Merry Christmas Day 2013

Santa was here, Santa was here!!!

 

Even though the girls didn't get to bed until late, they were up at their usual time shortly after 7.  I felt like I woke up a million times during the night waiting for them to wake up. 

 

 

 

 

Santa brought Lily some Monster High dolls and a locker.  Marley got a cute set of dancing Barbie's and a noisy guitar!  AND they both got a cute little cottage playhouse together!

 

Ready to tear into their goodies!  I will spare you all with the opening of the gifts, plus there were just too many photos to choose from. 

 

after all those gifts we nearly forgot about the stockings!  as a kid, stockings were always one of my favorite things to open!

 

Following all the gifts, stockings, and a little playing, we had our traditional French toast breakfast.  The girls were almost too excited to eat. 

 

playing in their new playhouse from Santa!

All dressed up and ready to go to Aunt Tina's!  And yes again, I dressed the girls alike.  Their sweet knot dresses are from Matilda Jane and leggings are from my friend Meg with Lavender Bird Creations. 

 

Grandpa Snyder and his girls

 

Since Marley was such a pro at opening gifts by this point she could hardly wait to open "pesents" again! 

 

 

wanna cookie?

 

snuggling under Lily's new blankie after a long day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas Eve 2013

mama and her girls.  Marley was less than thrilled for pictures!  I don't always dress the girls alike but on special days like this its fun!  Plus they don't fight over anything (hopefully).  The girls dresses were made by my sweet friend Ashley from Chickadee Chickadee. 

 

Miss Lily loves to pose

 

Marley on the otherhand is a goof!

 

 

sweet sisters

 

28 weeks :)

 

We spent Christmas Eve at my moms house in Avoca this year.  The kids all had a great time together and couldn't wait to open gifts!  There was even a special surprise in store for them!

 

As we were setting out all the snacky foods before dinner, Grandpa Mike set out his skillet full of rocky mountain oysters (ick).  He casually asks Cash and Lily if they'd like to have some chicken nuggets.  What kid wouldn't? Lily was up faster than I could move and already had one in her mouth.  Luckily grandpa didn't tell them what they really were.  I think they each ate at least 4 or 5 of them!  Some day they will love to hear this story.

 

Marley talked grandma into making chocolate chip pancakes for them for dinner.  It's the girls favorite thing to eat when they sleepover at grandmas house. 

 

We knew the big surprise (SANTA) would be arriving soon so we tried to stall the kids a little because they were so anxious to open gifts.  They each got little bell necklaces and sang Jingle Bells.  It was so sweet. 

 

a little more stalling...

 

then the big guy all dressed in red arrived!  I believe everyone sat on his lap except Marley.  She was a little apprehensive.  She was however quite excited for gift opening.  The look on her face was just priceless each time she went to open.  She really didn't care what was in the gift itself, just the mere fact of tearing into that paper made her day! 

 

 

 

each year we draw names for gifts rather than buying for everyone individually.  I had my sisters name this year!  She loves Coach so I figured I'd get her a nice wristlet to go with one of her purses.  Lo and behold, I opened my gift first since we go youngest to oldest and it's from my sister.  I open it up and what do I get?  A Coach wristlet!  I couldn't even keep a straight face since she was opening next.  Cannot believe we got each other the same thing.  They were both black just a little different print on them.  Great minds think alike!

 

We soon headed home so we could get the girls to bed.  They watched the rest of their movie on the way home and Marley fell fast asleep.  Lily got to help get Santa's cookies and the carrots ready for the reindeer.   

 

and the stockings were hung...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

bye bye B

This day should have come a long time ago.  We meant to do it when she turned 2 but just (I) didn't have the heart to do it.  She was my baby and somehow I just wanted her to stay little.  So, on Wednesday morning I hid both of her B's (one to save and the other to cut). 

For the past couple of weeks, Marley has thought that when it gets dark she needs to put on her jammies and get her B.  It gets dark by 5 pm!  So we've had to break her of the B thing...  Wednesday eve I casually handed her the broken B.  She didn't even notice!  She put it in her mouth and took it back out and looked at it funny.  Then came the whining.  I simply told her it broke and we'd have to throw it away.  This method worked for her sister when she was 2 but Marley wasn't having that excuse.  So when she wasn't looking I grabbed the B and hid it.  She asked where it was and I said it was all gone, no more B's for Marley.  She seemed to think we'd just go to the store in the morning and get her more.  It took a little longer for her to fall asleep without the comfort of her pal B.  She cried for it and I reassured her she was a big girl and that B's were all gone and weren't coming back. 

She woke me up around 3 am and I took her back to bed to tuck her in.  She had the iPad was watching a movie.  Really?  I laid her down and rubbed her back and she quickly fell asleep. 

Lastnight went a little better at bedtime.  She only asked a couple of times for B and she slept all night.  So, hoping this is a trend and she will be over it soon.  Then we can begin the big task of potty training after the holidays!  Would LOVE to have a short break from diapers before baby brother arrives!  We've been buying diapers continually since 2008!  I can only imagine how much we've spent!!!

Baking Christmas Cookies

 

We spent all day last Saturday prepping and baking sugar cookies.  I started prepping for the dough first thing in the morning.  Seems like it takes forever for butter to soften!  I found this yummy recipe on Pinterest.  Then the mixing began, that is until my little hand mixer told me, "no more of this"!  There was quite a bit of smoke and some odd spark like light ups inside the machine.  I reached for the plug and put the mixer out of its misery.  Thankfully I was near done mixing so was able to finish up by hand.  Not as easy as one would think. 

After the dough was all mixed up I put it in the fridge to cool then Lily and I headed out for a new mixer.  I didn't mess around this time though.  We got a nice big Kitchen Aid mixer and a smaller handheld for our daily uses like mashed potatoes and such. 

By the time I got home it was mid afternoon.  The girls and I started in on the baking.  Brian had decided he had had enough and slept on the couch while we worked.  Both girls loved the rolling pin.  They rolled and rolled even though the dough didn't even spread.  So cute!  Then we dug into the flour!  It was everywhere...  We had a few stressful moments where I could have used an extra steady hand but we made it work.  And the cookies were indeed a huge success considering not a one was burnt!  One happy mama! 



My little taste testers!  I think they approved!

 

 

 

 

 After dinner we tested out the new mixer to make the frosting then sat down at the table as a family to decorate.  The girls REALLY enjoyed the sprinkles!  A little too much...  But all in all we had fun and the cookies looked great :)

 

 

 

And a glimpse at our delicious cookies!  I will definitely be making these again.  Cannot get enough of them :)