New Year's Eve

I don't know many people who actually stay up until midnight anymore on New Year's Eve. The friends I thought might actually left a party before midnight so they could be home before all the drunk drivers got on the road.

No worries for us, we were home well before 9 PM! We celebrated New Years with the Broadfeet and the Springgates.

The girls had fun playing together . .


but this guy had the best time. Callum sat in his high chair and ate for 2 hours straight. Applesauce, peaches, cheerios and Cooks Illustrated Lasagna. You go Callum!

Let it snow, let it snow,

let it snow!

Portland was surprised this afternoon with a whole bunch of snow . . so of course, we bundled up to take advantage of it. Good clean family fun!

Christmas Day

When Chloe woke up this morning, she said, as usual "It's morning time". I went into her room and she told me she heard Rudolph on the roof last night and asked me if Santa came. And he did!

So we all came downstairs to open our presents, and what a haul!

Chloe got a new purple fish tank with a guppy she named, appropriately, "Chloe". We had to start out with just one fish, for some odd new fish tank reason, and in a month Chloe and Craig will go back and pick out 2 more fish and 3 little African frogs to complete the tank. Craig got the tank at this great fish store near the children's gym called The Wet Spot.



After seeing the fish tank, we went on to opening up our stockings. Chloe's stocking was filled with Hello Kitty and "button" socks (socks with little rubber dots on the bottom that Chloe calls buttons) and light up Hello Kitty Stampers. And, of course, some coal (chocolate popcorn).



After Chloe opened all the presents in her stocking, she started helping us!


So just in case Chloe ever complains about her lack of stuff, here she is with everything she got this year for Christmas!

From her Aunt Karen and Cousins Carly & Jarred, 3 books and a stuffed animal:





From her Nana & Poppa, a guitar and Calico Critters.


A live Butterfly Pavilion which we will get caterpillar eggs for and then Chloe can watch them go through all stages to butterfly


A "Where the Wild Things Are" floor puzzle:


A "Fancy Nancy" Book:


A cool round floor puzzle from Franny:


A personalized memory game:


Zingo, a fun game from Max & Ella (plus Candyland!!! from Bea)

Craig and I did well too. Craig got some new Timberland boots. About time as he was impressing people by the duct tape that was holding his old ones together. He also got a Garmin GPS, which is a fun toy, and a couple of coffee mugs, which he needed.

Craig surprised me with a backpack. Ok, I asked for it and told him quite in detail what I wanted, but he came through, along with a gift certificate for a custom designed bathing suit from Sofada! And he rounded it out with a booklight, and a Walgreens Special Ove Glove.

And, after opening all these wonderful gifts (well not all, we actually did take a break), I started a new tradition of making cinnamon rolls which turned out quite excellent and we'll have every year!



Then we met the Springgates and Broadfeet at the park for a little chilly playdate, then came back home for lunch and to open the rest of the presents. All in all, a really wonderful sunny Christmas!





When I asked Chloe what her favorite Christmas present was, she said the mouse. Her Aunt Karen once again scores with the best gift.

Chloe fell asleep watching Frosty Returns, and I carried her up to bed where she is now, I'm imagining, dreaming of a very wonderful Christmas!

Christmas Eve

For the 3rd year in a row we celebrated Christmas Eve at the Springgates. We had a wonderful time of course, with a gourmet meal. Our contributions were 2 Smitten Kitchen recipes, Cappuccino Fudge Cheesecake, which was a 4 hour ordeal to make, but totally worth it, and Balsamic Braised Brussels Sprouts, which was a 2 hour ordeal to make, and totally not worth it.

Liza of course set the bar high with a gorgeous table. She made the centerpiece herself.



Here was the table for the little girls, complete with homemade ornament party favors. Too cute! Chloe wore her Santa dress and hat, and looked adorable. . and had a great time playing with Franny, Bea and Annie.



Callum, 9 months, took August, 16 months, out, and Craig caught it on film.




And August had the funniest moment of the night when he rushed the girls table to try to get to the dessert! Callum was too busy trying to get a sip of Craig's beer to worry about the dessert . . ..


So thanks much to the hostess with the mostess, who found time to enjoy her holiday punch and enjoy the wonderful party she hosted for all of us!

Zoo Lights

Tonight we meet Matt 'n Sam for the at the Zoo for the Zoolights. We almost didn't make it as we got there at 5 and the place was already packed. After driving around for 30 minutes, we finally got a spot and it was well worth it. The zoo was amazing, just incredible lights, and Chloe also enjoyed seeing Rudolph, and Eagle and a Cow. Chloe and I sang "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" to Rudolph, and she gave the Cow a high 5.

Baking!

Kama, Ella and Max came over today to make Christmas cookies. We used a recipe that Kama had and both made a batch of dough in the a.m. I, unfortunately, used white whole wheat flour which was not nearly as soft for rolling out the sugar cookies as needed. We had a great time making cookies with the kids and Chloe, of course, had a blast with Max & Ella.

Visiting Santa

We went to Lloyd Mall to visit Santa Claus. Chloe had not been since she was 14 months, so we thought we would give it another try. After waiting about 90 minutes, here's what we got:

Craig said he heard Chloe mutter under her breath to Santa what she wants for Christmas, which is a trampoline, some rings, a cow bell, and a fish tank. She'll get the fish tank, but not the others, not this year anyway :-)

Chloe did, however, accept a lollipop from Santa. She's no fool!


Probably the most fun the kids waiting in line to see Santa had was watching the woman in the Nordstorm's window dress the mannequin. I wonder if she ever had such a large audience before!

Peacock Lane

I think Craig and I have been to Peacock Lane every year we have been together, except one. Can you guess which one? Yes, someone was 2 months old and we were sleep deprived and pretty crazy, not sure we even remembered Peacock Lane in 2006.

This year we went with the Springgates. Since we got there a little early, we decided to first explore Walgreens.

Franny was very interested in the M&Ms ...

Then onto Peacock Lane, which Chloe loved, and Franny did now (though we suspect it had to do with how much clothing each of the girls were wearing!)

The best Christmas treat

I was sure glad to discover this recipe ... Chloe and I had fun making them, and everyone we shared them with loved them too!


Then we tried to go see Santa, but he was on a break, so Chloe sat in his chair instead.

Dinner with Jon, Amy & Noah

We had a lovely dinner at our neighbors house tonight. Their son Noah is about 6 months older than Chloe. They had fun playing together. . especially "fighting" over who got to sit in this box!

Dance Class

Chloe has loved taking dance class and for the last class this term her teacher, Ms. Erica, had all the girls pose for a class picture.