what's old is new again

Most of these toys have been in the toy box for years.  Occasionally they get taken out and played with, but mostly they stay hidden away in the toy box and rarely see the light of day.

Yesterday my parents brought me the bookshelf for the play room.  I just emptied the toy box and put the toys on the shelf, and suddenly, these old toys have new life!  Rebecca's playing with one after the other, because she can actually SEE them.  Of course, the shelf looks rather cluttered, and maybe someday I'll get cute baskets to make it look better, but for now, it's all about function. 

The toy box is now the dress up clothes box.  The dress up clothes get the most mileage around here, play-wise, so I'm not worried about them being forgotten in the toy box.  

The dress up box is now the musical instrument box (we have SO many guitars....Rebecca is a little less guitar obsessed than she used to be, but she still loves them!)

The train table has become the play table, since no one is into trains at the moment (my husband wants to sell the table and the train set, but Rebecca plays at this table ALL the time, so I don't want to).

We'll see how this arrangement works.  And I still need to figure out what to put on the top two shelves that the girls can't reach.  I'm thinking paint, play doh, etc, but we'll see.  For now I'm just happy that things are getting played with and there is less sitting on the floor.

cookies, anyone?

Rachel and her troop are selling Girl Scout cookies.  If anyone is interested in buying any, please let me know.  Even if you aren't local or don't want to eat the cookies yourself, you can order some to be donated to a local food bank.  They are $4 per box this year, but our troop gets a bigger percentage of the cost of each box than we've gotten in the past.

Thank you for supporting her and our Brownie troop!

a little stir crazy

I heard on the news today that the first Monday in January is considered the most depressing day of the year.  But in my world, today should've been a GREAT day. The day when half of my children go back to school after 2+ weeks at home and life starts to get normal again. I've been looking forward to today since about Dec 28th (when the post Christmas depression set in.....I get a little depressed every year after Christmas and it usually lasts until school starts and life gets back to normal).  

But things didn't get back to normal today.  Like much of the country, we are experiencing the "polar vortex" they're going on and on (and on and on) about, and the cold temperatures cancelled school.  I actually was glad I didn't have to get us all out the door to the bus stop first thing in the morning into the brutally cold air, but......I'm going a little stir crazy, and so are my girls.  

They're still playing with Christmas presents, but they've lost a little of their luster. They've played dress up ad nauseam.  They have watched more TV than I'd normally allow.  They've played school, house, American Girl, doggies, princess, and every other imaginary make believe concoction you can think of, and probably many you would NEVER think of.  They've colored, made books, done crafts, played  games, read books.....you name it, they've probably done it over the last two weeks.   They've played outside pretty much every day except today, when I couldn't, with a clear conscience, let them go out.  So today it was playing inside ALLLLLLLLL day.  

Ordinarily, I'd love a "snow day" off of school.  But I'm just ready for real life to start again.  I know I'm not the only mom feeling this way....

But guess what?  School is already called off for tomorrow.  For me, too (I was supposed to start teaching again tomorrow).  And Friday is an already scheduled day off of school.  So IF Rachel goes back to school on Wednesday, it will only be for two days, and then she's back home.

I love my girl, and love having her home (Rebecca's not going to know what to do with herself once Rachel is in school again), but I'm just ready for some normalcy.  Guess I need to wait awhile longer for that.

I shouldn't be complaining.  I'm happy to be home with my girls.  Happy we are in a warm house with food.  Happy they get along (MOST of the time) and have fun together.  Happy.  Really.  Just VERY stir crazy.

mother daughter bonding

Rachel and I did a little bonding today while Rebecca took her nap....

Lego Friends assembly and Saige Paints the Sky

a very merry Christmas

Here are the promised pictures from Christmas....

 

 

Christmas Eve--new matching PJs.  I got them nightgowns this year because they both LOVE nightgowns and don't have very many.

 

 

Christmas morning--probably her favorite gift--an Elsa dress from the movie, Frozen.  Both girls have fallen in love with this movie.  They have the soundtrack and reinact it almost daily.  Rachel's jealous of this dress, but the only one they make in her size is from The Disney Store, and it's pricey.  This is an inexpensive version that only really fits Rebecca.

 

Matching shirts

 

Rachel and Saige!



For months before Christmas, if you asked Rebecca what she wanted for Christmas, she said "A Hello Kitty Car!  So she got it....and was excited about it....but since Christmas day I think she's played with it twice.  But if you ask her what her favorite present is, she'll say her Hello Kitty car!

Saige and her horse

Wearing her Elsa dress.  She's had this on more than anything else in the last five days.

At Grandma's house....opening stockings

Grandma and Grandpa put these glasses in each kid's stocking.  You wear them and look at the Christmas tree and shapes appear on the lights.  They were all different (reindeer, Santa, snowflakes, etc--they were really cool!)

A better picture of Rachel in her matching Saige dress from Grandma and Grandpa

They both love the show, Sofia the First, and got matching dress up dresses.

In their matching shirts.  I love this picture.

