Merry Christmas!!

Christmas, 2012

We enjoyed our first Christmas in our new home.

Grandma Connie came over Christmas Eve to join us for a dinner of prime rib, shrimp, baked potatoes, asparagus, and cranberry salad. Then we settled in the basement with a cozy fire, some red wine, and a 500 piece puzzle.

As everyone slumbered, Santa arrived! He left two new bikes, books, and crafts.  Below is a picture of Madeline strategizing her morning of opening presents.

Both girls got American Girl dolls from Grandma Connie, and they love them! They also got legos, barbies, a scooter for Sophie, and so many other things to play with from their  far-away family.

Later that morning, we went to our neighborhood park to try out the new bikes.

In the afternoon, it was time to clean up for Christmas dinner at Grandma Shirley and Grandpa Ralph's house. The girls were so beautiful in their holiday dresses! I took so many pictures!!!

Madeline brought some of her new legos over, and they were a hit with the cousins.

The kiddie table at Ralph and Shirley's was all smiles! We had ham, turkey, pierogies, and too many goodies to mention.

Merry Christmas to all. We hope your day was merry and bright.

More Baking and Prepping

After the light show on Saturday, we finished up our cookie baking. The shaped cookies are our favorites to make, so we saved them for last this year.

Icing the cookies wasn't as easy as it has been in years past. The icing was a bit stiff, and both girls lacked enough patience to do much decorating. Sophie created this angel with much assistance. Maddie's batch isn't pictured here, and it wasn't pretty.

I was happy enough with my creations.

The girls were more pleased with their garland creation.

After a morning of creating, we drove to Ken't work to join him for lunch, and it starting snowing!! It was a very exciting Christmas Eve day!!!

New Traditions

I have been trying to come up with some new (east coast) traditions for the holidays. One nearby attraction is Bull Run's Festival of Lights. We decided we'd give it a shot. Not really sure of what to expect, we bundled up, withdrew forty dollars from an ATM, and headed to Centreville.

 As it turns out, for forty dollars, you can drive through about 2 miles of pretty cool light displays, ride one ride, and order either a corn dog or a hot chocolate,but not both. Of course, you could ride additional rides and order more food, but that would have cost more than the forty I brought.

 I think we will do this light show thing again, however, I definitely think it's way overpriced.

First Performance of the Season

Maddie is the one in the back with two braids and a big smile.

Vacation Time

After a marathon week . . . Gymnastics until 9 pm, a PTA meeting one evening, two conferences before work, a faculty meeting, and the start of the jump rope performance season . . . We are finally able to relax!

Holiday Preparations

Over the weekend, we stayed close to home and appreciated our precious moments together.  We created our yearly, and much anticipated, candy houses. It is a holiday tradition for our family and a great way to use up all that leftover Halloween candy.

Thanksgiving Weekend

The day after Thanksgiving was cold! The outside air dropped about 30 degrees!  Kent had planned to build our swing set the day after Thanksgiving, and he didn't let the weather stop him. He spent two days building in the backyard with 30 degree weather and wind, lots of cold wind.  Sophie played with the wood scraps, and by Saturday, the kids had a new place to play.

Madeline invited her best friend from school over, and the three littles had a blast!

Saturday evening, we got our tree!  We walked to a nearby lot and carried it home.  Madeline took charge of the decorating . . . shocking, I know. She divided the ornaments into three"waves" of hanging. Sophie got tired of decorating fairly quickly, but Madeline worked for a couple of hours on the task.

Before:

After:

Sunday, we baked. We made our first batch of Christmas cookies. We made peanut butter with Hersey kisses. We kept one dozen to enjoy and froze about 4 more dozen for Christmas time. Our plan is to bake every weekend and freeze the majority of our cookies, so we will have a variety of sweets to enjoy around the holidays.

Monday morning, we were up with the sun to go back to school. I miss the gorgeous autumn leaves, but the bare trees allow for  beautiful views of the sunrise. This is the view from our breakfast table.

And Monday night, it was back to homework and the  . . . viola. Madeline does not like to practice, but I am making her follow through with her commitment. So, we practiced. :)

Thanksgiving 2012

We had our first Thanksgiving in our new home. We enjoyed the company of Kent's parents and Dawn and her family. We put a ladder against our back fence, and the two little boys Maddie plays with at school, were able to spend the day in the yard.

Kent made the turkey and stuffing. I made my family's cranberry salad, and everyone brought sides and desserts. We recovered from the meal with some football, and all in all, had a really lovely Thanksgiving.

The table . . . waiting for some extra folding chairs. I made a table for 10! 

The adult end set with my fine china. This is the first time I've used it since moving east. I  may request a couple of additional place settings for Christmas now that we have a dining room and space to seat more guests.

                                        Happy Thanksgiving!!!