Monday, December 24, 2012

Christmas Eve

After all of the preparing and the anticipation, Christmas is finally here!  Our morning started off with a magical snowfall in which Katie exclaimed, "Mommy why is the snow so sparkly?"  We stayed inside for a bit and made colorful garland for the tree.  Then we headed outside for some sledding and snow fun.  After coming inside and warming up with some hot chocolate, we had lunch and got ready for church.

Katie drinking hot chocolate

Allie playing with her hot chocolate

Our church presented one of the best Christmas Eve services ever, complete with a puppet show and Christmas play.  Our minister explained that we can have the spiritual and the secular Christmas's together and that Jesus would want us to celebrate his birth and show love and joy by sharing gifts and doing kind things for others.

When we came home we sang "Happy Birthday" to baby Jesus, ate homemade ice cream, used my Grandma's special crystal glassware, played games, and left cookies, milk and carrots for Santa and his reindeer before heading up to bed.  Katie and Allie can't wait for Christmas morning!

PS - Allie let me pull her hair back in a ponytail today and I was just amazed at how much Allie looked like Katie today!
My special little twinsters!

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Ice Skating

I am trying to find ways to enjoy our long Minnesota winters and one of the activities I enjoyed as a little girl was ice skating. Today we took Katie and Allie to the Eagan Civic Arena for some ice-skating fun.  Last year we tried skating and it was not as enjoyable as I envisioned it to be.  Today  my expectations were low.  I thought if I could get them to skate for 30 minutes it would be a success.  Well, the good news is they both had a blast!  After renting our skates and getting geared up, we cautiously approached the ice.  Todd decided to rent a couple of walkers which really helped them begin to skate independently.  Before long, they were both skating on their own, pushing the walker.  A few minutes later Katie was running behind the walker.  Then to my surprise Katie decided to skate on her own and Allie soon followed suit. I hope skating will be as much fun for my girls as it was for me!


Katie

Allie



I hope the videos download so you can watch my little skaters!

Kaitlyn:



Allison:


Church Christmas Program


On Sunday, December 16th, our church presented the annual Children's Christmas Program.  As Katie and Allie's teacher and mom, I couldn't have been more proud of my girls and my students.  The program was performed in the front of church during worship and all of the kids nailed their performances.  It was fun watching the children eagerly scan the audience for a glimpse of their parents as we entered the sanctuary.  After singing 3 songs and participating in the telling of The Christmas Story we went back to our classrooms for a snack and a movie.  For me, it was one of my most proudest moments of being a mom!

Silly swimmers

This is how Allie thought she should dress to go swimming at Lifetime the other day. 

She thought her swimsuit and boots were all that were needed and in other words, no jacket, pants or shirt.  After she stepped out in the garage she decided to put on her clothes, jacket and sunglasses!

Toddler Tuesday

We are lucky we live so close to the Mall of America.  Last Tuesday I decided to check out Toddler Tuesday at the Mall.  I have never been there and after some research I discovered that Dora was going to be making an appearance at the event.  My girls love Dora and were super excited to meet her and give her a hug.  After eating breakfast and cleaning up 2 glasses of orange juice that the girls spilled on the floor, we quickly headed up to the mall for Dora's 10 o'clock appearance.  Well I did not know how big this event was going to be.  There were over 100 kids waiting in line to meet Dora and after waiting in line for a bit, Allie decided that she needed to go potty.  When we got back from the bathroom, Dora was done and had left.  Katie and Allie were disappointed but I tried to salvage the day and found some other fun things to do, like looking at all of the Christmas trees and playing and drawing in the HGTV gingerbread house.
Katie coloring

Allie coloring

Sugar cookies

I love baking and I love sharing my passion of baking with my girls.  Katie and Allie decided that Emily should come over and play last week and Allie said, "Mommy we should make cookies with Emily."  I thought that was a great idea!  We had a blast making decorating and eating cookies with our friend.  Does life get any better than this?
Katie frosting her cookie


Allie eating her cookie

Katie frosting her cookie

Allie eating her cookie

My little gymnasts

Friday was the last day of gymnastics until January and TAGS celebrated by giving all of the participants a ribbon.  Kaitlyn and Allison enjoy gymnastics, their teacher Ms. Keely, and their 2 friends Mia and Olivia, who have been taking gymnastics with them for about 1 year.  Mia has always enjoyed my girls and has always enjoyed giving them a lot of hugs and kisses.  I would have to agree with Mia that my girls are very lovable!


So proud of my little girls!



Santa's sleigh

I am so proud of how patient my girls have been this holiday season.  Every morning when they wake up they ask, "Mommy how many more days until Santa comes?"  After I tell them the number, they seem very content and satisfied.  When Katie woke up today she said, "Mommy when you see Santa on Christmas night will be be sure to tell him not to leave.  I want to ride on his sleigh!"  Absolutely adorable and totally priceless!

