Ringing in the New Year

Audrey and Kate had a New Year's Eve celebration at their friends Charley and Finley's house. They played, ate pizza and ice cream, and welcomed the New Year with a toast (well, the New Year in Nova Scotia, i.e. 8 pm local time, anyway). They also put on a show for their parents, which consisted primarily of them singing "Jingle Bells" with the alternate "Batman" lyrics ("Jingle bells, Batman smells, Robin laid and egg . . . ").

Christmas(es) 2012

Audrey and Kate enjoyed multiple Christmas celebrations, each offering plenty of time with family, good food, and many, many presents. The festivities began on Christmas Eve at Honey and Honey Grandpa's house. On Christmas Day, the girls opened presents from Santa at their house in the morning and then headed over to GG's house, where a big highlight was playing with their cousin Elsa (and helping her use the potty) and meeting their new cousin Liam. Christmas continued the following weekend with a celebration at Grandpa Dave and Judy's house.

In between gatherings, the girls opened up, tried on, put together, or tested out many of their gifts. Audrey assembled her Lego Friends house set from Honey and Honey Grandpa in one morning mostly by herself, not wanting to pause to eat breakfast or get dressed. She also practiced her cosmetology skills on her sister with her new fingernail decorating kit and tried out the keyboard from GG (which also inspired Mama to brush up on her piano skills). 

Kate put together her Lego set with Dada, sang and danced using her keyboard from GG (both girls had a lot of fun with the microphone that came with it), and took her new scooter from Santa out for a spin. Both girls liked the special nutcrackers they got from Grandpa Dave, and the many games and craft and science sets the girls received were greatly appreciated during the cold and/or wet winter days. 

The girls also got to hang out with their cousins and Uncle Paul and Aunt Morgan at their house and at a few of their favorite spots in and around their neighborhood, including the soaking pool at the Kennedy School and the playground at the Rose City Park School.

Thanks to everyone who gave gifts, organized gatherings, and made Christmas an exciting and wonderful time for Audrey and Kate!

(If the photo slideshow below does not appear or work properly, click here.)

Kate's cave

Kate was not happy when Mama chided her for scratching the dining room table with her spoon, so she decided to create a "cave" that was just for "people who scratch tables." Audrey thought it looked fun and joined her.

Audrey's salon

Audrey tests out her new nail-decorating set she got for Christmas on Kate.

Happy birthday, Aunt Marie!

Audrey and Kate helped Aunt Marie celebrate her birthday today. Although the birthday festivities were held at the Gustav's next to the Rheinlander in their neighborhood, which they could normally walk to, the girls took their car because the weather was so miserable. They enjoyed hanging out with family -- especially Uncle Keith and Aunt Allison, whom they haven't seen in quite a long time -- as well as fondue and big, doughy pretzels.

 

Visit to Peacock Lane

Audrey and Kate went to look at the Christmas lights on Peacock Lane this evening, after which they headed over to the neighborhood frozen yogurt shop for a treat.

"Darkest day" party

Audrey and Kate walked over a few blocks to Audrey's school friend Lily's house on 51st Avenue today for a holiday party celebrating the darkest/shortest day of the year. The girls played dress-up, enjoyed some treats, and danced to Christmas songs.

Angels we have heard on high

After much preparation, the girls were ready for the live performance of the church Christmas pageant this evening. Kate finally agreed to wear the full costume, and the two bounded down the aisle and sang with spirit. "Feliz Navidad" seems to have been Kate's favorite song; both in rehearsal and in the live performance she got really animated while singing it. Grandpa Dave and Honey and Honey Grandpa came to watch the show.

Angels in training

Audrey and Kate are going to be angels in the church Christmas pageant again this year. They had a rehearsal yesterday morning and another one this morning in costume (the church takes the Christmas pageant very seriously, apparently). Kate had to warm up to the idea, saying at first she just wanted to be "an angel sitting down (in the pews)," then that she didn't want to wear the costume, then that she would wear the gown but not the decorative collar. After the rehearsal yesterday morning, the girls joined the other kids for a "birthday party for Jesus."

Christmas cookies with Brin

After the first rehearsal for the church Christmas pageant this morning, Audrey and Kate got to hang out with their friend Brin. The three girls and their moms went to watch a community theater production of "The Princess and the Pea." Then they came back to Audrey and Kate's house to make Christmas cookies and have dinner.

Holiday art

Audrey and Kate have been working on holiday-themed crafts at school. Kate made a decorative ceramic plate with her handprint on it (the yellow one to the left in the first photo) at preschool, so with the one Audrey made last year we now have a set. 

Audrey got to decorate a gingerbread house during her kindergarten class' holiday party today. Dada had volunteered to make a batch of the icing for the houses, and Mama and Dada had to search all around town for an exotic ingredient -- meringue powder -- called for in the specific icing recipe the teacher wanted made (we did eventually find it, at Sur La Table).

Audrey's also been working on Christmas-themed writing exercises. The text in the third picture reads: "Santa is great because he brings presents on Christmas Eve. We open the presents on Christmas Eve. The end."

Visit with Santa

Audrey and Kate went to visit Santa this evening at Macy's in downtown Portland. Neither wanted to sit on his lap, but they did tell him what was on their Christmas lists. Later, they tried on some high heels in the department store and then went to look at the Christmas tree in Pioneer Courthouse Square.

Garland girls

Audrey and Kate strung together some cranberries and popcorn to make garlands for their mini-Christmas trees this morning.

Christmas prep

Audrey and Kate had lots of Christmas activities to keep them busy this weekend. It began on Saturday with a special holiday gathering at Heartwood Preschool for current students and graduates. The girls had a special music class with teacher Adam, made lots of crafts, and decorated gingerbread houses. On the way home, they stopped at a tree sale at Archbishop Howard to pick out a Christmas tree, which they helped Mama and Dada start setting up (there was a debate about who should get to put on the tree topper, so they both had a turn).

This morning was the advent festival at church. The girls did some more crafts, including making an advent log and ornaments. Audrey got to take a couple of whacks at a piñata. When they got home, they helped finish decorating the Christmas tree.