Christmas Eve

Here we are getting ready for Santa on Christmas Eve. The girls put out cookies...
But here I'm pretty sure Regan is saying 'MINE!'...

And she is going to take her 'loot' off to a more safe place!!!...

We convinced Regan it was OK and that there were more cookies for her! She gave in and her and Taytum added a glass of milk...

And some reindeer food...

Is this what Christmas is really about? Well, sort of... Christmas is about belief and faith, correct? Taytum knows why we celebrate Christmas... Regan still has yet to learn... Rob and I understand the true meaning as well... But because we include great family traditions such as these, it makes it even more special... and with family around to celebrate with, I think it enhances that belief and faith...

More Dance

Taytum enrolled in yet another dance class. This one was tap and jazz. She had been so excited about doing tap and getting real tap shoes. This class was even more fun because two of her friends also enrolled with her!

These classes are not hard core... there is no big recital with costumes and/or makeup. We're just not into that (at least Rob and I aren't). But on the last dance class the parents get to go into the classroom and watch the 'recital.' This time around since it was so close to Christmas the girls danced to Christmas songs. One of the songs was 'Run Run Rudolph!'

Tapping feet in action...

Rudolph getting to run...

'All I want for Christmas is a rock-n-roll electric guitar!'

'Taking the freeway down!'...

I'm not much for dance myself, but Taytum really enjoys herself, and that's what really matters!

At Home

Though I sometimes wonder why I am at home instead of keeping my sanity by working outside the house, these are the things that I know I would miss if I wasn't around 24/7...

Here are the girls showing off the reindeer hats they made...
And I'm not sure if it's my kids or just all kids, but my girls have SOMETHING going on with lying around in the middle of the floor...

OK... lying on the floor with snow boots on!!! Hee hee hee!

A little peek at my sanity going out the window...

And when I do wonder how I will keep my sanity, I also know that I wouldn't miss this sort of stuff for anything in the world!!! So my sanity will have to be lost... but if you find it, feel free to send it back my way!

Inside Winter Fun

One Saturday Granny, the girls and I ventured out for some INSIDE winter fun. Snowflake sticks...

There was a cute game where you had to pick up bags with candy canes. Both girls were successful enough...

I threw this picture in next because I'm not sure if you can see it in these pictures, but BOTH of the girls tend to stick their tounge out when concentrating! You can see it in the last picture when Regan is trying to pick up the bags and in this next one when Taytum is playing a matching game. Funny!

They got to pick up 'snowballs...'

Play the 'candy cane walk'...

Make reindeer hats...

Grump at their mother while making jingle bracelets... Although I'm not sure grumping was supposed to be part of the activity!!!

Grumping was not a part of Regan's activity!

And did you know (because I didn't!!!) that if you put wax paper over your shoes or feet they turn into ice skates???? This was by far THE COOLEST activity (Taytum's words)!!!! Taytum had a blast!

Regan had a little more trouble figuring out the skating part of it...

But with some help from Mom she was good. Granny had the camera at this point and there are no other good pictures to post of Regan because we were both laughing so hard that nothing turned out! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!

Our Maddy Girl

Well, we were hoping our Maddy Girl would make it through Christmas with us this year. Unfortunately she passed on her own on December 10th. We think she proved the vet and the rest of us wrong by how long she lasted and how she lived out her last few weeks. She wasn't doing well because she wasn't eating. We took her to the vet and the doc really didn't think she'd last more than a week. She suggested that we pick a day and bring Maddy in. Rob and I just couldn't do that. We got her to eat, and boy did she eat like a QUEEN!!! Most days she was eating better than us! In her last few weeks she was back to the Maddy that we knew... wagging her tail, slobbering all over us and greeting us at the door. Rob and I just couldn't 'pick a day.' We thought she was doing fine and we decided if the doc said she wasn't suffering that we would keep her with us at home.

On the day she passed no one would have guessed that her time was up. Up until the time we left that evening she was at the table begging for food. When we got home she was not doing well, and it was if she was waiting for us. After we were home for about 20 minutes she left us to join her big brother, Striker. To us she was at peace and that is what we wanted.

Here are some pics that remind us of our Maddy Girl...

How she loved to be outside as long as someone was with her...

She was right in the center of things, no matter what they were. She loved her two little sisters, even though she didn't always show it! Here she is allowing Regan to put leaves on her back.

Hangin' out with Mom...

And posing (really, begging for a treat that was held up by the camera) in front of the tree. This was taken in her last few days... she doesn't look like a sick dog, eh? That's our Maddy Girl!

We miss you Maddy! Give Striker a big ol' kiss for us!

WAIT 4 MUSIC!!!

Hey all... I have recently updated the blog with a million-zillion pictures. It seems like it takes a while for it all to load up. At least that's the experience I've been having. So if you wait a few minutes, the entire thing will load up and you will hear the music play correctly instead of in pieces. By the way, if you want to turn the music off, simply click the pause button on the play list to your right. So if you want to wait for the pictures to load and get the full effect with the music, hit that pause button as well. Once all the pics have loaded, hit play and enjoy!!! Sorry... I didn't realize it would do this. But then again, it could just be on my computer! :o)

Advent Service

Each year Taytum's preschool puts on a special Advent Service. Both the 3 and 4 year olds get to perform during the service. Last year I was away in Ohio and I missed Taytum singing. This year there was NO WAY I was going to miss it! We have the actual service on video and I'm not sure yet how to upload any of that, but here are a few pics of T in her dazzling gown!

The Task (or so I thought)

Well, I thought of it as a 'task' this year only because I was expecting grumpy, uncooperative children. I'm talking about getting that perfect picture for a Christmas card. Turns out it was not all that bad! Here are some of the bazillion that I snapped...

We even tortured poor Maddy and stuck a hat on her head! As you can see, she was the uncooperative one! Oh well... we love our Maddy Girl!

The Tree Goes Up

We all got into the Christmas spirit the weekend of Thanksgiving. Putting up the tree in our house is always fun. This year it was especially comical because Regan got to participate!

Here she is smelling the tree!!!
Oh, and I've added to her newest hair style... still unsure about it, but people comment that it's cute, so...???

BOO!

Regan seems to think the tree is waaaaaay cooler from underneath! Only she would know!

See?

Taytum, the big girl of the clan, gets to help Dad out.

We put the ornaments and such on the tree while Regan was napping. When she woke up she was beside herself with excitement! It was hilarious! Here she is yelling some sort of Ranglish (what I call her language) about this certain ornament.

We hang reindeer bells on the front door and when Regan found them, she spent a good 15 minutes sprinting (no lie) from the tree, to the bells, to the tree, to the bells, to the tree... She really got our Christmas spirit going this year!