Merry Christmas!

one more post

I meant to post these this morning when I posted about Rachel and Saige....

One of the things Rachel also wanted was Saige's art kit.  

For $50+ you got a bunch of doll sized fake art supplies.  Well, for $6 and some time and effort, my husband and I made her her own REAL art kit. He used scrap wood and his woodworking skills and made the doll sized easel.  I made doll sized sketch books out of real drawing paper.

Rachel can paint the picture and blank canvas herself.  She can draw in the sketch books.  Not only did we save a ton of money, but it's something she can actually use, not just sit and look at.  I was thrilled with it.

And this is what the girls gave to Daddy.  

I made them myself, inspired by the silhouettes my dad made for my mom one year of my brothers and me when we were kids.  I'm pretty happy with Rachel's, not quite as thrilled with Rebecca's, since her mouth doesn't look quite right.  But I still really like them.

my little American Girl

Last summer an American Girl store opened at the mall just down the road from us.  There are only a few of these stores in the country, so it was a huge deal.  Until then, though, Rachel had no idea what American Girl was, and I was just fine with that, since they are SO expensive.

But then it opened, and Rachel fell in love.  As more and more of her friends got dolls, her desire for one grew and grew.  She especially loved Saige, the girl of the year for 2013, which means she came out in January and would only be here until December 31st of this year.  She loves art, which is why Rachel liked her.

It was pretty much the only thing she wanted for Christmas.  

How could we deprive her of the one thing she really wanted???

Sometime I'll try to upload a video of when she opened it.....one of the classic squealing and glee openings that you'd expect.  It was great!  But for now I can only put this picture because I'm not at home.  Grandma and Grandpa gave her Saige's matching dress, which she also really wanted, and some similar boots.  So here's my little Saige look alike with her beloved doll.

I'll post more pictures of both girls when I get home in a few days.  It was a wonderful day full of lots of sweet, fun moments.

Merry Christmas!

seeing Santa

I didn't think we would go see Santa this year because of this:

Santa came to Rebecca's preschool last week and she was scared of him and wouldn't sit on his lap. Her teacher sat on his lap and pulled her up on her lap in order to snap this classic pose.

So I didn't think she'd have any interest in seeing the mall Santa.  But Rachel really wanted to go, and I did want to try and get a better picture.  This morning I asked Rebecca if she wanted to go sit on his lap and she said yes, and that she wouldn't be scared, and she'd talk to him.  So I decided to brave the two days before Christmas crowd and try it.  We got there a half hour before Santa was to come out and there was already a line of probably 15-20 families ahead of us in line!  We ended up waiting a total of about 80 minutes (I had warned them ahead of time that we'd have to wait and I was prepared with snacks, so it didn't go too terribly.....)  

I was surprised, but Rebecca wasn't scared at all.  She went right to him, smiled, and talked.  Of course, she forgot to  tell him the number one thing on her Christmas list, but the things she did tell him have been covered, too.  Whew!  

Afterwards we went out to see the big Christmas tree, nativity, and trains that we always go see, and I treated them to hot chocolate while we listened to a brass quartet play Christmas carols.  "I like today," Rachel told me.  Happy to make my girl happy.  It was a good morning, despite the crowds.

more holiday happenings

December is just full of activity here....

Last week we went to the lights at the zoo.  We went two years ago with the girls and Rachel,  especially, loved it.  We weren't able to go last year....I think the weather didn't cooperate with days we were able to go.  This year I had free tickets that I wanted to make sure we used.  Last week was our last chance, so we picked the warmest day without forecasted rain.  Unfortunately, so did the rest of the city, because it was packed, but the girls had a great time.

Also, Rachel's been asking to make a gingerbread house out of graham crackers, something we've done every year since she was two or three, so we did that this weekend, too.

She did hers all by herself, while Rebecca had help.  Rachel's roof kept falling and she was forced to give it a flat roof instead.  She was upset about that, but proud of herself that she made the whole thing by herself.

run, run, as fast as you can

Grandma came down this weekend to make gingerbread cookies, which has become a tradition since Rachel was two.

Rachel did a good job of decorating all on her own this year.

Rebecca tried a few by herself, too.  Here's the result.....

busy, busy

It's been busy around here.  December always is, I guess.

Yesterday we went to see The Nutcracker with our Girl Scout troop.

Before the show

At the theater (I purposely chose to show this dark one because you can't see their faces, and I'm not sure all the parents would want their daughter's picture on my blog....that's the State House in the background.)

This weekend Rachel also sang in the kids choir at church for three services, so it's been a busy weekend.

Here she is....I cropped out as much as I can. 

And here are my kiddos this morning, pretending like they weren't arguing right before I took this picture....

like mother, like daughters

I found this picture the other day.  I remember when Rachel was three, I thought she looked so much like this three year old Weed.  But now that Rebecca is three, I see a resemblance in her even more.  She's definitely mine!

nostalgia

When I was about six, my Grandma Buehrer made me a Christmas dress (one of many hand smocked dresses she made me...this one was one of the last, though, sadly).

