Thursday, December 25, 2008

Merry Christmas

We are finally back home after a few days of Christmas celebrations. We all have colds so the chances that the kids will get back into their normal napping routines doesn't look likely.

Last weekend we took the girls to Cabelas to see Santa. There was no line and no charge - it was nice since neither girl was excited to see him.

We continue to get snow. It's over our mailbox. This photo is from last Saturday, before it snowed Monday and Tuesday. I think more is coming again tonight.

Tuesday night we celebrated Christmas at Borneman's. Grace and Haley worked ferociously to unwrap the gifts. Lydia slept through most of the gift opening.
... then the wagon rides started. Christmas Eve morning we went to Christmas with the Pedersens.


We all took naps before heading over the Murphy's.


Last, but not least, Christmas morning at home.








Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Just Like Mom

Grace likes to be just like mom, so she copies whatever I do. Other times she wears my clothes. Here she is wearing my jacket, scarf and hat. Here she is smiling for the camera, yes, this is how she smiles.
Here she is looking more normal.

60 Seconds of Lydia

Lydia thinks it is really funny to crawl under tables and other things. One of her favorite things to crawl under is Diesel. She sees the perfect opportunity!

Then he moved. She gets a bit dramatic, do you think?!
Don't worry, she quickly found a new toy.


Let It Snow

Last winter when we got almost somewhere between 130-140 inches of snow, the weather people said it was unusual. I feel like it is deja vu again this winter though. It seems like it has snowed every other day since the beginning of December. Grace loves to go outside and play in the snow while Lydia takes her morning nap. Her favorite thing to do is shovel.
She does a pretty good job of actually moving the snow. She has to work on getting the snow off the driveway though.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Little Drummer Girls

Grace skipped her nap; instead of sleeping, she helped get the Christmas cards ready. Her duties included putting the stamps on the envelopes and licking the envelopes. She eventually thought the envelopes were not decorated enough and got her crayons out to color on the envelopes.


She made a point to look at the pictures inside of the envelope to make sure that they were still her. Hopefully you all like your cards!
Here are our 2 girls drumming on their chairs.

Thanksgiving Day

We were at Grandma and Grandpa Pedersen's for Thanksgiving lunch. Here are pictures from the afternoon. Nona was warm so she decided to take her shirt off for the afternoon. Lydia with Grandma Pedersen
Judy and Brenden doing the dishes
Judy was holding Nona and Grace while they watched the snow fall. I am sure her arms would have been sore if she had to keep that up for much longer.
Grace likes cranberries. You wouldn't be able to tell by this look on her face. She would take a bite, make a nasty face, then eat more. She has the same reaction to pickles.


Grace Works, Lydia Plays

I was getting dinner ready last week when Lydia woke up. I asked Grace to get Lydia a toy to keep her occupied for a few minutes. Grace took it upon herself to build Lydia a mountain of toys and books, including a chair to read the books in.
Once Grace finished getting Lydia toys to keep her busy, she decided that I needed help in the kitchen. Here she is tasting the garlic bread.
Lydia thought dinner was tasty!

November in a Nutshell

We walked to the Germantown Christmas parade a few weeks ago. Grace enjoyed the various llamas, horses and dogs that marched in the parade.

We finally upgraded our TV. Since we only had a 27" Tv and it was not digitally equiped, it was about time. When the UPS man delivered it to our house, Grace was amazed by the size of her "gift." Since her birthday almost a month ago, everything seems to be a gift. With Christmas coming, this habit may not be broken for a while. Here is Grace playing her her new house.

In addition to playing in cardboard boxes, Grace likes to roll in the rugs. It may be a sign that we need to heat our house more. Maybe it would help of she kept her socks on her feet too.

Snow! The first day we had snow at our own house this year, Grace was thrilled. She threw a huge fit when she first woke up and Diesel got to go outside before she did. We eventually got bundled up and made it outside to Grace's delight.
Lydia is crawling everywhere, including up steps. She loves her new found freedom. She is getting pretty confident her ability to stand as well. Yesterday, I found her cruising around the furniture.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

More on Grace's Birthday

Friday was a late night and Saturday was a long day. Christy got up early to pursue mother of the year by decorating an Elmo cake. For Grace, Saturday started with another blueberry muffin. Then, after the first snow accumulation of the year, Grace enjoyed both riding with Grandpa on the golf cart and some sledding.






Grandpa and Grandma Rudy and Linda made lunch for everyone. After lunch, we sang and cut up Elmo.





And then the best part: GIFTS! Amongst other items, Grace received clothes, a guitar, a vacuum, and money. (By Sunday, she's made quick use of the vacuum.)


After Grace's birthday party, we went to Rudy's surprise 50th party where Grace made friends with Lauren, Rudy's great niece.





And Lydia finally got some attention both from Grandpa and with a pony ride from her sister.