Katie's tummy trouble

I am so blessed that my children never get sick and I take that for granted so when Katie woke up on Thursday morning complaining that her tummy hurt, I did not think much of it.  As I was carrying her out of her room, she mentioned again that her tummy hurt and then she began to throw up all over me.  I felt so bad for her but the trooper that she is, she allowed me to clean her up and get her dressed.  After some cuddle time she decided to try a bit of breakfast and recovered very quickly.  And lucky for me, my Allie did not get sick!  Maybe we will  get through the holidays with no more illness?

Monday, December 17, 2012

Mommy's Little Helpers

Lately Katie has really shown an interest in helping me with my daily chores.  I have always encouraged my girls to help but their most likely response is, "No thank you, you can do it Mommy"  or, "We're too busy playing now we can't help you."  Well I was tickled pink yesterday while I was making Katie's bed.  She came upstairs and said , "Stop what you are doing Mommy and please leave my room."  She invited me in a few minutes later and so proudly showed me her bed that she made all by herself!  I was so happy and elated that I praised her over and over again! 

Meanwhile Allie had thrown some of her play pieces all over the floor in the basement.  While I went downstairs later in the day to pick them up, I was surprised at the fact that the basement was cleaned up.  I asked who had picked up the pieces and much to my delight Allie said she did!  Could this be a trend?  Let's hope so!

Reindeer food

Recently, at a friend's play date, we learned what reindeer food was and how to make it.  It is a combination of colored sugar, sugar and oatmeal.  The premise behind it is you sprinkle the food on the snow the night before Christmas so Santa's reindeer will have something to eat while Santa is in your house delivering your toys.  We made some on Friday so we could practice before Christmas Eve.  Katie and Allie had a blast sprinkling it on our backyard.  I think we will be ready for Christmas Eve!

Sunday, December 16, 2012

My little buliders

Oh what fun it is to have 2 little builders in my house.  After ignoring Lego's for a long time, Allie and Katie have really started to enjoy playing and building with their Lego's.  Maybe one of my girls will use their building skills to become an engineer or architect one day!
Katie with her Lego house

Allie with her Lego house

More naughty than nice

There are some days that my children are more naughty than nice and Tuesday was one of those days.  I understand that testing me and figuring out their boundaries are what children do, but my little Allison & Kaitlyn sometimes really test my patience.  I tell them often that they are lucky to have such a patient mom! 

It all started with my little girls playing with some of my Christmas decorations.  I pleaded with them to put them away and play with toys instead, but when I came downstairs and found one of my wise men's hands broken, I was a bit frustrated.  What even made it worse was that no one admitted to breaking it. After 3 days, Kaitlyn finally admitted to the deed.  I explained that I was more disappointed in her for the fact that she had lied to me.

After lunch I was organizing some of the gifts that I had bought for our nieces and nephews and Allison and Kaitlyn started to grab for the gifts and run off with them.  I told them to bring them back and no one listened.  After counting to 5 a few times, Kaitlyn finally brought hers back but Allison just threw hers on the floor and ran upstairs.  I asked her to come downstairs and give me the gift, but instead she ran past me with her sister and said, "I am going to play downstairs with Katie." I said not until the gift is in my hand and Katie said, "Mommy, Allie doesn't have to do that.  She is going to play with me."  Wow!  I finally directed Katie downstairs and said, "Your sister will join you after she is done listening to me and I am Allison's mom not you."  After many tears, Allison finally gave me the gift back.  I hope they each learned something from their naughtiness that day!

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Winter Wonderland

I think it will be a white Christmas this year.  Much to my children's delight we woke up to a winter wonderland.  Todd and I thought the storm missed us because there was only about 2 inches on the ground when we left for church.  But it kept snowing and snowing the rest of the day and by the time the day was done, we ended up with about 10 inches of snow. 

All of the kids at Sunday School were so excited about the snow and the fact that they could play outside all afternoon.  Kaitlyn and Allison played outside for about 2 hours - one hour in the morning and one hour in the afternoon.  We had so much fun! What was even more awesome was that the temperature stayed at about 32 degrees the entire day, so it wasn't too cold for outdoor fun.

We had fun shoveling: (Allison)



making snow angels: (Kaitlyn)


running: (Allison)


building 2 snowmen: (Kaitlyn)



sledding, swinging on our swings and just acting like 2 crazy kids who had never seen snow before.(Kaitlyn)


I hope the rest of the winter the girls will think snow is this much fun!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

I get so much enjoyment out of watching my girls enjoy winter and snow.  Late Friday we had about one inch of snow and to Kaitlyn and Allison, it was the most magical thing they ever saw!  After eating breakfast on Saturday morning, they immediately wanted to go outside and play.  It didn't matter to them that there was just a dusting of snow.  Sledding was a bit tough but we found lots of enjoyment in eating  snow and making snow angels.  After playing in the backyard, Kaitlyn decided that she wanted to scooter for a while.  Our neighbor Mars was out shoveling and found it totally amusing, a little girl dressed up in all of her winter gear trying to scooter down the road!  I sometimes think that God gave me these 2 beautiful souls so I can find the true pleasure in winter.


