Let the Christmas Season Begin!!!

Christmas for almost 3 year olds will be an amazing experience for the family this year. Claire and Chloe have been working on a song with motions that we intend to surprise Mommy and Daddy with on Christmas. They are both very much into the song (hint: about where baby Jesus was born) and getting it all correct. We do it multiple times a day, each day that Papa and I are with them. I'm not sure what they remember about last Christmas because each small thing seems to thrill them like it is brand new.

Mommy (Paula) had the great idea of purchasing a gingerbread house kit to put together on a day that Papa and I were there. We had such fun. Papa and I put the walls and roof together while they napped because it had to dry between applications and patience is not quite a virtue of two year olds. When they got up we got their aprons on and the project began. As Papa unwrapped some of the candy, Claire began to lick the peppermint. She told us, "I am licking it so that it will stick to the gingerbread house better." Yeah, right! Both of the girls licked and tasted most of the candy and frosting that went on the house. Claire, not liking sticky hands too much, begins to show her need to get that stickiness off her hands.

and face....... She told me her mouth felt all funny.....I am not surprised.

Somehow Chloe's face isn't showing any indication that she had been eating candy and frosting...
but trust me, she had her share.

The finished project....pretty good for two year olds, I would say.

Later in the week, Chloe enjoys their dollhouse.



And the new toy flute....

Claire gets her turn with the flute....


Sisters....we love how they sometimes call each other "sis".


Saturday, Claire, Chloe, Mike and Paula came to enjoy our little town's "Hometown Christmas". They arrived just in time to help me finish decorating our little tree.

They were very careful and precise about placement of the ornaments.

We walked downtown to check out the craft vendors and to visit with Santa. Below Claire and Chloe meet a little girl ahead of them in line to talk to Santa. They chatted as if they were long lost friends.

Initially, before coming, Mike reported that neither of the girls wanted to see Santa. But when they got on the phone with Papa their story had changed. There was just a bit of hesitation when they were in line but when their turn came they both went up willingly.

Claire asked Santa if he would like to come for dinner.... He said he would really enjoy that.

After visiting Santa, the girls, wearing their new princess crowns, each had a pony ride.

The pony wrangler told us that she asked Chloe her name and Chloe said, "Diego". We had a good laugh, that is definitely one of Chloe's aliases. Hope by the time she is in school she will accept that her name is Chloe or at the very least Coco.

Firetrucks are always part of a small town's celebrations. Here the girls check out one of the trucks.

We walked back home and the girls made their own pizza slices and had apples and bananas before we headed for the parade. This was the first parade for them and they took it all in...especially the floats that were throwing candy. That was the highlight for them and of course seeing Santa, who seemed to now be their personal friend.

Below Daddy and our good friend "Mr. Wayne" hold the girls high so they can see.

The end of the parade, a beautifully decorated fire truck. Claire and Chloe had a day full of excitement and there is more to come. Check back next week for an update.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was a truly enjoyable day this year. Jon and his friend Lisa, Mike, Paula, Claire and Chloe, and our friends Bill and Cheryl, joined us for dinner. Shortly before the girls arrived Papa and I decided we needed to display all of Claire and Chloe's art work and our refrigerator will only hold so much. We quickly got out the blue painters tape and taped their masterpieces all around the dining room. Here are the ones on the back of the fireplace. It was not a curator's dream display but it served the purpose. Paula and Claire share some quiet time reading a book while Chloe and Daddy took a nice nap.

Uncle Superman and our good friend Cheryl do the finishing touches on the turkey.

Chloe was just as happy to continue her nap when dinner was ready. It didn't take long however and she was up and at the table.

Claire is checking out one of the pies to make sure it is eatable. Believe me, it was!


Chloe licks the beater after the whipped cream was prepared.

The food was great, the company was delightful, and we had a wonderful day to celebrate our blessings. We did miss Aunt Suzie and Uncle Eric who spent the day with Eric's family, but are so glad they had a great holiday as well.

Next year the plan for Thanksgiving is to be in Hawaii. Our reservations are made and the whole family plans to go. That will be a special treat and if the upcoming year goes as fast as this one has, it will be here before we know it.

Mid November

I hope we never take for granted the beauty that surrounds Mike, Paula, Claire, and Chloe's new home. It really is spectacular. These two pictures are looking up their driveway last Monday. I hope the color will still be there this week, but unfortunately those leaves do have to eventually fall.

Claire and Chloe and their parents have had a rough week. Below you can see Claire who was feeling pretty lousy that morning. She is pale and had been up most of the night sick. Poor little soul. Chloe was on the verge of being sick that day too, and before the week was out the "bug" got her, as well as Mike and Paula. Those viruses! Papa and I feel very fortunate to have escaped it so far. I spent a lot of time holding both girls that day so I really am thankful that I didn't get sick. Maybe those flu shots do help!

