonishment and wondering, my delighted and flabbergasted children headed to the front door where they found their robes and slippers.  Upon opening the door they discovered "the minivan express" and their personal conductor (Daddy) - who was dressed for the part but I missed getting that perfect picture of him standing by the van..  Inside the van at each of their seats were hot chocolate and trail mix.  We set off to look at Christmas lights.  One house just a few blocks away had an amazing display set to music that you tuned to on the radio.  Then we sent to see "the" house that I had heard so much about.  You might wonder how people could load up in their cars to see ONE house but it was worth it.  Wow!  The kids were beside themselves with excitement and for a few brief moments we were "the best parents in the whole world!"

 

 

Christmas Cookies

Another year of decorating Christmas cookies is behind us.  This year Daddy was around to join in the fun (at least for awhile -- he had a funeral to officiate at today so. . . no rest for the weary this holiday season!) 

Movin' On Up

Anika and Andrew started Karate (Tae Kwon Do) this fall.  They are loving it!  Last weekend they had their first testing and they moved up from white belt to orange belt.  They were pretty happy about it:-) 

 

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas. . .

We trimmed our tree this weekend, so it really does feel like the holiday season is upon us.  I love the excitement our kiddos have for picking the perfect tree, breaking out the decorations, and remembering past Christmases.  This year we had Henry and his friend, Ben, to help us.  I was surprised how quickly all the ornaments were in place (6 sets of hands makes quick work!). 

Andrew took his turn topping the tree with the Christmas star!

Singin' in the Raim

With our mild winters around here, we don't get fun of sledding, skiing, or making snow men; however, we do get the pleasure of jumping in puddles!

Thanksgiving 2012

Happy Thanksgiving!  Again, I'm so tardy with my posting but I want to remember all these wonderful memories.  This year we were able to spend some time with family over this holiday weekend.  (Since I started back to work -even though it is very part time - I appreciate these moments off even more!)  After services on Thanksgiving day, we threw our stuff in the van and headed down south to spend time with Lloyd's family.  We had smooth sailing on the way down with minimal traffic.  We had a fabulous meal when we arrived, a fantastic low-key Friday, and a fasciniating visit to the space shuttle on Sat.  Then it was a long trip back on Sunday - traffic wise and reality-check wise!

Anika made choco-chip pumpkin muffins by herself!!  (Mom made just minor interventions!)

Time spent crafting with Auntie Rachel is always a highlight.  Anika wire-wrapped her first stone to make a necklace. 

Games and relaxation with Uncle Craig and Henry.

Little bit too much screen time for little squirt!

Kat hangs out with Papa.

Time with Nene is so wonderful!

Waiting for the IMAX show and then the shuttle!

We saw the IMAX movie 'The Blue Earth".

The Endeavor

We joined our good friends from Sunnyside, the Vissers.  They were visiting family in southern California as well so we crashed their party!  It was an amazing time catching up with them. 

Halloween 2012

 

I'm just a little bit late getting these pictures up;-)  I didn't want to miss the opportunity to record this years annual traditions on our blog so better late than never. . . here we are.  We invited Raegan, one of Anika's BFFs, to join us in our pumpkin carving adventure.  She was a brave soul and jumped right into the goop and goo.  We ended up with two pumpkins: an ark and a Reese's peanut butter cup.  One was clearer than the other:-)

 

We had so much fun getting our costumes ready this year.  Even though we were hard on the heels of an unexpected trip to Iowa for my grandpa's funeral we were still able to pull together some fun costumes.  Darth Vader and Queen Amidala turned out pretty well and my Kat made a great. . .well, cat (or cheetah).

Miscommunication

We learned a big lesson in communicating clearly recently:-)  I had prepped Anika all week that we were really going to get into her room and do some organizing.  "We're going to clear off all the surfaces and put things away where they belong".  In my mind, I heard "let's take things off your dresser and desk that are cluttering up your room and find a place for them".  Anika heard "take EVERYTHING off EVERY shelf".  This is what I found when I went to check on her:

 She had taken every book on every shelf, emptied every drawer, and piled them all in the middle of her room.  I was speechless!  I really hadn't every seen anything like it.  Even when I was packing up a whole house I never dumped shelves and shelves of books in the middle of a room;-)  Needless to say, the task was daunting.  On the bright side, after 4 hours, we have a VERY organized and sorted bedroom.  (Now, she just needs to keep it that way.)