elephant on skates

Taking a moment to back it on up--here's Miller's first time on ice skates. He looked very disheveled on his first pass around the rink. Once Landon corrected his slipping monkey hat, Miller started to catch on to the gliding moves. While in Knoxville, we took a little outing to the ice-o-rama. He really needed a protective helmet to conquer such a slippery endeavour.

Holding onto the wall & daddy sure helped him steady himself for the job. At times, he looked like an elephant on skates.

Little by little with each pass around the rink, he was stepping out with confidence. Although, he looked like he was ice walking choosing each step carefully along the way.

A concentrated effort with hands bracing for a fall helped him to conquer his fears. I love the look of intensity in this shot. We were all cheering for him to keep going as far as he could glide without falling
down. There were a few slips which resulted in a frost bitten blue- jeaned bottom. He laughed it off and didn't let it hold him back. Each loop de loop pass around the ice took about 5 minutes--no lie!

A chilly New Year's Eve day first shared with daddy. It's conquering new feats like these that bring us such joy raising Miller. I foresee roller skating in our future.

 

The Zamboni waved us off the rink. Of course, we had to stay for the "real" afternoon entertainment!

christmas again

It was Christmas again as we took our crew on the road to celebrate a Knoxville Christmas for a few days. The littles jump at a chance for a road trip to their grandparent's house.We loaded up to celebrate festivus--the lull between Christmas & New Year's. The kids were thrilled to present our year in review Shutterfly book of special events we've shared with Omi and Papa this past year. Miller calls in their yearbook--precious! It really is my favorite gift to give grandparents. Turning the pages and reflecting on our blessings was a great way to wrap up our year.

The kids could hardly stand the wait to open a couple of sussies under the colored light tree in the family room. They were really getting used to unwrapping daily surprises. The bouncy house gift from Omi and Papa already wow'ed these two at home, but it was so sweet to have another gift waiting on them.

Such cuteness all dolled up under their grandparent's tree. The fireplace crackled a warm, glowing fire to add to the ambiance.

Ribbons, and paper, and gift tags oh,my!

A wooden ice cream set to use in her kitchen! She squealed with delight when she recognized the gift. We loved seeing such happiness written all over her face.

Miller was thrilled with the camping headlight to wear on his head. This will make backyard exploration so much fun at night!

A playful ice cream toast with scoops stacked high. I foresee a lot of fun with an ice cream party.

 

Omi always adds kid friendly touches when hosting the littles. Mac and cheese is always better in a snowman bowl. We loved having Christmas again.

cleaning up christmas

Just a few brother, sister shots as we're cleaning up Christmas around here. Hanging up the memories for
now. It was a memorable Christmas. And, because the littles let me talk them into capturing their personalities this season--I went for it!
 

 

 

 

 

the christmas stretch

 

In our family, it's a tradition to streeetch out the gift giving for as long as possible on Christmas morning. Each member gets all eyes on them as they're opening. There's no frenzied chaos of tearing through packages & the craziness of boxes and ribbon flying through the air. It's just simply frowned upon to rush the experience;) This year Omi and Papa's gift to the littles was the over the top- grand finale after an early morning of gift giving. A hidden surprise to blow their minds put our great stretching goal into action.

 We do love seeing pure joy written all over their faces with good gifts. I can only imagine that this is how the Lord feels blessing us with His surprise gifts. Landon inflated the bounce house in the garage and summoned the littles outside to show them something. Eliza Kate was not easily convinced to follow, but Miller's face is forever frozen in my mind's eye...


The surprise {cherry on top} gift was pulled off & so enjoyed by these two jumpy crazies. Our Christmas morning plan was a sweet success. EK's red bow was so excited it bounced off her head.

And, it's been used several times already during this rainy vacation from school. 

And, because Uncle Clay really is just a kid trapped in an uncle's body--he joined our pair for a Christmas morning warm up. I'm pretty sure the box said it holds 300 pounds all together?

They bounced until they could handle no more & their crazy Christmas jitters were flat jumped out of them.

The Christmas morning stretch was exhausting:)

A Merry Christmas

christmas morning!
santa received our temporary change of address
Up & at em' before 7:30

matching Christmas jammies

bed headed kids with a half sleepy gaze

unwrapped gifts set out from Santa

anticipation

 

Sugar cookie crumbles
 teeth marks from Santa's nibbles as evidence
A vintage, wooden kitchen for Eliza Kate
An Easy Roller for Miller {a Santa surprise}!

the littles were filled with such Christmas joy
 they rocked a fun dance under the tree
opening gifts one by one
everyone gets a turn
delayed gratification

practice phone chatting on her phone
lots of "shushing" so she could hear
"Hey, I'm trying to talk"
Christmas morning phone calls

imaginary play in the kitchen
breakfast on the skillet
the daddy drives the grocery cart which doubles as a race car
crashing and squealing

admiring Grandmama's gift
our Shutterfly year in review
oohing and ahhing
hours of hard work

Need for speed
An RC car
Big smiles on the car enthusiast's face
big plans for a race

wooden food in crates

sorting fruits & veggies

a Melissa and Doug Christmas

Cinderella slippers for her toes-ies

oh the joys of a little girl

 shake & rattle,

 this gift was guessed

A police lego kit for Miller

bliss

 

  a new attachment

a toy for daddy

he tried it all out for a cool reenactment

Poppy's matching gift
the unwrapping crew helped him out

look out leaves

twin presents

men and their gadgets

 

family gift from Uncle Clay

hours of fun for everyone

screen time limits

sharing the Ipad

generous

Our Christmas morning recap of 2012!

Merry Merry

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."

Isaiah 9:6

Santa's sugar cookies

Our little bakers joined in for a yummy Christmas Eve  day experience. Grandmama and mommy did all the prep work the night before making and mixing the dough. We prepped all the main dishes together for the following day working late into the night before Christmas Eve. One things for sure, that kitchen hasn't gotten so much use in a while. We considered great grandma Eliza's classic recipe, but when we read the 'oleo' ingredient...we shyed away.

We spotted our sugar cookie recipe in a local magazine and gave it a whirl. It was my first time using the dough hooks on the mixer. Last year, I just rolled out slice and bake dough as a short cut. The homemade dough was frozen on baking sheets for cut out time the following morning. Throw back cutters from my childhood brought waves of nostalgia back to my childhood kitchen. Memories of standing around our island creating sugar cookies of Christmas' past. 

The littles pressed with all their might to slice through the icy sheets of sugary dough. 
Eliza Kate's mantra these days is "No, I can do it myself" so I have to back away and release a lot of control over what the finished product will look like. I do like that she is forming her own independence. Sometimes this independence mixed together with a two year old sassy face is a little more than my patience can handle.

I hope he treasures these cozy memories with his grandmama.

A fine dusting of flour and dough remnants were splashed here and there on the floor. It's a messy job cutting cookies out.

Miller took on the role of spatula lifter. He enjoyed using the kitchen utensils this go around.

He also played the part of delivering shapes to the parchment paper. We ended up making two dozen with leftover dough to freeze.

Our cookie admirer with lovey in hand was singing our baking praises. I had to explain that the dough cut outs needed to go in the oven to cook. Precious girly was all ready to take a bite! It takes some patience for the finished product.

Joyful Christmas music played in the background sprinkled in with brother & sister bantering over sharing the cutters.  Before long, sugary smells wafted through the air reminding us that Christmas was near. It's cozy times like these that I'm thankful for the blessing of children who make the season so sweet.