Snow?!?!?

We got surprised by a bit of snow the other day. As many of you know, we rarely get snow in the Northwest unless you are in the mountains. The weather forecasters were even just predicting rain. It made for quite a mess, but since we had no where we needed to be, we enjoyed it thoroughly!

The beginning: big fat flakes that were sticking instantly!

Then it turned to rain... then it turned into this.
And this.

The girls were napping, so by the time we got a snack, got dressed and headed out, we didn't have a lot of light left.

Kara suited up and ready to go play in the snow.

My girls in the snow.
Snow Angels

And our snow Kara and snow Jana! (But I have no idea what Jana put on the top of her snowman!)

As the snow turned back into rain, we decided it was time to head back inside. Daddy was so good to us and had some hot chocolate ready for the girls.

Here they are posing in front of the tree. (Can I tell you how happy I am that Jana's instantly turns into a goof and looks silly in every picture as soon as the camera comes out?!?!?!)
Our silly girls!

Christmas 2009

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. It was a quiet Christmas, but we were able to spend time with both Grandma and Grandpa E as well as Grammy and Papa S.

We had Christmas Eve at Grandma and Grandpa E's. We enjoyed a yummy dinner of ham and white bean soup (I need that recipe, Grandma!).

After lots of playing by the girls and chatting by the adults, it was time to finish our last family craft project: making a wreath. Daddy, the girls and Mommy picked out decoration for the wreath. It was fun to make with the girls and now we have a wreath we can put up every year. :-) However, it definitely looks like a 2 year old and a 3 year old picked out the decorations for the wreath.

Jana loved the bells. Shocker, I know! They are shiny and noisy: two of Jana's favorite characteristics.

Kara wasn't terribly involved, but would peek on us to make sure we were doing it right.The girls helping show Daddy where things needed to go.

Getting closer.Jana stealing the rest of the bells.

Jana and Daddy showing off the final product.
Kara quickly tired of the project and went back to playing with Grandma's "lady dolls" (the dress up dolls she played with when she was a girl). Kara LOVES these. She loves to dress things up and since we've decided to be a Barbie-free household, these are the perfect dolls to dress up and play with.

Here is Kara rocking with Grandpa by the fire.

On to Christmas morning...

Kara has become obsessed with Applebees. I think she's only ever been their a handful of times, but apparently she loves the place. So, when the girls woke us up at 7:30 and peeked downstairs, Kara announced, "Santa came! He brought me an Applebee's card!" Ugh. Sorry kiddo. :-)

Here is Jana checking out her stocking.

Maiya always loves the stocking that Santa brings her. So do we; it keeps her busy while we open presents.
Kara asked Santa for a hat and she sure has enjoyed the silly hat he brought her, as well as the toothbrushes and tooth paste that he brings them every year.
Cereal bar in one hand, candy cane in the other.
The girls started with the Santa presents. Jana got her "friends in a suitcase" that she's been asking for for months (beanie baby size stuffed animals in house-shaped carrying cases).


Santa surprised Kara with two Mickey Mouse MegaBloks sets. They have been a hit! She didn't want to open any more presents because she was too busy playing with these. :-)

Jana helping Kara open the present that Jana had picked out for her.Jana loves her new Princess towel, especially since it has a crown.

Finally we moved on to Grandma and Grandpa's presents to the girls. Jana has loved her Fancy Nancy doll. She's been obsessed with Fancy Nancy for quite a while, but she certainly loves this.


Kara needed to take a toast break.Jana ripping into more presents while Kara ate her toast.

Kara immediately needed to put on her new jacket from Auntie Sarah, Uncle Patrick, and Ari while reading her new books from Auntie Kaley.Ooooo! Dora!


Jana didn't appreciate Kara's method of opening presents: slow! So she kept volunteering to help her open her presents.

This would be the "No I don't want help, Jana!" look.


So, Jana got to help Daddy instead.Kara, still playing with the Mickey set. Please notice that there are very few presents left to be unwrapped because the only ones left were Kara's. Jana managed to unwrap hers and ours.


Finally Kara moved on to her next present: a camera just for her.Jana begging to help again. She couldn't figure out why Kara still had more presents and she didn't... she didn't quite understand that she had opened all of hers while Kara hadn't opened very many.

Jana was so confused by the presents labeled "Open last." It was quite a mystery... for a little while.Breakfast break. We loved having Grandma and Grandpa E join us for present opening and brunch.


Another big hit were the magnetic dress up dolls. The girls managed to end up with three sets and they LOVE them.
A little craft time. Auntie Meg and Uncle Sean gave the girls some craft books that they have enjoyed immensely.

Jana decided that the stairs was the best place to store all her new treasures.And then Grammy and Papa arrived and the present opening started all over. While the girls received many wonderful presents, this has been one of the favorites by far. This is a copy of "The Night Before Christmas" that was recorded by Grammy and Papa. The girls have listened to it many, many times since opening it and LOVE the fact that they can hear Grammy and Papa's voices whenever they want.

Jana opening her Princess Walkie Talkies.
Kara bringing Mommy her new clothes.

Grammy helping Kara opening her train set. This has been out daily as well! She's definitely into the building phase and loves to play with this!But the mysterious "Open Last" presents made sense when the girls opened this for Mommy and Daddy!
Back to some more craft time, but Jana missed the concept of putting the jewel stickers on the pages, not on her face!

GG's present to the girls was also a big hit. Both girls have enjoyed playing on this. This is the FP Fit Park system. It's nothing complex, but a mat that the girls can run and jump on. It's great for the girls since they aren't quite up to the wii yet.Here's Jana making her character run a race, in record time.
Here she's playing one of the games that has her sitting/lying to match the colors.

She did try the slalom skiing on the wii fit. It told her that she is "unbalanced"... as if we didn't know. Ha, ha, ha!
It was very humorous to watch, though.

We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas dinner with Grammy and Papa S.