Getting ready for Christmas

While I put up the big tree, Parker put up the kid's tree.

I pulled out the box of Christmas books and the kids were well entertained for over an hour.

Time to get the tree!

We went up to our usual spot in Arlington to get our tree this year.

It was FREEZING!  But Parker was a trooper, Cecily was a little less excited about the cold.

After an exhaustive search that was at least 5 minutes long, we picked out the perfect tree.

Keith & Parker chopped it down while Papa & Cecily helped knock it over.

Now let's go get some breakfast & hot chocolate!

The final product:

It's bigger than we've had in the past few years, so the lights and ornaments are a little sparse.  We would have had one more string of lights, except for the whole melting IN MY HAND part that I wasn't such a fan of.

Thanksgiving!

We're off to Grandma's house!

The other Kruger family did a noticeably better job at getting a family photo than we did.

As soon as dinner was over, Cecily was ready to get her jammies on.

Janet must have spent over an hour reading the Wizard of Oz to the kids.

Thanksgiving Morning

I really enjoy hosting Thanksgiving, but it's pretty nice on the years that I don't, we get a whole morning to just play together.

And attempt to take a decent family photo.

Playdate

We had our friends over for a playdate.  I found Cecily & Gracie in Cecily's room, crammed between the bed & the window seat, sitting on the heater vent.

Cecily's Wardrobe

This is what passes as acceptable clothing now...  Tights and a long shirt.  Just not worth the fight.

Today's Project ~ "My new favorite dress"

This may come as surprise to any who's ever met Cecily, but she HATES Tutus.  You'd think that they'd be right up her princess & fancy-loving alley.  But not so.  The best I can figure, her brain goes something like this:

You have to wear a shirt with a tutu.

Wearing a shirt = not a dress = I HATE it

So, in an effort to give the remaining 80% of her wardrobe a little play time, I took all her un-worn tutus and sewed them onto a few of her un-worn shirts and tada, her new favorite dresses!

She LOVES them and has worn at least one every day this week.

Today's Project ~ Rainbow Pony

Fiona requested a Rainbow Brite something-or-other sweatshirt for her birthday.  We don't watch My Little Ponies (yet), so I don't know how accurate this turned out, but it's pretty cute.

I skipped the unicorn horn and the ears, but I think the general effect is there and it's a little more wearable/washable this way.

Turns out the hardest part was finding a plain blue sweatshirt, the rest of it took about 10 minutes.

Another zoo trip...

...another photo on the Komodo Dragon sculpture.

"Mama can you help me get off this giant lizard?"

The big windstorm

Totally unrelated comment: This is my 1000th blog post!  Holy Moley, we've come a long way from my start 6 years ago!

Somehow, we never lost power during the Storm Watch 2015, but we did have one crazy moment.  The kids were playing in the other room and I heard a giant THUMP.  It was big enough that the glasses shook in our cupboard, but not so loud that I was concerned for our safety.

I looked outside and except for a bit of fallen laurel bush, I couldn't see anything that had fallen.

Until I looked a little closer and saw the giant root ball in the air:

Our neighbor had actually limbed & topped this tree over the summer, but never got around to felling it completely.  I guess that works done.  We got off pretty easy, our fence is a little wonky (or perhaps I should say wonkier), but judging from all the frantic work yesterday, I think it clipped the corner of the giant "warehouse" next door.

I am seriously wondering why we bought her that bed.

We haven't yet reached the Need-level of co-sleeping, but I can't remember the last time Cecily slept in her own room, let alone her bed.