christmas-palooza!

​Who is ready for a giant Christmas-palooza? Because dudes. So many photos. So ready set go. 

We had Christmas Eve dinner at Papa's house. And Santa came! What makes this special is it's the very same Santa that came to Jess' Christmas Eve dinners when he was a child. A tangent - Once Santa brought an elf with him (his daughter). She called herself Dweezle. And Grammy never tires of telling us the story of how young Jess was smitten with Dweezle. It's just the cutest story, and I never tire of seeing Jess get all blushy. The cutest.

Also, this is the first time in the history of ever that the girls willingly sat on Santa's lap. Lou needed a bit of persuasion, but they did it! Also, please note that Santa is holding the hair out of her face - oh he's the cutest.

After Santa left, we had a grand nativity. Grammy brought her old fur coats for people to be animals, and everyone grabbed props and threw it together. It was lovely (and also hilarious). Here are my shepherds, and little Mary. Mary's holding a baby Jesus that has lived at Grammy's house for decades.

And then on to our little family's tradition: Legos! Every Christmas Eve, we open a box of Legos and assemble it together. In years past, it's mostly been Jess putting it together with a little help from Annabelle. This year, Annabelle legitimately built that little car she's holding by herself (they also built a larger set from The Lego Movie), and Lou's getting really good at spotting pieces. 

Pajamas haven't been a tradition in prior years, but when a certain five year old started feeling so sad about the fact that she could no longer wear footie pajamas, someone had to remedy the situation (Carter's sells them up to size 7). And now I'm pretty sure pajamas + Legos will be the new Christmas Eve tradition combo. 

As most of you know, we've had a fairly dry winter. I know many people who had been praying and hoping for a white Christmas. And welp. We got it. Here's the view out our front window Christmas morning.

The girls woke up and patiently waited for Jess to muster the courage to open his eyelids. I make the girls "line up" and close their eyes, just like I did as a child. However, my kids are NOT required to get dressed and eat breakfast and shine the floors MOM AND DAD. (We really did have to do that before we were allowed to see Christmas! Torture!)

I love this picture because usually it's Lou who's the big ol' cheater and Belle who is unfailingly honest. But look at that little sneaky peek.

That there horse in her hand? Oh she wanted it so bad. Sooooo bad. 

Now, a little explanation. We went and saw Big Hero 6 a few months ago. We absolutely loved it. And the girls left the movie insisting that they NEEDED a Baymax (the big lovable robot). They needed him so bad. Any time anyone asked Lou what she wanted for Christmas, it was "A Baymax who's soft and a tiny horse." And then the person (Santa included) would go, "Wha??" Luckily, this Santa got online and found him in China on Ebay. Go China. Here the girls are opening the long awaited Baymax!

Lou's face. Bahahhahahhahaa.

For the love. Christmas is fun.

The girls received so many great gifts this year from family members. And these girls were so much fun to watch. They get so excited for everything. I just love it.

Aunt Marissa found a friggin' Maria dress. You know - MARIA -  from the Sound of Music, still easily the most beloved show in our house. Belle was at first confused and thought it was an Anna dress, but then realized it was Maria and started stripping immediately to become Maria. No lie. And then little Lou made the most perfect little Tink. 

I didn't blog about this last year because I'M A BAD DAUGHTER, but my mom made all of us - grand daughters and daughters - a homemade, crocheted Lalaloopsy. (The very last photo on this post, top left - that's Belle's.) They are so loved by my girls (and me). This year, Grandma made them mini Lalaloopsy dolls. And well...

My dad sent Cabbage Patch dolls. In case anyone was wondering, yes, indeed they do still smell amazing. Like my childhood all sealed up in a box. 

And another back story. Lou's friend Layla has this little Leapfrog kid laptop majig. Whenever she plays with Layla, she hoards that little electronic device like nobody's business. So imagine her excitement when Aunt Kristen SENT HER ONE for Christmas. When she opened it, she yelled, "I KNEW I WOULD GET THIS. I! KNEW! IT!" (Aunt Kristen basically helped us dodge a big ol' bullet - thank you!) She now totes that thing around all day, pausing to do a little business here and there. (P.S. It's a great toy for learning letters and animals and such. Highly recommend. Love.)

