overheard

Overheard last night while Charlotte was coloring Uncle Grant Schell and Aunt Leah Schell (you try telling her that is not their last name).
Charlotte: Where is the brown crayon? Sh*t ,I cannot find the brown.
Mama: *short pause* What did you say?
Charlotte: Sh*t, I said sh*t because I cannot find the brown crayon.
Oh boy, well it isn’t the first, and it won’t the last but it sure was surprising to hear it used in the correct context out of my 2 ½ yr olds mouth. It is still so infrequent that ignoring this language seems to be best. Off to watch my language....

watch out

 

 

 

 

Charlotte and I went ice skating today. What an adventure. This Florida girl sure needs some more time on the ice before teaching a wobbly toddler. We had to try out a couple pairs of skates for her, until we finally settled on the smaller single blade skates with much better ankle support. Once that was decided, we had fun, skooting, sliding, and watching. Charlotte only fell a couple of times (because for the most part I was holding her up), and we only fell together once. Charlotte was all smiles even though she could rarely get her balance or get her feet untwisted. I am calling it a success and am sure we will try again.

christmas day

lots of fun, lots of family and friends, lots of yummy food.

 

Santa

 

Charlotte sat on Santa's lap last Saturday night. I thought for sure she would be afraid, but nothing could be further from the truth. She had already decided what she would ask him for before we arrived, and Papa, who was sick at home, sent her with a question for Santa. I thought for sure she would be afraid, but nothing could be further from the truth.
Before he arrived she was dancing around at the thought of meeting him. When he arrived, she waited her turn in line all by herself and climbed right on up in his lap. She told him she wanted a pony. And she then asked him if he wanted us to leave cake or cookies for him. He told her that he would love cookies, chocolate chip to be exact. He then gave her a candy cane and she was thrilled.
It was a fun experience. Timothy had fun being there, waiting in line for a few moments then dashing over to the tree to try to run away with the presents. Apparently he would rather run off with a sure thing than ask Santa and wait and see if he gets it. He had no desire to sit in Santa's lap, and I had no desire to force him. We got out of there with no crying and I am left still trying to figure out who told my not-even-3-yr-old that she could ask for a pony?

sledding

 

 

 

We have been having a heat wave here-it is warming up to 30 degrees during the days :) Warm enough for us to finally get outside. Our new neighbors across the street have 2 children a few years older than C and T, and they have 2 sleds. They were gracious enough to let us borrow one to pull the kids around the other day.
The kids had a blast and I ampretty sure Reid got a decent workout. When we pulled back up in the driveway, Timothy held his pointer finger up and said "more". I forsee more sledding in our future.

out takes

The kids and I had a little photo session recently. It definitely tried my patience until I just gave in to their whims. It seemed that when one was cooperating the other was not-there was bribery with dried fruit, and eventually M-n-M's (not a good idea-too messy, too distracting, too much sugar). Eventually I gave up getting a decent picture with the two of them at the same time. Here are some fun ones to enjoy from our morning of photos.
Timothy has been a little cutie lately. He obsessively looks for the deer in the backyard. He has fun using tools and helping Papa. He loves pointing out any truck of unusual size or shape. And he loves to say "Monn" (interpretation: Come on), grab your hand and lead you to whatever he needs or wants to show you. He is a great helper in the kitchen-dishes (aka flinging bubbles across the kitchen), cooking (aka sampling). Lastly,he has mastered flirting-pretty adorable.
Charlotte has been doing good too. She loves hide and seek-and there are so many good places to hide in our new house. Her naps are pretty slim lately,and so she gets a bit cranky by late afternoon. She is beginning toy with talking back-should be interesting. Today,when I asked her to pick up the buttons she spilled on the floor,she said "Weeeelll, I could but I won't because my hands are broken" -excuse me, really??
She is however sleeping in much better. We set up a nightlight on a timer in her room so when it comes on she knows it is morning and she can get out of bed-pure genius (a friends idea,I take no credit). It gives her a lot more power and she sleeps better for it the entire night.
We also had a fun day on Sunday. She and I had a girls morning out and went to Art in the Afternoon. We had lots of fun and got some good Xmas presents,and were then inspired to come home and make some of our own today (look for a blog post on it soon). If anyone needs good holiday presents, you should check out some of Lander's local goods by Mountain Aven Baby (more than just baby stuff, like scrumptious, minkie scarves).

nutcracker

 

Well, I have had many requests for pictures of me in my Nutcracker tutus. Here is one of Charlotte and I on stage after my last performance. This is my least favorite of the three tutus I wore, but it is the only picture I have. This one was for the dance of the flutes. I also performed as a snow princess soloist in a white tutu witha crown and in waltz of the flowers in a beautiful burgandy tutu. You will just have to use your imagination for those :) Charlotte had fun seeing me dance on stage and of course wants to do it all by herself now.

what's this?

 

any guesses???