Christmas Update Part 2

Mom turned 82 on Dec. 18 so the family got together for a celebration. We got a lot of snow that day so not everybody could make it but it was fun to be together.


Kaitlyn's teacher made her hat. Everyone in the class got one.


The toothfairy made an appearance to our house on the 23rd. Good thing it was that day and not one day later. Someone would have been busy being Santa and the toothfairy. Renee actually knocked it out, but not on purpose. One minute they were just fooling around in the kitchen and it got bumped. The next thing I knew Kaitlyn was crying and the tooth was on the floor.

On Christmas Eve we went to a family dinner at Legacy with my mom and Ginny and Harold. It was a very nice time and the price was perfect......free. The girls enjoyed the springrolls. After that we went to the candlelighting service at our church. They had battery-operated candles for the children 6 and under. Kaitlyn opted for the battery one, after a few minutes of wavering back and forth. I was pleased with her decision. I love looking around the sanctuary when the candles are all lit. It's so beautiful!




The girls were excited opening presents. They really got into picking out gifts for each other this year and couldn't wait for the other to open the gift they picked out. They were pretty pleased with the end results. Lots of loot. They each got Leapsters.....Kaitlyn was thrilled, Renee was mildly excited. But if Santa hadn't brought her one too, she would have protest so in the long run I'd rather have her mildly excited.

Christmas 2008

I have a little bit of free time so I thought I would post about our Christmas. We got our Christmas tree on Sat. the 13th. of December. If we get it too early it's dead by Christmas Eve. We have a very dry house.

That's right, our tree came in a box. We decided to go artificial....we got a pre-lit, pre-shaped one and it's gorgeous!

The girls were big helpers when it was cookie-baking time. Both helped with a few different kinds.


Earlier in the month Santa made a guest appearance at dance class.



They also went to a Breakfast with Santa at The Legacy with Grandma Ziegler.

Renee enjoyed her Christmas party at school. Dirk wasn't able to come this year so it was just me. But that didn't bother Renee. Here she is singing with her 2 friends, Allie and Lilianna.





We celebrated with Grandma Ann early this year, as she was going to be out of town on the actual day. "Aunt" Barb was there but Uncle Marc had an emergency so wasn't able to come. Barb had a ball buying frilly things for the girls and they loved them. She got them beads to make necklaces/bracelets and pink and purple pj's to go under little tutus with feather stolls.


The biggest hit was the fleece robe Grandma made for each of the girls: Tinkerbell and Cinderella. She also made matching pillows with some extra fabric. Kaitlyn screamed when she opened hers.




We went to Dirk's work party/dinner with Santa. This was the first time EVER that Kaitlyn would sit on his lap. Renee still said no but at least she got close to him.





I will post some more from our actual Christmas morning and the Ziegler Family Christmas.

Christmas Update Part 2

I thought I would post some more pictures from Christmas. The first few are from a few days before Christmas. I was busy in the kitchen, fixing a nice Sunday dinner for some people who ended up not showing. Communication error........I was so upset. Anyways, the girls were playing upstairs and Dirk was somewhere. Renee came down to show me what they were up to. Once again, my little Picasso. What is it about markers and that child? I grabbed the camera and then called to Dirk to clean up his daughter. (Yep, she's always his when she's naughty.)




I love this next one of Renee. She can always make me smile, as exasperating as she is. The lamb outfit was her Halloween costume from a year ago.

These 2 are from the Ziegler family gathering. Gabriel, Joshua and Kaitlyn are all 5, born within a 20 day stretch in Sept. Lauren turned 3 in May.

Notice Renee's skirt. It's the new one Grandma bought her. You can't tell from this picture but she does have on the wings that came with it.

Now you can see her wings a little better.

I'll leave you with one more picture of Renee. I was cleaning out her closet and came upon a bin of my baby clothes. In it was this dress. I wore it in Ginny's wedding in 1970. I thought maybe Renee would like to pretend she was Princess Belle. Instead, she called herself Princess Buttercup, from a book we have about little fairy princesses named after flowers. I guess it makes sense, since I was a flowergirl in it. She was a little upset that we didn't have a basket for her to pick flowers with though.

Christmas Update

It's been a long time since I posted so thought I would share some of my favorite memories and photos from Christmas 2007. As always, we went to the candlelight Christmas Eve service at our church. We went to the "family friendly" service and I decided that I can't wait 'til the girls are old enough that we can go back to the traditional service. I guess I'm just too traditional when it comes to carols being sung. Give me the piano and organ versus guitars and drums and newer renditions. I do love looking around the sanctuary when all of the candles are lit and we're singing Joy to the World, the Lord is Come! Renee insisted on having her own candle and I managed to hold her off until the final verse of Joy to the World before giving in to her. Made me a LOT nervous though. They wore their sage green dresses and looked adorable.


The girls on Christmas morning before opening their presents. For some reason, Kaitlyn wanted to get dressed but Renee was content to stay in her pj's. They slept in until 7:30 which surprised me. They were both so excited about Santa coming. A few years ago, Kaitlyn was totally against the idea of Santa coming into our house. Plus, we don't have a fireplace. So we told her he would just leave the presents on the front porch and Mommy or Daddy would bring them in in the morning. This year she was explaining the whole thing to Renee. I guess that explanation worked for her.


Both of the girls love the movie "Barbie and the 12 Dancing Princesses". Kaitlyn was so excited when she opened this gift. Renee also got a Barbie but not the same one.


Here's my wonderful husband, opening one of his gifts. They're miniature figurine tanks and soldiers for a game he plays with "the guys".


I made a calendar for our mothers with photos of the girls. They both loved them.


Renee is loving on "Brandma". She used to call her Mama but now it's Brandma.


Some new dresses for the girl who loves to wear them, along with 3 new pairs of tights. Now if I could only get her to keep the tights on all day.


Kaitlyn finally got some dance leotards.




Both of the girls asked Santa for Polly Pockets. Kaitlyn wanted Jasmine and Renee wanted Cinderella. They were thrilled he remembered. In fact, on Christmas Eve, one of the last things Renee said before falling asleep was "I hope Santa brings me a Cinderella Polly Pocket." How could he deny that??


Grandma Ann and Grandpa Ray came over for brunch. They brought Renee a bed for her dolls. By this time Renee was dressed, complete with her ripped up old princess dress. I think she wore it 4 out of 7 days a week during the month of December. Grandma Ziegler made her a new dress-up skirt but she wasn't interested. But a few days later she bought her a tulle one with sparkly wings and the old one has now been replaced. YEH!!