Christmas 2012

This year Christmas was exciting.  Several of us had health issues that interfered with one Christmas family celebration or another, but the girls were okay and enjoyed everything anyway. 

Last year, Santa put up the tree on Christmas Eve.  But this year, the girls helped with the decorating.

Kayla decorating the tree with Daddy

Megan decorating the tree with Daddy

"Chilly", their "Elf on a Shelf", that landed on the clock

Christmas at Cabela's

We tried to go see Santa when he was at Cabela's store, but he had already left by the time we got there.

 

 Christmas at Granny and Grandpa's

 

 Christmas morning at home

Megan, Kayla

 Kayla, Megan

  Kayla, Megan

  Megan, Kayla

 Both Kayla and Megan are always asking to paint their fingernails and toenails.  Santa brought them some children's nail polish in their stockings.  I finally relented and let them paint their nails.  They sat at the table and diligently painted their toes.  And when I say toes, I don't mean toe-nails -- have you ever seen a 4 year old with their own nail polish??

Kayla, Megan

(Megan picked her own clothes.  Apparently, to a 4-year-old, striped tops match striped pants, even if they don't.)

June 2012 FlashBack

This summer the girls were big enough to go over to Grandma's and play.  (Grandma lives in the house behind ours so we can watch them walk through the yards.)

Grandma let them play in the sprinkler.  And not always in bathing suits.  They loved it!

Playing with Cousin Nathan!

Megan, Kayla and Nathan

"Helping" Mommy with dishes...

Kayla

Tea for you and me and a couple of Barbie dolls.

May 2012 Flashback

My Aunt Marilyn came to visit!  And I have no pictures of her to post!
She came and stayed with my mom for a couple of weeks.  It was wonderful!
The girls loved having her around, too!

We got all dressed up to pick her up at the airport.

Kayla, Megan

While waiting for her flight to arrive, we let the girls burn off some energy at the end of the terminal.

 

 

The girls' tea parties are getting more and more elaborate, the older they get!

 Megan, Kayla

  Megan

  Kayla, getting water for tea

 Kayla, Megan

Easter 2012

The girls were of course spoiled on Easter.  They each had full baskets that did include chocolate bunnies.

They ate part of their bunnies.  The rest of them went into the fridge "for later".  They remembered them several months later, but didn't fuss when we said they were old and we had thrown them out.

They had an egg hunt with cousin Nathan.  They really enjoyed running through the front yard, looking for the colored eggs.  Last year they wandered around a lot, not really understanding things -- but this year, it all fell into place.  They found lots of coins and a few pieces of candy.

April 2012 Flashback

The girls love dresses. They went through a phase where they only wanted to wear dresses!  Most of the time we indulged them.  They would often go through several dresses in a day, just because they felt like changing.  As I write this, it's December 2012, and they still love dresses -- but the passion has faded a bit.  They still like to change clothes though -- Kayla more than Megan.
They come up with some wild outfits.  Megan has sweat pants on under her dress.  Not so bad...

Megan

Kayla has pants on, and socks and shoes.  She hasn't quite got that matching clothes skill mastered yet....Those are Mickey Mouse socks with her Hello Kitty dress.

Kayla

Kayla

This is how I found Kayla in bed.  She was sound asleep, half on, half off of her bed. How she slept that way I'll never know!

Kayla

The girls got their first big girl bikes!  The first helmets we got were too big.  The girls had fun with them though!

Kayla

Megan, Kayla - Unicorns doing headstands? Or were they that top-heavy?

 We did get them some properly sized helmets, and are saving the unicorn ones for when they're a little bigger.

My mother does not like this picture.  It shows how they learned to make funny faces! But I had to put the disclaimer in, as I know my mother will see this and ask me why on earth I would post that picture when there are so many other pictures with cute smiling faces.  Hi, Mom : )

 Megan, Kayla

They ride their bikes at Grandma's house, which is right behind ours.  Her driveway is flatter and more spacious -- and there aren't as many other kids around to interfere with them.  Our court has a lot of little kids and the cul de sac becomes a playground.  We don't let the girls play in the street unless one of us is in the street with them, letting them ride their bikes.  They know to stop at the end of the driveway.