Fun with friends

Friday we were so lucky to spend the day with our friend Emily.  Emily's mom had some dental work done so we volunteered to watch Emily so Karen could recover.  After we picked Emily up we played dress up at our house, where all of the girls decided to be princesses.
After lunch we went to Gleason's open gym and had fun jumping on the trampolines, swinging on the bar and running and playing with lots of different kids.  Being that the girls were so good, we decided that we needed to stop for ice cream before heading home.



We had fun playing and teaching Emily the game "Old Maid."  Even playing fair with no cheating involved, I always end up being the "Old Maid!"

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Wacky Weather

Yesterday Katie told me that she did not have to wear a jacket because it felt like summer outside.  Today it was much cooler and it felt like winter returned.  Oh how blessed we have been with this wonderful start to December.  After meeting our friends Leah and Madison at the Eagan Community Center this morning we opted to stay indoors, listen to Christmas music and make some Christmas crafts.  I was summoned up to Katie's room this afternoon by my angelic Katie.  She told me that Allie was in the hospital (which was Katie's room.)  I found Allie laying on 2 chairs with numerous blankets on, pretending that she was sick and in the hospital, while her Dr. (Katie) tended to her needs.  Allie recovered very rapidly from her mysterious illness.  Good thing that Dr. Katie was in the house!

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Weekend fun with Emily

This weekend was all about having fun and spending bunches of time with Emily and Ms. Karen.  On Friday, Karen graciously offered to watch Katie and Allie for me so I could have a bit of alone time for myself.  It was one of the most generous gifts of time anyone has ever given me.  I so needed a bit of a breather from my little 4&1/2 year olds and their tenacious and stubborn attitudes!  I took advantage of the time by doing some shopping at the Mall of America and then organizing a bit at home.  Katie and Allie had a blast with their friends, a win-win situation for everyone!  After Emily's house we came home and decorated our gingerbread house. (My second attempt at a gingerbread house being I dropped the first one on the floor and it broke into many pieces!)


Saturday morning we made 6 dozen Reese's Peanut Butter Cups for our cookie exchange party.  Katie and Allie then helped me decorate our stockings, which we hung up with care.  I am very proud of the stockings that I made - a rare Martha moment for me.  I purchased the plain stockings at Target for $1.00 and then spent about $5.00 on glitter and decorations. 



Saturday afternoon we had so much fun ringing the bell for the Salvation Army at Cub Foods in Apple Valley.  Karen signed up and then asked if we would like to join them. I would have to say that the 2 hot mama's and the 3 adorable girls raked in a ton of money - our bucket was full after our shift.  We had fun ringing the bell, singing Christmas songs and dancing and we were so blessed to have 50 degree weather.  I think we will make this activity a tradition for many more years to come. 

Sunday after Sunday School we went to a cookie exchange party at  Karen and  Emily's house.  While the mom's exchanged cookies the kids played and did some really fun craft projects.  What an awesome weekend with wonderful friends!

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer


As we were driving to Lifetime Fitness the other day, Katie noticed a big mama deer walking through our neighborhood and Katie said, "And guess what Mom, the deer had a flashing red nose!"  We decided that it was Rudolph's mommy and she is out and about making sure all of the kids are nice and not naughty.  I found these cute flashing red reindeer noses at Michaels yesterday and now I have 2 little Rudolph's!

Little Red Riding Hoods



One of our favorite activities as of late is going to the library and checking out lots of books.  My girls have always been a fan of the Berenstain Bear books and last week Katie found a book called, "The Berenstain Bear's Bedtime Stories."  The book is a collection of fairy tales and "Little Red Riding Hood" has become a hit with my girls.  At bedtime tonight Allie and Katie were pretending they were little red riding hoods and the big bad wolf was chasing them.  I just love how books can bring out so much imagination and creativity!

You'd better watch out...

Today we sent our Santa letters to the North Pole.  After addressing the envelopes, I took Katie and Allie to the Post Office and they each mailed their own Santa letter.

Here is what Allie wants from Santa:
1. Dress up pony and dolls
2.  A real moose
3.  A real turkey
4.  A purple bed
5.  Lots of treats

Here is what Katie wants from Santa:
1.  A real kitty
2.  A real turkey
3.  A dollhouse
4.  Candy canes
5.  A new pony

I don't think Santa will bring a real moose or turkey, let's hope not anyway!