Day after Christmas, aka Frosty day

So this holiday season Greta has discovered a few new loves.  First and foremost she loves the Grinch, and of course the Grinch's dog Max.  We have DAILY requests to "watch Grinch's dog?"  2nd only to the Grinch is Greta's new interest in "Frosty the Snowman" (whose eyes are made out of "cold" Greta says, for those who didn't know).  As you may know, we've had record breaking snows this December so it seems only fitting that our girl would want to get out in the white stuff and build a snowman.  However, our temps have been so cold (negative numbers, don't ask) that we haven't been comfortable (read: willing) going outside to play.  That is, until today.  We are up to a balmy 34 degrees here, hey-o!  So to fight our winter blues and get some of the wild-willies out, we all suited up and went out to play in the snow and make Greta's first snowman.  Enjoy the pics...the first one is of the little snowbeast (aka Jersey- look up against the house)...it gives you an idea of what a foot and a half of snow looks like from the Bichon perspective!  Go ahead and laugh at our expense....

Christmas celebrations recap

So we had several Christmas celebrations this year (one still to go!) and we have a few pics from our happy family days.  I'll kick off this series with an ode to Holiday wear, dedicated to someone special who can't get enough of holiday sweaters for her girls!  This someone has gotten a reputation around church...everybody asks, "is this a Granny outfit?"  The answer is most often: YES.  Between Granny's Christmas outfits and Grandma Marmo's new fancy winter coat, Greta has been stylin'...don't ya think? (For more Christmas outfits, look back at our Tgiving post...oh my).

We spent last Saturday with the Christiansen clan.  We bowled- and (un)fortunately Tyler had the highest score of the day (182) which meant we took home the coveted and classy Christiansen Christmas Bowling trophy.  I'm thrilled, to say the least, to find a spot in our home for that lovely prize (basement?).  Afterwards we had the group gift swap which was great fun (we did pretty good with a bottle of wine and movie tickets!) and shared a lovely meal together at Great Grandma & Grandpa Christiansen's house.

Christmas Eve we hurried over to the church for our 4:30 no-practice Christmas pagent.  It was tremendous fun and Greta totally dug dressing up like an angel.  Getting her to go on stage at the appropriate time, well...didn't go so well.  She had fun sitting with Aunt Jayne, Grandpa Jay and Kelly during the service.  Afterwards we all ajourned to our house and had dinner together-a very relaxing and enjoyable evening together.

Christmas day we got a little footage of Greta opening stockings and presents (see previous entries)...she liked the whole present scene, though we both think it was a bit overwhelming to her to have so much stuff and so many activities.  We spent the afternoon at Grandma Marmo's house.  It was a day full of stockings,  presents, games and food.  I've included a couple of cute pics for your enjoyment.

We hope your Christmas celebrations were happy and meaningful!  We are thankful to have so many wonderful friends and family members who share their lives with us.

  Merry Christmas!

One More

Christmas Morn

Merry Christmas!

A video from this morning.

Ok, it is really snowing now....

You have undoubtedly heard me complain about the snow this season...but I'm here to tell you the snow has truly arrived today. We're supposed to get 7 inches by tomorrow morning on top of the 3 we already had. Yessireeee, we've got snow.

So, we decided to make the most of it and bundled the peanut (and Jersey) up and went outside to take her on her first sledding adventure. Yes, it's barely a hill- more like a mound by the park and hockey rink down the street from our house- but it was the perfect size for some Greta-sized fun. She loved it, as you can tell from the photos!

Rollllllll Tide!

For the first time in 6 years the men in our household were happy on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Bama trounced Auburn, much to my family's delight. Our theory: 2 new cute cheerleaders inspired the 'Tide's shut out performance (don't tell the team that the cheerleaders had more fun running up and down the hall than they did watching the game). This was a grand finale of sorts to our great week together. Uncle Dan, Aunt Maureen and Cousin Evelyn (Ev-ynnn in Gboo speak) had to head home this morning so we feel our lovely week with Granny & Gramps drawing to a close. By the week's end, the girlies were really enjoying each other. When we get home we'll post a few videos of the cousins playing together for all of you silent Preacher's daughter's fans (or maybe just for Granny & Gramps- if they are the only ones still reading!). We hope your Thanksgiving holidays have been as restful and enjoyable as ours has been.

The dreaded Christmas photo...

We used to love selecting the perfect spot and ideal day for taking our family Christmas card photo. That is, until we reproduced. Little squirts make the traditional family picture both interesting (for the viewer- when successful) and difficult (for the family and designated picture taker). Here are a few of our finalists along with a few funny ones to give you an idea of why G's mommy wanted a stiff drink after the photo session was over.

TURKEY DAY...

I'm not sure that Tgiving was super newsy...just tasty and relaxing, which was super. Granny surprised all the girls with cute turkey aprons that were a big hit (apologies that my niece's face is covered in the shot...). While the mommas and granny cooked, Gramps took Gboo for a walk to look at the leaves and the river. It is so nice having an extra set of hands!! I could totally get used to that! The day after Tgiving I met up with some friends from High School at one of our favorite haunts. Trowbridges served us the same ol' yummy goodies as it always did and Greta loved the milkshakes! Here's a pic of my friends and some of the kiddos present too (Greta loved the idea of more photos, as you can see).

Did Someone say Christmas Cookies???

Ahh yes. For the first time we attempted to decorate Christmas cookies with G&E. It was great fun, though Greta made a practice of pouring 1/2 a bottle of sprinkles on each cookie...enough to make a collection of tiny red pyramids on the cookie platter. The eating part was of course the favorite aspect of cookie decorating for both girls. Please note the Joker-like trail of red sprinkles on Greta's face. She's giving Heath Ledger a run for his money.