December Part 1

A trip to WalMart.  She used to be so scared of this guy.  Now she wants to take a ride next to him.

Dinner out with Patrick.  Best. Food. Ever. 

We got a new car wash in town and the girls LOVE it! They call it the scary car wash.  It reminds me a lot of the car washes we used to go through as kids.  Big, loud, colorful.  In short, sensory overload.

Our neighbors invited us to join them for the Boulder Ballet's Nutcracker.  I'd been waiting for my girls to be old enough so I could start this tradition.  Caroline stayed home with Dad and I took Maggie on a date.  It was fabulous but it was still an awfully long time for Maggie to sit quietly and stay focused.  She was a trooper. 

Sometimes I get requests to take pictures of my girls doing random things.  This was one of those times. 

A Sunday afternoon at the park.  One of the perks of living in Colorado is regular nice-weather days all winter long. 

The Rest of November

What I've noticed: I'm getting way lazy on the picture taking.  I have next to nothing for most of November.

Here is the ONE picture I have of Thanksgiving.  We had the Crapos over for dinner.  It was so nice and relaxed!  Even though I was hosting I kind of just let the little stuff go and enjoyed.

As is our recent tradition, we stayed home on Black Friday and decorated for Christmas.  Here are the ladies getting a little bored waiting for Daddy to come down and set up the tree: 

 

 

We bought new stockings this year.  I have looked high and low for the perfect stockings--basically since Maggie's first Christmas.  I even contemplated making some.  I didn't want traditional Christmas colors or themes which was part of my problem.  Although I'm not over the moon with these, they are by far the best I've seen and will last for many years (I hope!). 

And just for fun, a shot of Caroline waiting for her carpool to preschool.  The little fist of happiness kills me!

 

 

First Part of November

I have wanted my kitchen island paneled for a while.  What builder does a drywall island?!? (I have MANY questions like that about our home--the trouble with not buying new and/or building to order I guess.) I have begged and begged my husband to do this project for over a year and...finally he starts!

He did a great job and I love it! 

Mags does homework in her new hat and mittens.  Pretty impressive to maneuver a pencil with mittens on!

The kids spent some time in the backyard playing.  And destroying.  When I asked them what happened they said "it just fell over".  Right. 

A nice afternoon chillin' at the park:

Maggie's school has a Thanksgiving lunch that parents are invited to attend.  She was thrilled to have her daddy us there!

Family Photo Shoot

We were on the ball this year and did our family photo shoot early!  No freezing our bons off while trying to act natural and smile.  These pics were taken by my friend Becky and we are thrilled with how they turned out.

This first one cracks me up when I look at the height difference between Patrick and myself:

Finishing Up October, Halloween

Caroline's preschool did a Halloween parade for the parents.  Caroline was Dora this year.  What can I say?  After agonizing and working like crazy to make Maggie's costume from scratch I was burnt and just let Caroline buy a cheap Dora costume and be done with it.  She actually looked completely hilarious in the wig and she was just so happy so I let go of my expectations for fancy handmade costumes--and I lived.

 Maggie spent some time in our bed watching a video before bed one night.  The next morning I noticed a pad of paper on my bedside table.  "Don't be upset" was all it said.  Maggie had already left for school when I discovered the note so I had to wait all day to find out exactly what I might be upset about.  Turns out she was just copying words out of a book I had.  Phew!

Halloween night.  Maggie was a Maharani Princess.  Let me tell you how many times I watched the YouTube video on how to wrap an Indian sari!  Over and over again I watched....then I had to MAKE the sari...then we watched the video again as I practiced actually putting it on her.  Good times. 

 This picture shows each of my girl's personalities quite well: 

Trick-or-Treating with our neighbor friend.

Late October and Pumpkin Carving

Rolling out some dough for pumpkin shaped sugar cookies.

Gotta get a little homework in there somewhere.  It's easier to do while wearing bunny ears. 

Quick trip to Utah for a funeral (so terribly hard to see larger-than-life Aunt Janet leave this world).  It was a super quick trip so I didn't take many photos.  I did spend some quality time with my mom which was nice.  Here she is with a teeny, tiny bowl of popcorn. 

 Julie sent me home with paper dolls for the girls.  After some serious cutting (and hand cramps!) the girls had the best time with them!

 Caroline insisted we carve pumpkins early one day. 

The real pumpkin carving evening. 

 

Mid October

Maggie's school pic.  So darling!

Caroline complains about the sun being in her eyes every single day on the drive to pick up her sister from school.  One day I offered up her dad's sunglasses.

Caroline's preschool had a field trip to the pumpkin patch.  It was such a cold day but she still had the best time!

We made cement mosaics.

One random day waiting for Maggie to get out of school.  The picture taking was random--she runs around playing "fairy" every day, all day.

Trip to Nordstroms leads to posing with the mannequins.



Anderson Farms 2012

Anderson Farms, as usual, was such a great time! 

Maggie rode the ponies again (with her dad wearing both her and Caroline's hats).  Caroline was still too afraid to do the pony ride.  Maybe next year.

Cotton candy love. 

The barrel rides.  It was nice that both girls were old enough to go it alone and I didn't have to bend in half and ride with them. 

Picking our pumpkins. 

 

We needed one wagon for pumpkins and one for the ladies.