Putting up the tree

Lucy and Ella loved putting up the tree this year.  They don't remember ornaments from year to year, so getting the ornaments out is like opening huge boxes full of tiny little presents!  They ooh and aah over every single one, and listen intently to stories about where or who each ornament is from.  Greg and I didn't interfere all too much with where the girls put their decorations, so the tree is a little bottom heavy!  Our tree certainly is not fit for a catalog, but it twinkles and is filled with beautiful memories of Christmases past, and I love it.

Christmas at the Lakes

Every year on Thanksgiving weekend, we celebrate Christmas with the Heideman side of Greg's family because his grandparents live in Florida during winter.  The party is held at his grandparents' home on Clover Leaf Lakes, which isn't too far from Shawano, and is always lots of fun.  We do a gift exchange--bring a $20 gift, open in the order of the numbers that were drawn, and beware that your gift might be stolen, leaving you to steal someone else's or try for a new one from under the tree.  We eat pretty much all day, play cards, and catch up with each other.  This year there were 3 new babies--Max, Addison, and Audrey--all born within 6 weeks of each other.  For the older girls (Sophia-5, Lucy-4, Nora-4, Ella-2, Lily-2), we set up an art table to keep them busy--it was great!

Thanksgiving in Shawano

Audrey and Audrey

Here's Audrey with her great grandma, Audrey at the Werner Ladies' annual cookie exchange and candy-making day.  Each year we bring enough cookies to share a dozen with each person who participates...it's so great to end up with a variety of yummy cookies!  We spend the day making candies--mostly chocolate-dipped goodies...we cover just about anything we can get our hands on with chocolate!  Our favorites are Peanut Butter Ritz Bitz, Mini Oreos and Nutter Butters, pretzels, chow mein noodles, and nuts.  We also make peppermint bark and fairy food, which is amazing.  I look forward to it every year--it's a great way to start off the holiday season, and I absolutely love spending time with the women in my family.  They are funny, sweet, thoughtful, and generous and we always have a blast together!

15 Weeks

I love her. Sigh.

Smiles

Thumb Sucker

Look who found her thumb...

I Love My Big Sister

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

For the last few months, Kohls has had the mouse from If You Give a Mouse a Cookie on the shelves in the front of the store.  Ella saw him once, and completely fell in love.  She talked about him all the time, described him down to the tiniest detail, and said "That's where the mouse is," every time we drove past Kohls.  When I saw that First Stage was showing If You Give a Mouse a Cookie as part of their First Steps Series, I knew we had to go.

We gave both girls a mouse to take to the show and told them about it the night before the performance.

Greg had to work, but Mom and Dad came along.  Julie stayed with Audrey so I could enjoy the show, too.

It really was perfect for the girls--no seats, just carpeted risers and carpet squares on the floor, a simple set, a story they love, and it was only 45 minutes long.  We will definitely go back for another show next year!

Playdate with Lainy

We had a playdate with my Auntie Chris and her granddaughter, Lainy...it was great!  The girls all played together so nicely--they were really cute together.  Chris stayed with Lucy and Ella while I took Audrey to PT and bought us a yummy lunch...how great is she?

Chloe's Birthday Party

A few weeks ago, we went to Chloe Jo's 1st birthday party.  The party was held in a gym at the school where Kristi's mom, Jo, teaches.  Lucy and Ella had a blast running around with the other kids and playing with all the gym equipment.  The theme was monkeys, and everything was adorable!  Kristi made the cake--it was perfect--and all the food was awesome, as usual.  Chloe had a great attitude the whole time...first birthdays can be so tough, but she was a trooper and was sweet until the end!