Growing Up

I can tell Kellyn is growing up from a toddler into a little girl.  The signs are not only evident in the way she is physically changing but in the way her room is changing.  On Christmas day Ryan rearranged her furniture to make enough room to move in her new dollhouse.  We moved things around her walls and put in some bins to organize her toys.  I moved her butterfly hooks and made a little dress up area for her.  I love sitting in her room now and playing; it brings back fond memories of the hours spent dressing up and playing with dolls when I was growing up.

I was scared to have a little girl, but truthfully I'm loving every moment.

Christmas

This year Christmas was relaxing.  We weren't painting and moving; enough said.  While we did use the Elf on a Shelf and visited Santa, we really wanted to teach Aric and Kellyn about the reason for Christmas.  When we purchased, wrapped and mailed gifts we talked to the kids about Jesus' birthday and why we give everyone gifts.  They were pretty excited to give and receive gifts this year.  They were so excited about receiving gifts that by the 24th our tree looked like this:

Kellyn initially only pulled the bows off the packages, but by the end she was unwrapping my gifts; not hers, just mine.  I think she was being devious and getting the both of best worlds: the pleasure of unwrapping presents while leaving all of hers alone.

We celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve.  Both Ryan and I grew up celebrating on Christmas Eve.  After dinner and baths we sat down to read the birth of Jesus in the kid's bible.  Then we prayed and lit our German pyramid while discussing the figures in the Nativity.

After a quick picture it was time to open presents.

The kids had fun opening their gifts and playing with some of the toys.

The next day, on Christmas, we did some rearranging in the kid's bedrooms.  They both needed areas opened up for their toys.  We also spent the day breaking up fights over the new toys.  That is the not so fun part of Christmas that Ryan and I don't remember from childhood.

Aric's favorite toys are his new V-Reader, dinosaurs and remote control Mater car.

Kellyn's favorite toys are her dress up clothes, computer, doll house, and the fuchsia jacket that she always wants to wear now.  I might have some problems on laundry day.

We hope your Christmas was as good and relaxing as ours without the fights over toys.

Things Heard Around Here

Heave pull.

Translation:
Kellyn says this when tugging or pulling on something.  I assume she is trying to say "heave ho".  As to why she thinks she's a pirate... I guess she has a very vivid imagination.

Attachment

I have decided Kellyn has a weird attachment to oversized stuffed animals:

And her daddy has a weak spot when it comes to making her extremely happy.

Christmas Time

We are definitely in full Christmas mode around here.  Most of my gifts are complete.  I have one last gift left to purchase and just a few more to wrap then I'm done.  What a relief.  Our Christmas traditions are well under way.

One of the traditions I brought with me, and Ryan gladly embraced, is making Cherry Candy Crackles.  They are my favorite Christmas cookie.  We joke about Christmas not coming until we make them.  Sure enough every year they get made.  Some years they may be the only cookie we ever get around to making.  They are a lot of work, but so worth it.

Every year I dig out the candy thermometer to use.  These cookies are the only reason I even own a candy thermometer.

My dad hand chops the cherries and mixes the dough by hand.  I cheat and use a food processor and mixer.

Yummy pink goodness.  It gets chilled overnight before it can be rolled into balls and baked.  I usually stick it outside or in the garage.  It works just as well.

These cookies go fast.

 As soon as I saw it, I had no trouble picking out Aric's ornament this year.  Aric loves dinosaurs.  He likes to watch TV shows and movies about them, play with them and he is quite knowledgeable about their names.



I had a bit more trouble deciding on an ornament for Kellyn.  I was looking for something to encompass her likes of: babies, princesses, dress-up, butterflies, Mickey Mouse, penguins, elephants, puppies, horses, and cars.  Since that ornament was a bit hard to come by I let Kellyn pick out her own ornament.  She was quite fond of this elephant. 

I didn't really decorate our basement much for Christmas.  I did, however, put up a small three foot Christmas tree on top of our cat scratching post.  Classy, I know.  It it our White House Christmas tree.  I wonder how many people googling that phrase will end up here.  I have eight years worth of White House Christmas ornaments given to us by my parents.  It is fun to pull them out each year and compare them.  I look forward to the new ornament every year.

I haven't ever purchased a nativity set.  I'm still looking for that one special set, the one I will know when I see it.  Last year Kellyn was given a nativity set. 

Kellyn frequently sits in front of it playing with the people and animals.  She thinks the angel is a butterfly.  Aric on the other hand likes to mess with it and change out which character is standing on top of the barn. Mary was up there one day.

This Christmas we have been intentional about explaining to the kids the meaning of Christmas and why we give gifts.  I asked my parents to pass along a manger that we used as kids.

When the kids do a good deed or a task without complaining they get to put a piece of straw in the manger.  The manger gets filled and on Christmas morning baby Jesus is placed in the manger.  It is a good way to remind the kids daily of the reason for Christmas.

And this one is still making an appearance around the house every day:



Some days I feel like I'm racking my brain trying to find a new place to put him.

A Visit with Santa

On Monday I took the kids to the mall to get us out of the house to preserve some sanity to see Santa.  Aric asked Santa for a "monster truck" and told Santa he loved him.  Kellyn was more interested in the paper reindeer antlers Santa was giving away.  Me, well I was just thankful no one was screaming this year.

Things Heard Around Here

Me three.

Example:
Aric: I miss Pam.
Mommy: Me too.
Kellyn: Me three.

I'm not sure where Kellyn picked up "me three", but she has used it accurately several times over the past week.  It makes me laugh to hear a two year old sound so eloquent.