Seasonal Stuff

Skippy the Elf made his long journey from the North Pole back to our house. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to find new hiding places and poses for the little guy, but traditions aren’t always convenient. The other morning Kate awoke to find that Skippy had drank all the syrup. Immediately, the tears started streaming and Kate wailed, “But Cole needs syrup for his waffles!!!” After reassuring her that we had brand new bottle in the pantry and that elves need to eat too, she forgave Skippy and moved on with her day. It was nice to know that she cares about her little brother, though.

Whobilation: Kate’s kindergarten teacher continues to amaze us. She held a Grinch party and had all the kids dress as Who’s. Kate came home and said, “Mom, I need to dress up. You can just sew me a costume.” She obviously doesn’t know her mother very well. Sewing for me never entails the words, “JUST sew;” more often it’s words like, “Crap. Shoot. RRRRRR!!!” as well as far worse words. We made the best of the situation and found stuff around the house that worked. I stuck wires through her braided hair and even made a head-band. Look at me! But even more so, look at her! She was one darling Who.
              
               

Not to be forgotten; we’ve added some new additions to the kids’ ornament collections...

For Kate: Rapunzel. It’s actually the ornament she wanted last year, but due to high demand and little supply, we had to wait till this year. Kate was Rapunzel for last year’s Halloween. For one whole year (until Brave came along) Kate strutted the Rapunzel dress and shoes around the house, sang along to her Rapunzel karaoke CD, fell asleep to the Rapunzel sound track, and then this year, had herself a Rapunzel birthday party. I’m pretty sure Rapunzel earned herself a spot in the ol’ ornament collection.
For Cole: Dinosaur. Was there another choice? Well, cars (but that will likely serve as next year’s ornament). Cole, too, has been obsessed with Dinosaurs since receiving some from last year’s Christmas. In months past, you could rarely find his fists without a Jurassic creature lurking inside. He finds his dinosaur helmet to be super cool, and when it comes time for getting dressed, Cole has one DEMAND: “Dinosaur shirt.” It would be nice to dress him in the new clothes we buy him, but it’s kind of cute (kind of) to see him totally satisfied sporting his worn out T-Rex shirts.

Letter FROM Santa:
Miss Kate can always be found making books or writing letters. It’s just her thing. The other day she wrote a letter to Santa. We helped her put a stamp on it, and off it went. For some reason, the parents expected no reply. Well, imagine our shock when the Man in Red replied to Kate’s letter just a few days later. Did anyone else know that Santa did that? That was kind of a fun freaking awesome surprise!

Snow Time:
Oh, sweet Cole. We’ve discussed this before, but this child hates new things (he’s certainly related to his Grandpa Lyle). We bought him the new coat, which he HATES; hence, he wears the old (too small) one.  We bought him some new Sketchers. Has he worn them even once? Nope. The old shoes he lovingly terms as his “tiny ones” are all he will squeeze on his feet. He got some Lightning McQueen socks which you’d think he’d love. And he does. But will he WEAR them on his feet? No because they are “new.” The same thing goes for church clothes (hates anything but jeans and t-shirts). And the thing that chaps Cole’s hide more than anything else…snow gear.
So it snowed rather heavily this weekend. Dave offered to take the kids out sledding, and from past experience, I shrugged, “Good luck.” It was probably an hour long battle trying to get him dressed (no surprise since this has happened before). In the end, he wore his too small coat, with no gloves and no snow pants. We did, however, trick him into wearing a snow hat, by pulling out his dino helmet and ever-so-carefully sliding on a snow hat at the same time as sliding on the helmet. Uggghhhh. Why????? Anyway, it was nice that Cole could finally experience sledding, even if it only lasted for two slides down the hill before deciding to make a Hart’s run.


And last…Sissy had her big Christmas singing recital. She looked absolutely adorable in her formal dress, and her confidence on stage made my heart swell as always.
       

(L)With her teacher, Mrs. Delayne; (R)Loves from Daddy:

         
And, finally, Miss Kate stealing the show: