Getting in the Christmas Spirit!

Christmas time is so much fun!  We went to visit Santa yesterday, and had a wonderful time!  I took some extra photos when we got home to capture the adorable outfits and happy smiles :)  Maddie is 2.5  and Chloe is 4.5.  I can't believe how different this year feels with two little girls, instead of a little girl and a toddler!  So much fun!

 Maddie was afraid of Santa, so Andrew got to be in the picture this year :)

 Chloe made a card for Santa :)

Freezin' for a Reason

Andrew and I have been supporters of special olympics for a long time now but Andrew really stepped up on Saturday and became a super supporter!  Andrew and his team did the Polar Plunge this year for the first time and raised just under $7,000!!  As a whole this event raised almost half a million dollars! I suppose there are a lot of people out there that want to pay to see these guys jump into a frozen lake (and support a good cause).  If you can not tell their theme is golfers, since they put on a BOMA golf tournament every year to benefit Special Olympics.  

 They were one of the top earning teams, so they got to make a speech and get handshakes from Lisa Murkowski (one of our Senators).  

 You can see there is a big hole cut into the frozen lake for the jumpers to plunge in.  Andrew is showing off his cannonball skills :) (thanks to Scott Minor for the professional photos!!)

 After.  Brrr!!  I tried to get a group shot but the guys raced inside to the hot tubs.  Andrew was the only one I convince to slow to a jog :)

 We played in the snow for a while after and watched a few more jumpers.

 Maddie is giving me the look.  It usually means that I am doing something she doesn't like at that exact moment.  In this case- taking a picture :)  

 See ya later!!

picking a tree

This years Christmas tree adventure yielded the most amazing tree yet!  You can see Maddie is helping "pick" a good one :)

You can see by the photo that we are not in Oregon anymore!  Our tree was 75.95!!  But I do have to admit it is an AMAZING tree!

We have a new tradition!  Every morning we sing the twelve days of Christmas up until the day we are on and the girls get to open the door and get out their treat!  My grandma, their great grandma, came up with this amazing idea and sent the box up for them, all ready to go.  We LOVE it!  THANK YOU!!

Had to add in a few shots of morning smoothies!  Maddie had quite the smoothie 'stash going on!

As always Chloe giving me a goofy face when the camera comes out!

More posts to come in the next few days!!  It has been a VERY eventful and busy week!!

Fun sister time

In preparation for my upcoming retirement (staying home with the girls... just missed it too much) Maddie has switched from full day Montessori to half-days.  Now she gets to spend even more time with her big sister which she loves!  We also had a day where school was closed due to icy road conditionsHere they are playing Talking Carl on the i-pad.  he repeats everything you say in a different voice.  Needless to say, they love it.

Playing with their awesome rainbow wooden stackers

 Did I mention we had a crazy wildlife day??  In the morning we saw  a bobcat in the backyard, then as we sat down for luck there was a young moose in the backyard!  He stayed for about 3 or 4 hours taking a nap, and eating some pumpkins we had leftover from halloween.  

 Chloe has been super interested in reading, and spelling lately.  She is doing great sounding words out and guessing where the letters go!  Nice work Chloe!!

 So excited for more days like these!!

cookie decorating

Our friends came over with their adorable little boy, Caleb to help us decorate some gingerbread boys- as Chloe calls them :)  To our shock the kids just ate tons of the candy for decorating, although they did manage to get some of it on the cookies :)

 We have been having a bit of a cold spell lately, but did bundle up big time to go to the park.

We even went sledding, which was AWESOME!  It will be much better when it isn't 5 degrees out, but the kids didn't seem to mind!!

 And this is our sole remaining thanksgiving picture.  Somehow the photos got deleted from the computer.  Guessing little fingers may have been to blame, but that is just a guess :)

snow

 It snowed for real a few days ago!!  And of course the snowblower broke.....so Andrew got to get some outdoor exercise.  I tried to help, but the girls got cold from playing in the snow, so we had to cheer him on from inside.  

Thanks Andrew!!

Happy Halloween

Halloween is a big deal at houses with kids, but it is HUGE at our house.  Chloe loves everything spooky- I mean really spooky!  She wanted to be a goblin this year, and after many discussions about what a goblin looks like, we came up with this costume.  Maddie wanted to be a goblin too, so 2 costumes it was!  Just coming out of a crazy unexpected surgery, it was definitely a challenge to finish these on time.  (I went in for abdominal pain on the 19th and left on the 20th minus and ovary and softball sized tumor behind my kidney).  The first day out of bed for an extended period of time (after about a week), I was on the sewing machine.  We also did face paint.  The first go- round Chloe want blood dripping from her face, but then she decided she might be too scary for other people and opted for red around her eyes only.  So funny!  

 Here are the girls together.  Two little goblins.  When trick or treating Chloe told the people she was a goblin and Maddie was a princess cow.  Where did that come from?!!  Oh well Maddie didn't seem to mind being a princess cow.  :)  They both loved getting candy.  Go figure.  

 Maddie and I came home early, since neither one of us can walk very far :)  Also she really wanted to get into her candy!

 Here are our pumpkins :)  Chloe carved her own this year!  It is the highest one :)  

Happy Halloween everyone!!