In the late morning, the sun was warm and the girls were both feeling a bit better, so we went for a little walk with their babies. It was hard work to push those strollers up that driveway.

We took a short walk down the street, very carefully staying right next to the curb, then turned around and headed back towards home.

It's all down hill from here, Chloe holds tight to her stroller.......

......but Claire's stroller got away, and her baby got dumped out. She picked her up and managed to get her back into the house. The rest of the day was pretty much spent rocking and sleeping, both Claire and Chloe, and the dolls. Claire is much better by today but Chloe is still pretty sick.
Today we celebrated Great Grandpa Ove's 92nd birthday. Here Suzie and G. Grandpa have a look at the cake.

Four of his adult children were able to attend as well as several grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Happy Birthday Ove!!!

As Thanksgiving approaches I am so thankful for our family, both immediate and extended, as well as the many, many, blessings bestowed upon us. Happy Thanksgiving to you as well!

A Variety of Things

Claire and Chloe are going to be Giants fans, Papa will make sure of that. I think in the second picture they might be saying, "Go Giants"!!!

Chloe with something on her mind. You can see the thought process happening!

Claire was making soup below. It had onions and oranges but she still referred to it as "apple soup".

Both girls decided they wanted to help fold the laundry. You can see a series of pictures below with them doing just that. As each item was folded Claire would take it in to the family room and place it on the fireplace hearth, not in piles, but laid out from end to end on the hearth. I couldn't convince her that putting them back in the laundry basket would work just as well. Just wait a few years until Mommy wants them to fold their laundry. I'm sure they won't be the least bit interested.

Papa brought some birds in to meet Claire and Chloe that he had in his truck. They were quite interested in them, of course.

I tried all afternoon to upload a video of the girls talking about the birds. No luck! This blog site can be so frustrating! Maybe next time!

Vocabulary and Conversations

The week just passed was one of those, "Where did the time go" weeks. Every day was busy but interesting, and great days were spent with the girls. Claire and Chloe kept things exciting. One morning they spent quite a bit of time painting. Chloe complained several times that her paint was not "thick" enough but she continued to create her masterpiece. She clearly has some artist genes in her little body, she is very detailed and precise in her work. We also notice how comfortable she is with color crayons and paint brushes and she knows exactly how to hold them and seems to be a definite right handed person. Claire still occasionally switches her tools back and forth but they both equally enjoy any time to color or paint.

Nonie came up and spent part of one day with us, and below she is seen reading the girls a story before we double-teamed them and got them down for a nap. The girls loved having both of us there and we enjoyed it as well.

One of the mornings after Daddy left for work he called back to the house and told me that he knew the girls would like to see the moon. So we put on shoes and jackets over their pj's and walked up to the top of the driveway. It was a beautiful sight and as Claire put it, "the moon is incredible, Grandma, " and it really was.

Later that morning the girls decided that they wanted to be a mommy and daddy unicorn and that I should be the baby unicorn. We all pretended for at least 45 minutes and the conversations we had were so funny. I decided to come back at them with some of the responses they often give. For instance, when they told me, the baby, that it was time for a rest I began to whine and say, "the shadows are bothering me". That is one of the common excuses they give for not wanting to go to bed, or not wanting to stay in bed. Claire, who was playing the Daddy at the moment, tenderly put her hand on my arm and began to rub it and said, "Baby, shadows are normal and you don't need to be afraid. Mommy and Daddy won't let anything happen to you". They both reassured me over and over that it would be OK. It was really very sweet. They consistently responded to my babyish concerns and wants and it was for me some real insight into Mike and Paula's responses to them. These two little parrots were repeating so much of what has been said to them. I asked Claire what "normal" means and she said it means that if you are afraid of anything, you just need to tell Mommy or Daddy. The definition is just a little off but her concepts overall are very good.

Claire asked Paula this past week if "she ate the baby to get it in her stomach". I know that Paula replied "no" that wasn't the case, but I'm not sure what else was said. What surprises are in for these two little girls as a new baby brother invades their world before long.

Below are some pictures of lunch and a special treat they had after, I just couldn't resist the faces covered in ice cream.

Claire and Chloe had a visit from their Uncle John (Paula's brother) and Cousin Richard this weekend and I can't wait to hear all the details of their time together. Chloe had told me earlier in the week that they "had a play-date scheduled with Richard on Saturday". I know they enjoyed it very much.

Looking forward to a new week!