Okay, so then we paused and ran up to Grammy's house. We'd left some presents up there to open - both for her and for us. 

The girls picked out this bright pink fleece coat (soooo soft) for Grammy. Because pink is her favorite color, and Grammy's always cold. This is Grammy opening it. Do you just love her? She's so great, and having a little mini Christmas at her house was just the best.

We then went up to Papa's house for some more present opening. And I have searched over ten memory cards and our phones for photos, all to no avail, although I know I took photos. A back story will have to suffice. A few months ago, I pulled down my American Girl doll (which was given to me when I was 25 by my mother in law, and yes I was as excited as if I were five years old) to show the girls. They were starry eyed and Annabelle wished with all her heart that she could have one. She started including her wish in her prayers. Oh man. I was already done Christmas shopping and didn't have plans to add an American Girl doll to the mix. But when Grandma and Grandpa Cheney got wind of her prayers, they made her wish come true. I had done a pretty good job of convincing her that she wouldn't get one and what about Baymax? So when she unwrapped a big box to find Caroline, the very one she wanted? Oh the shrieks of joy. (Lou got Rebecca, pronounced Ree-becca by Belle.) 

And so when Christmas was done and the babies were tucked safely in their beds, visions of sugar plums and probably Baymax dancing in their heads, I made my nightly rounds as I do, and I found this. Basically the perfect picture to end a perfect Christmas day.

​

simple christmas

So Wednesday night (just hours after I last posted here, in fact) found me mostly in the bathroom, my bodily fluids fighting for the quickest exit strategy. It was freaking miserable. The debate still continues as to whether I had yet another virus or if I was food poisoned. It doesn't really matter - both verdicts had the same evidence I'm not too anxious to repeat.

But before all that, this happened. 

We went to Grammy's to take presents and a few more ornaments. We knocked and rang a few times until her hearing aids picked us up, and I saw her coming to the door, a skip in her 85 year old step. She clapped with joy. Pure joy. And she shuffled us in, the girls simultaneously hugging Grammy's legs and stripping off their coats, rushing to fill her tree with presents and sparkles. We had hot chocolate and sat and talked while the girls ran around playing in this home that has become a second home to them. They've learned the art of playing carefully, and when the heater turns on, they camp out on the floor by the vent, letting the warm air wash over them.

We like to stuff our Christmas agenda to the point of ridiculous. We love all the events and the festivities, the lights and magic. However, this year we've been sick just enough that we've missed a lot of everything. But as we sat there in Grammy's peaceful house, my heart was so full of love - for this woman, for the opportunity my girls have to not only know her, but to be so close to her. And for this Christmas season and the tiny Christmas tree that has brought so much joy into our lives this Christmas season. We haven't done all the things. But we've done the important things.

Three cheers for a changed year and a beautiful, simple Christmas. Merry Christmas Eve Eve y'all. :)

catch upppp

Well, we survived THE FLU 2014. It wasn't just the girls. It was me too. Fevers all around. Drug(s) all around. General misery alllll. around. But for now we're fairly healthy. We've got the leftover hack and I swear the girls could sleep for days after all that not sleeping and writhing coupled with some ridiculous delirium, but we're back.

In between our dying phases (I think maybe we had two flu bugs, back to back, the first more brutal than the second, seriously) and before and after, I took a few photos (read: a million). And now is as good a time as any to start oversharing.

These cousins are the besties of all besties. They played every second they could while in St. George. One day I did fancy matchy hair dos for them.

And we played at the park. 

And Lou got in trouble (in the above photo Annabelle's telling me how annoying it is that Lou is shoveling sand back in to the hole that she and Annalise spent thirty minutes digging out).

She felt great about it. Also, if you ever send me a text I disagree with, you can expect to get this photo in return.

My sister Kristen and I took the most epic selfies. Flare included. BOOM.

Then Belle took some really lovely selfies.  

Belle got her school pictures. I couldn't love them more. I love that when the camera lady told her to show her teeth for her smile, she did just that. Seriously. This picture makes my day, and she loves it so. Cutest thing. I love this kindergarten age so much - sort of big, but still sweet and innocent.

Jess and I snuck away to the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. If you didn't have a chance to listen or watch, head on over here. So good. So very very good. P.S. I want to fix my bangs in that photo so bad it hurts.

In between illnesses, we went to the Utah Symphony's Christmas concert (for kids). It's always lovely (we hit it up every year). It's short, sweet, and filled with familiar and jolly tunes the kids love. Santa makes a yearly appearance and conducts the symphony, which is always a kick. The girls also love getting dressed up fancy, so it's a total win. And don't worry - we also took them to a very fancy lunch beforehand. Sam's Club. Wins allll aroundddd. :)

Crafty craftiness. I'll be real here. I don't love crafting with kids. If it can't be done with a computer, I'd really rather not touch it. It's messy and so disorganized and oh my gosh do you see how that isn't straight? But the girls love it. And thank goodness for prepackaged craft kits and other crafty people on Pinterest who make it easy for me. 

Oh Home Depot. How we love thee. These are little holiday yard stakes. I find them basically the cutest. I love how each girl used the stickers so differently.

We bought Gram a tiny Christmas tree that was delivered the night we all fell into bed with fevers. And bless her soul, she saved the decorating for the girls, for when they got better. The girls made a few ornaments for her and Gram had a string of lights from the seventies (that somehow still works) as well as some vintage ornaments, and they got busy. We'll make more visits in the next few days with more ornaments. (See: crafty craftiness.)

And last of all - we got a giant Christmas tree that's bigger than my bedroom. But quite magical.

today

We played outside today.

One of us even ditched her sweater.

Today on December 8.

Like it was a beautiful fall day.

Turns out global warming is my favorite season.

Turns out Lou doesn't like sharing.

random

So this phone of mine. I take so many random photos. None of them have anything to do with the next. But all of them are my favorite. And what better place to dish out a bunch of random photos than here? :) Let's get started.

I started peeling a clementine for Belle, but she asked if she could peel it. I handed it over, and she noticed a heart! She thought that I did it on purpose, but it was a lovely accident! :) Also, I love that Grandma Lichelle face.

Oh heaven help us. These stick horses at Home Depot started it all. Lou's obsessed with horses. She's never even been on one, but she's totally obsessed. She can spot a horse toy from a million miles away. Anywhere. And she's even informed me that "Jesus really wants me to ride a horse Mommy." Oh boy.

So the girls got to be in the photo shoot for the Utah Tumbling Academy's new website (here - Annabelle's on this page (the picture next to Beginning Tumbling) and Lou's here - the goof second in line :) ). They thought they were so fancy and had the best time. Annabelle's group was composed of a few from her class as well as the next class. Those girls were doing back handsprings and the fire in Annabelle's eyes started the minute those girls started jumping around. She's got some new goals in sight. :) (Also, please observe how tall Annabelle is in the handstand. Whoa.)

And the Christmas decorations come out. I pulled them out just before we headed down to St. George for Thanksgiving, and the little kid nativity set has been played with almost constantly since. Also, I hope I always have a big ol' window with a seat in my home. It's the best play place in the world.

This so captures the essence of their personalities. Lou chose to paint on blank paper - wild and unruly. Belle went and cut out a Christmas scene and took her sweet time painting in the lines - composed and steady.

We are Home Depot's Kid Workshop's biggest fans. We went in St. George and were happily surprised to find Santa in attendance. The girls made darling little banks (where you save money for yourself and to gift) and both insisted that they show Santa their good work when they were done. I love cousin Annalise's face. This was her first foray into the Home Depot Kids Workshop world. And all that hammering and ruckus was pretty intense. 

And one more. Just because this tiny tumbler is pretty cute. :)