'Twas the Night before Christmas....

Annaliese with her cookies for Santa.

We read and acted out the Christmas Story. Kermit was Joseph, Annaliese a wiseman, Addie a shepherd, Avrie the angel. I was Mary.
I love this photo! They really got into their roles for a moment.....

Then reality hit, everybody wanted to be Mary, so we all took turns holding baby Jesus.
It truly was a magical Christmas Eve and I think that the girls all understood that were were celebrating Jesus' birth.


This is about as good as a photo I got after we hung the stockings. They really liked those balloons!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!

Sick, sick & sick

We are sick. Coughing, fever, goopy nose sick! Worse every day and no school all week for Annaliese! I finally took the sickest to the doctor on Wednesday to find that Addie has pneumonia! Not what I was expecting! So needless to say I immediately took in the other two and good thing I did! Avrie, aside from the coughing has a double ear infection and Annaliese a lovely sinus infection. Blugh! All three are on antibiotics and we hope to be better for Christmas!

Did that keep us from making a snowman? NO WAY! These were taken the day before the doctor visit. Feeling a little guilty now! But they did have a great time!

Christkindlmarket

The kiddos enjoying some fresh waffles with sugar and whipped cream.

So after the visit to Santa at Macy's we headed west a few blocks to find the highlight of the evening! Christkindlmarket in Daley Plaza! Very cool! Very fun! A new tradition born! From now on, we will be there every year! It was worth the struggle of bundling 3 little ones in all their gear! Little booths set up all over the plaza with stuff...great stuff from Germany. Kermit was in heaven! He promises to take us to a real one in Germany or Austria someday. This will do until then! Very fun night!

Oh Christmas Tree

Avrie & Addie gazing at their little tree

All three ready to pose by the tree before church


Kermit & I before the company holiday bash

You can never have too many pictures in front of the Christmas Tree!

All I want for Christmas...

Santa: "What would you like for Christmas?"

Annaliese: First get me off your your lap! Okay, that's better. "A book."

Last Friday we were down town and popped into Macy's. We saw that the line for Santa was pretty short so we thought we'd give it a shot, why not! There was only a few families in line but we still ended up waiting close to 30 minutes! (We'll find a more accessible Santa next year.) After the visit we all decided that this man in the red suit was probably just one of Santa's helpers- not the real Santa. Annaliese did great- but felt much better standing next to her dad rather than on Santa's lap. The twins....they stayed in the stroller and just stared with wonder!

Fun in the Snow

We were hit with snow twice last week! The first snow, Annaliese and Kermit made a 2 foot snowman that I didn't get a picture of, dang it. But she named him Snowy. Very cute! Snowy melted but we got snow again! I went out with the girls- but the snow wouldn't pack right- oh well! Next time! That night we went out for a family walk down the street- now that was the best! They loved tracking through all the planters on the street where the snow was untouched and making tracks, snow angels and snowballs! The next day, I went out and got the twins new snowsuits! We are going to need them!

Happy Belated....

So the twins had their fun at Rain Forest Cafe for their birthday...but I just couldn't let the weekend pass without officially singing Happy Birthday to them! So the least I could do was whip up some cupcakes for them! They didn't really get it, but now at least Annaliese will acknowledge they are 2 years old now. Singing is magic....your age doesn't change until you sing the birthday song and blow out candles you know! So now it is official...they are both 2!

Fun Holiday Weekend!

We were lucky to have Kermit's mom here for the weekend of Thanksgiving! That Friday we took the family to Rain Forest Cafe to celebrate the twins birthday. It was a hit, but next time we might choose a seat that isn't RIGHT next to the elephants. (The babies were a little freaked out being so close, but were easily calmed down! Funny girls!) That night we headed up to the botanical gardens where there was a great indoor train display! Now this was the big hit! Fun had by all! Here are some pics from the day.....

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a fun Thanksgiving this year! Kermit's mom visited us for the weekend! It's always a joy to have her visit! We also invited some friends from our church to join us for dinner! We had a full table of friends, family and food! What could be better!

Our menu:

Turkey

Stuffing with cranberries

Mashed Potatoes

Gravy

Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Marshmallow Topping

Green Beans with Sliced Almonds

Dixie Salad

Jello Salad

Rolls

Pumpkin Pie

Banana Cream Pie

Ice Cream

Martinelli's Cider

All was just divine! Pam brought over some of her famous pies! (YUM!) Shanna brought an amazing jello salad (it was BEAUTIFUL...right from the cover of a magazine), Mom made Dixie Salad and helped with the Turkey. I managed the rest which wasn't bad at all...oh except the gravy...thankfully Matt took charge over that one! It was a wonderful day for us! All was just perfect ad we feel we have much to be thankful for!

***Terica, I really liked your Thanksgiving post...can you tell? =)