It needed new cuffs, collar, and lengthening, which my mom did, and now Rachel is wearing it this Christmas.  I know my grandma would have been thrilled to see her great granddaughter wearing it all these years later.

(Rebecca is wearing a dress that was Rachel's when she was three.  Love how she's admiring her big sister!)

baby, it's cold outside!

Rachel and I just spent about two hours out in the freezing cold snow, in the Christmas parade with the Girl Scouts.  I haven't been in a parade since high school band, and I wasn't anticipating that it would be quite as stressful as it was.  The Girl Scouts were in front of one of the high school bands, and high schoolers march a lot faster than second graders walk (and pass out candy to on-lookers), so we were constantly being swallowed up by the band, and trying to book it to get ahead of them.  I was walking fast, and my legs are LONG--you can only imagine how the little second grade girls fared.  They were cold and tired, but most of them seemed to have fun, so I'm glad.  I don't think they'll choose to be in the parade again, though. 

Here's Rachel before the parade (they were supposed to be festive--at one point along the parade route a guy took her picture like this and asked for her name and information for the town's local newspaper, so she might be in the paper next week!):

And here's the troop and other Girl Scouts (from behind...I didn't want to show their faces....not to mention the fact that I didn't have enough time to run ahead of them to get a shot from in front!)

So tonight we get to experience standing out in the cold AGAIN because Rachel's choir from church is singing at a firefighter's event, also outside.  I'm not even bothering taking off my long johns....I'm just trying to warm up for an hour here at home and then we get to go leave again.

Brrrrr........

snow day!

It's a snow day today!  We actually don't have any snow, yet, but we have ice, and the snow is coming later today.  I don't care....I'm thrilled that I don't have to 1) scrape the ice off the van, 2) get dressed before 8 AM, 3) get the girls to the bus stop with ice on the ground....  I'm also glad (this time) that our news makes a HUGE deal about these coming storms, because since they did, I decided to get to the grocery store last night instead of this morning, like I always do (Friday morning is my grocery shopping day--I'm not sure why, it's just kind of the pattern I've fallen into in the last several years).  I saw that today was supposed to be bad, and changed my plans yesterday so that I could get there last night.  Even though it was SO packed (because everyone else was freaking out about the storm, too) and they were out of a bunch of things on my list, I still got the essentials, and my pantry is no longer bare on a day when I can't go out.  I'm hoping tomorrow will be better and I can go back and get the remainder of the things on my list.

The girls are so excited about the prospect of playing in the snow later.  I'm excited that Rachel is here to entertain Rebecca!  :)  Yesterday morning Rachel was sad when I told her it was time to get to the bus stop because the two of them had been playing together so nicely for at least 30 minutes, and she didn't want to stop.  Here's hoping today is a day like that....and not a day of screaming, arguing, and separating them, because we certainly have those days, too! 

decking the halls

Showing off their new ornaments (not a good picture....but you can see Rebecca's Hello Kitty--she's obsessed with her at the moment--and Rachel's artist's palette).

Decorating--Rebecca kept putting them all in the same spot, and letting them hang WAY down....even down to the floor, as you see here!

The best shot we could get in front of the tree....still not great, since they're not looking at the camera, but oh well.

And some of the bad ones...

And this is one from a couple of weeks ago (before the cast came off, obviously).  I couldn't get a good picture that day, either, but I still liked this one.

happy thanksgiving

We're back from several days out of town for Thanksgiving, but I don't have a single picture!  We took the camera, but forgot to get it out.  :(

Thanksgiving morning we left home to go see husband's side of the family for lunch.  We spent the afternoon with over twenty people....the largest Thanksgiving get together I think I've ever been to.  

Mid afternoon we left there and went to my parents' house for the rest of the day.  We indulged in another delicious Thanksgiving meal for dinner.  It was the first year we didn't use a high chair....I have mixed feelings about being out of that stage of our lives.

We stayed there until yesterday, visiting with my family.  Rachel and Rebecca loved being with their cousins and grandparents.  Rebecca made good friends with my Aunt Julie, who was also staying.  At one point she was looking for her and I told her that she and Grandma had gone to the store for a little bit.  She pouted a little and said, "It's just not a party without your friends....."  That girl says the funniest stuff.

Now we're back home and it's December 1st, which means the return of our Elf on the Shelf:

We found him on the mantle this morning and he had played with the Scrabble tiles a little....

It also means the return of our Advent calendars

So at 5:58 this morning Rachel came in and told me it said 6:00 on her clock.  Usually on a weekend I would send her downstairs by herself for a little while and I would stay in bed until Rebecca got up, but knowing that she would find Rudy, I needed to get up with her this morning.  She found Rudy right away and liked the little sign he had made.  I made her wait for her sister to do the rest (looking in the little door of the house and reading the first little book of the Christmas story).  So once Rebecca was up we did those.  The paper in the little door said we'd put up the Christmas tree today.  So that's on the agenda for later today.

It's hard to believe Christmas is less than four weeks away.