Christmas Memories

Indulge me for a moment if you will, as I take a little stroll down memory lane.  Now that I'm a mommy, with girls old enough to "get it" at Christmas and have that wonder and excitement of the holiday shine in their eyes, I can't help but think about when I was a child at Christmas.

My own daddy passed away before I even met my husband.  He was a good dad and I miss him.  Mom and dad made sacrifices for us kids all the time -- more than we ever knew.  I remember the year that mom was in the hospital over New Years.  What I didn't know was that she was supposed to be in the hospital over Christmas -- but didn't want us girls to have that memory of Christmas.  Years later when I learned about it, I appreciated it.  Now that I'm a mommy, I understand it even more.

I remember every Christmas, getting our picture taken, in our jammies and housecoats, taking down our Christmas stockings.  That was before digital cameras, of course.
My stocking had a bit of green along the cuff.  My sister's did not.  Dad's was a larger one.  The dog's was a little white stocking with a red cuff.  There was always one missing -- no stocking for my mom.

As kids, we didn't notice.  For years, we didn't notice that mom didn't have a stocking.

I remember the year we did notice.  We were hanging stockings, and I realized we didn't have one to hang for mom.  I asked mom why she didn't have a stocking -- and she smiled and said, "I don't know -- daddy?"
He said he didn't know -- but that we'd better get her one!.   We got her a white one.

So why, for so many years, didn't she say anything about not having a stocking?  Didn't it upset her? I didn't understand that part for a long time.  How come she wasn't upset and didn't feel left out?  Because she knew then, what I learned as I grew older.  Christmas isn't about getting, it's about giving.  It started with God giving  His Son for man.

Mom knew the joy I know now when I watch my girls at Christmas.  They get so excited about seeing Christmas lights and decorations.  Watching Kayla run up to Santa and hug him was indescribable; especially when she leaned up and kissed him on the cheek spontaneously.  Listening to them sing Christmas songs makes my heart happy.  Their eyes get so big when they get excited about a present.  Watching them share their new toys makes me smile. Their joy shows in their faces as they rip the paper off each present.  The ear-to-ear grins and gasps of delight when they find what Santa left for them delight me, too.

I told them to get their stockings from the fireplace, and they squealed when they saw there was a stocking for each of them full of goodies.

And just like when I was young -- I doubt they noticed if mommy had a stocking or not.

September Zoo Trip - Los of pictures!

Last September, just before the girls' third birthday, we took them to the zoo.  It was the first time we'd done so, even though the zoo is just across town.   We met up with our friend Tricia and her daughter, Emma and toured the zoo with them.

Megan and Kayla

We'd planned to do it before, but never quite got around to it.  We thought it was warmer than it was when we ventured out, so the girls were a tad underdressed for the weather.
Daddy rectified that situation quickly by buying each of them a long sleeved blue Sedgwick County Zoo t-shirt!

Megan and Kayla

First we went to see the giraffes.  Grandma Ruth Bingham really likes giraffes, so I'm including lots of giraffe pictures!

Baby giraffe running over to the momma giraffe

Daddy and Megan watching giraffes

yeah, I don't know either.  Let's go with Kayla and Megan since Megan had polka dots on her bow earlier.

Kayla

 Let's stick with Kayla and Megan.

They had fun getting up close and personal with some of the animals.

We tried to get them to pose with the sculpture, but couldn't get their attention at the same time.

Emma, Megan and Kayla watching a gorilla

Emma, Kayla and Megan with the bear

Megan, Daddy and Kayla, watching penguins

A Peacock -- wandering around near the penguins

While we were at the zoo, we also stopped at the playground area.  The girls LOVED climbing and sliding!

Kayla

Megan

Megan

Kayla

Kayla

Megan

We had a great time, and look forward to doing it more this coming spring!