Snow Day!

Doug & Kelly are heading out of town to spend the next two weeks with Kelly's family.  Fiona's school was letting out early on Friday, so we made plans for me to pick her up from school & let the kids play together for a few hours.  Then we woke up to a BLIZZARD (or whatever), Fiona's school was closed, and we turned a play-date into a play-day.

The elder-cousins had a great time playing out in the snow.

The younger-cousin woke up on the wrong side of the crib today and wasn't so excited about the whole thing.  She would only be outside if we pushed her around in the stroller.

Fortunately, Parker & Fi were willing to oblige.

Actually, there was a lot of pushing around in the snow.

Then we came back inside for cocoa & apple slices by the fire.

Gingerbread House

 

Like everyone else, I made Parker a Christmas Advent calendar with a bible reading & Christmas Activity for every day.  Most of the activities are simple: drink cocoa by the fire, read a Christmas book, but on Sunday, the activity was "make a gingerbread house".  Not sure what I was thinking, and I was completely unprepared.  So, being the super-fantastic Mom that I am, I was way too lazy to run to the store for a gingerbread kit or candy, so we made-do with what we already had on-hand.

 

 

I used the last 4 pieces of gingerbread we had in the house and the Christmas M&M's that have been floating around for years.  Fortunately, he doesn't seem to mind.

 

I did pick up some Necco wafers while I was at the fabric store.  When Parker saw them, he said, "What are these?  Are they for eating?"  ...um, not really.

 

Not too bad, considering the complete lack of pre-planning.

CPL Holiday Party

Keith's company's Christmas Party was on Friday, so we gussied the kids up and headed downtown.

 

 

This dress is WAY too big for Cecily, but seriously, how cute is she?

 

They bring in a Santa every year.  We've been working on Parker and he assured us that he was going to stand next to Santa and tell him what he wanted for Christmas (a candy cane and a bear-like-Cecily's).  Of course, he was terrified and we could barely get him to stay in the same room.  I haven't seen the photos yet, but I think we got a shot of a screaming Cecily in my arms next to Santa, and a shot of Parker sitting in Santa's chair with a stuffed Rudolph.  But, by the end we did get Parker to give Santa a high-5, so we're getting closer.

 

But what the kids LOVE are the free passes to the Westlake Carousel.

 

At the end of the ride we have to peel Cecily's little fingers off the pole & take her off kicking & screaming.

 

Keith's company is moving offices in the Spring so they won't be by the carousel next year, we might have to actually pay for a ride!

Bedtime stories

Cindy Lou Who

We get a lot of comments about Cecily looking like Cindy Lou Who (it's the hair).  Some days it's more accurate than others.

 

 

Except for the scowl, of course, that's all Cecily.

Christmas Cookies

Parker & I made our first batch of Christmas cookies for the year.  He helped with everything from the mixing, rolling, cutting, & frosting.  Cecily helped by taking a 3-hour nap.

 

 

He's showing off the frosting on his hands (and face).

 

It should be obvious which ones Parker frosted and which ones I did, but (sadly), it's not as obvious as I'd like!

Pacific Science Center

Keith was considering asking for a Science Center membership for Christmas, so we thought we'd give it a try...  I think we're a good two or three years away from really enjoying it.  The kids were too small (literally) to reach most of the exhibits and they really didn't understand what everything was.

 

 

But, with that said, they did enjoy pushing random buttons all over, and they do have a small toddler area that they enjoyed.  But that wasn't enough to warrant an annual pass, so maybe we'll think about the Kid's Museum instead.