Kissmas!!

 Even this sad little waif was able to get some enjoyment out of this Christmas! Here, she is holding one of the sparkly balls from her stocking.   We had carfeully hidden all presents and laid them out, wrapped and shining under the tree Christmas Eve, ready for that wide-eyed discovery the next morning.  No dice.  Glittering presents were promptly ignored and they sat down to play with the old barn.  At first, the girls wanted nothing at all to do with the stockings. I think they were afraid I was going to make them put them on.


 "Open, open, open!" The girls were far more interested in the idea of opening gifts this year, happily identifying what they could inside. The frog and owl backpacks you see here were a big hit. This was only a small portion of the haul from what I am now referring to as The Nana, The Papa and the Santa Nana.

 Here is only the beginning of the detritus from gift frenzy 2011.  They are digging into the art kit that goes with the easel (not pictured).  There's paint involved, so pray for us.  There were also lots of books, microphones and sparkly tennis shoes! 

 

Papa got a yo-yo and, after seeing it demonstrated, Lillian stole it for herself and spent a goodly amount of time jiggling it up and down, refusing any help or coaching. 

It was awesome to spend time with all the grandparents--Greats, too!--and tell silly stories and eat too much food and snuggle with pajamed babes.  Aslo, we watched videos of crazy people eating Ghost Peppers.  Random, but part of what makes this time so delightful.  That, and the part where two two-year-olds in diapers ran in screaming circles around the house for about 20 minutes.  One of them was wearing a police hat.  If you know Nana and Papa, they've got video of that on their fancy new phones.

A good holiday?  In the bag!

Merry and Bright

 (I haven't finished the Thanksgiving post yet. But, I realized that was holding me up from posting new things. So, Thanksgiving's in the time warp basket for the moment.)

Naomi, deciding on the right spot for her decoration



Lillian, analyzing the workings of the hopping santa-egg

The girls had a great time tonight decorating the tree tonight, once they got the idea. There were a few freak-outs when we tried to leave the ornaments on the tree at first but they caught on. Eventually Lillian was instructing Naomi, "Apple. Right here. Apple," pointing to the exact branch where she thought the teacher ornament should be placed for the 17th time. We're getting into the mood for the holiday

Oh, Goodness!

This was the phrase of the day on Tuesday. With each completed level of the skyscraper, the excitment level grew.

(It's also what I said when I realized how much time had passed since my last post. I promise I'm drafting the Thanksgiving epic.)