Back to the Grind

It's always hard to get back to the grind after a week off. And even harder when that week off is Christmas week- the most exciting week of the year. And especially hard when you really sort of took the entire month off from strict schedules and "real school". So I was more than a little concerned about our today starting back with our normal school schedule.

But the girls were fantastic, aside from a few little spats. I did get a surprise when LittleL.G. refused to take a nap, but it did allow us to get out in the 40 degree weather to go ice skating at Gavin Park for a while which was a nice "back to the grind" treat.

It was so warm that we were skating on a giant puddle and both the girls were soaked.

But not too soaked to finish skating and spend a half hour on the snowy playground!

Here's to having a better January than usual!

Happy New Year!

Gram and Grumpy left yesterday and after weeks of pre-Christmas excitement and a week of being spoiled rotten by presents and extra people to play with and chocolate for breakfast and lunch and cookies for dinner, the girls were not happy to see them go.  We tried to keep them occupied to put off the inevitable melt downs from both kids and parents. We took them sledding near our neighborhood, which was a big hit since it was relatively nice out and we have our new Christmas sled.

 

Then we came in for some hot chocolate and to dry off our wet winter clothes and then headed back out for First Night Saratoga. We didn't plan on staying long since it was cold and rainy/snowy out so we didn't buy buttons which meant we were limited to the free activities, which, so early in the evening, were few and far between. We did stop for a delicious ice cream snack.

We walked down Broadway and back and ended the evening at the carousel.

In typical parents with two kids fashion, we counted down to midnight at 8:15 and the kids were asleep by 8:30.

Happy New Year!!

Merry Christmas!

Merriest Christmas!

The girls have been so excited for Christmas day to arrive. MiniM.E. knows what to expect, but I think LittleL.G. has been feeding off MiniM.E.'s excitement.

The girls dove into their stockings first thing and MiniM.E. was thrilled that Santa had to go all the way to Japan to get her tapioca balls (which was the only thing she asked him for.

chocolate for breakfast

sugar crash

There was lots of present opening, but it took us all day to get through the pile because LittleL.G. is at the age where she wants to open everything and use it.

We took a break from presents mid-day to go sledding. So thankful for a white Christmas!

Then we enjoyed some holiday movies and more presents and a delicious prime rib dinner, thanks to my mom, who pretty much did all the cooking. Thanks Mom!!

What a fantastic Christmas!

Happy Christmas Eve!

Today the girls woke up to a great Christmas Eve surprise- Gram and Grumpy arrived "while they were sleeping" AND it was snowing out. 

We had a Christmas project to do in the morning- new cabinets for the laundry room (thanks Gram and Grumpy!).

And the girls had to go out in the giant snowflakes

MiniM.E. was disappointed Gram and Grumpy hadn't seen her skate, and LittleL.G. has been wanting to give it a try so we went ice skating.

When we got back it was time for a quick rest and then we got ready for church, which was exciting because LittleL.G. decided to be in the "pageant" and was also singing with the choir again!

Happy Christmas Eve! Two little girls are VERY excited for tomorrow!

One Last Holiday Party

Last night we had our last holiday get together before the real festivities start tomorrow!

The girls were the most excited to play with E. and Baby J. LittleL.G. couldn't wait to hold Baby J., who is now one and is as tall and weighs more than she does.

And the best buddies had a great time playing all evening.  They were good to let LittleL.G. play too and it was the first time we were able to hang out and chat, just the adults.  It was a really enjoyable evening!

Our Month of Christmas School

Looking back at our weekdays during December, we kept plenty busy with all the usual Christmas preparations, baking, wrapping and a lot of me sneaking away while the girls were happily playing to get a few things done. Not to mention the necessary survival mode of barely keeping enough clean clothes in our drawers and making sure there was some sort of food for us to eat.

In addition to the occasional library trip or play date, we filled our days with "Christmas School" which will definitely be a tradition in years to come. I knew I wouldn't be able to keep up with our normal school routine with all the extra holiday activities so I made our own STEAM advent calendar with a daily science, technology, engineering, art or math activity. This was by far the girls' favorite part of Christmas School and many activities were requested multiple times throughout the month.

peppermint oobleck

building Santa a chimney

We also used Truth in the Tinsel to learn more about the reason for Christmas. Each day we focused on an event leading up to and including the birth of Jesus and created an ornament for our "Advent Ornament Tree". While they certainly didn't retain everything, they learned a lot about why we have Christmas, and I have to admit, I learned some new things too!

And of course in between our school activities there was lots of playing...

imaginary water park

And festive activities.

making sugar cookies

Another Busy December Weekend

This weekend was another busy one. 

We started Saturday with another bounce house birthday which was postponed due to lots of snow.

Which made getting to MiniM.E.'s last ice skating class a bit challenging. But we made it right on time. She had her skills demonstration and since I haven't seen her skate since last year I was so impressed with the progress she's made!

LittleL.G. couldn't keep her eyes open...

We came home to a holiday gathering at our house with our close friends and again, stayed up way too late.

Which almost made us late for MiniM.E. to sing at church on Sunday- it was the first time since I can remember that I had to wake everybody up to be somewhere.