Little Builders at the Home Depot Workshop

This morning after breakfast and after the rest of the snow melted, we headed out to Home Depot for the February workshop. Patrick frequents Home Depot for work, and we've been hoping to catch one of their first Saturday of the month workshops for awhile, but this is the first one we've been able to make. He basked in the experience with his little builders. :)

This month's project was a Valentine's Holder. First, they had to nail and hammer the pieces together just so...

Exerting all of her 2-year-old patience (there's not much there) while waiting for her turn to hammer. (I love how her hand is on her daddy's leg. Softens the look a bit. :])

Then it was time to paint and decorate their boxes.

We heard a constant, "I do it!" from this one.

After they were finished with their fun, they had to wait for Mommy and Daddy to get supplies for a bathroom project. Don't let these poses fool you, they were still having fun.

Then we got home, and Ansley brought me this creation.  She told me that it was a green witch and fire. We watched Wizard of Oz last night. I love her little creative brain!

This morning after breakfast and after the rest of the snow melted, we headed out to Home Depot for the February workshop. Patrick frequents Home Depot for work, and we've been hoping to catch one of their first Saturday of the month workshops for awhile, but this is the first one we've been able to make. He basked in the experience with his little builders. :)

This month's project was a Valentine's Holder. First, they had to nail and hammer the pieces together just so...

Exerting all of her 2-year-old patience (there's not much there) while waiting for her turn to hammer. (I love how her hand is on her daddy's leg. Softens the look a bit. :])

Then it was time to paint and decorate their boxes.

We heard a constant, "I do it!" from this one.

After they were finished with their fun, they had to wait for Mommy and Daddy to get supplies for a bathroom project. Don't let these poses fool you, they were still having fun.

Then we got home, and Ansley brought me this creation.  She told me that it was a green witch and fire. We watched Wizard of Oz last night. I love her little creative brain!

February Fun: first snow day and Valentines head start

Happy February and Happy First Snow to my fellow Middle Tennesseans!!!  Even though I am not teaching in Williamson County this year, I got giddy as I saw the Snowbird Report this morning thinking about my teacher friends and former students. Everybody needs a good snow day. Of course I wish there had been more to play in, but this may be as good as it gets this year, so we will take it.

This big girl below was ALL ABOUT it--traipsing through the grass, making tracks, and exploring every inch.

This little girl: not so much.

I bribed her with fruit snacks if she would stand in the snow and smile. It worked.

She went inside right after this picture.

I couldn't get this one inside.

Their cute hats came from their Aunt Andrea. They are footballs, and one of them has an Aubie clip on it, while the other one has Big Al. As die-hard of an Alabama girl that my sister-in-law is, she sure is good about including Auburn in the mix for our girls. :) It was such a thoughtful and perfect gift for our house united/divided.

After frolicking in the short-lived snow, we came inside, drank some hot cider, and started working on our Valentines. The girls chose Disney Princess valentines for their girl classmates and Cars for their boy classmates. The princesses came with bracelets, and the cars came with "tattoons"--as Addison refers to them. :) There is another Addison in my Addy's class this year, so she has prefected labeling everything "Addison C." She even signed some of her cousins' cards "Addison C." Bless her!

I found these cute magnetic owl pads at the Target One Spot, and they were embellished with heart leaves and borders, so I thought they would be fun treats for the girls' teachers. I found some cute Valentine-y fonts here, and I chose the "I Love What You Do" and the "Love You Too" fonts for the text part.  I just punched holes and attached them with raffia. Of course, I had to be festive and drink my cider out of my old Starbucks Valentine's mug that I won at a Bunco party years ago. :)

Also, at the Target One Spot, I found a tube of 15 glow stick bracelets that I bought to give as Valentine's for my class. I tried to punch the holes in my hearts to make it look a little like Cupid's arrows and played around with the wording until I found one that fit. I used the same fonts on these. Would you believe me if I told you that Addison cut out most of these hearts??? She's good, I tell you, A-1-A. I am still pining for my Silhouette Portrait, so these were pretty bootleg. I'm talking "tracing-heart-cookie-cutters-on-the-cardstock-and-cutting-them-out-individually" bootleg, but thankfully my little craft buddy is WAY into cutting right now, and she passed her tryout with flying colors. 

We have had a full day of fun on this unexpected snow day. Welcome, February. Soooo glad you are here!

Happy February and Happy First Snow to my fellow Middle Tennesseans!!!  Even though I am not teaching in Williamson County this year, I got giddy as I saw the Snowbird Report this morning thinking about my teacher friends and former students. Everybody needs a good snow day. Of course I wish there had been more to play in, but this may be as good as it gets this year, so we will take it.

This big girl below was ALL ABOUT it--traipsing through the grass, making tracks, and exploring every inch.

This little girl: not so much.

I bribed her with fruit snacks if she would stand in the snow and smile. It worked.

She went inside right after this picture.

I couldn't get this one inside.

Their cute hats came from their Aunt Andrea. They are footballs, and one of them has an Aubie clip on it, while the other one has Big Al. As die-hard of an Alabama girl that my sister-in-law is, she sure is good about including Auburn in the mix for our girls. :) It was such a thoughtful and perfect gift for our house united/divided.

After frolicking in the short-lived snow, we came inside, drank some hot cider, and started working on our Valentines. The girls chose Disney Princess valentines for their girl classmates and Cars for their boy classmates. The princesses came with bracelets, and the cars came with "tattoons"--as Addison refers to them. :) There is another Addison in my Addy's class this year, so she has prefected labeling everything "Addison C." She even signed some of her cousins' cards "Addison C." Bless her!

I found these cute magnetic owl pads at the Target One Spot, and they were embellished with heart leaves and borders, so I thought they would be fun treats for the girls' teachers. I found some cute Valentine-y fonts here, and I chose the "I Love What You Do" and the "Love You Too" fonts for the text part.  I just punched holes and attached them with raffia. Of course, I had to be festive and drink my cider out of my old Starbucks Valentine's mug that I won at a Bunco party years ago. :)

Also, at the Target One Spot, I found a tube of 15 glow stick bracelets that I bought to give as Valentine's for my class. I tried to punch the holes in my hearts to make it look a little like Cupid's arrows and played around with the wording until I found one that fit. I used the same fonts on these. Would you believe me if I told you that Addison cut out most of these hearts??? She's good, I tell you, A-1-A. I am still pining for my Silhouette Portrait, so these were pretty bootleg. I'm talking "tracing-heart-cookie-cutters-on-the-cardstock-and-cutting-them-out-individually" bootleg, but thankfully my little craft buddy is WAY into cutting right now, and she passed her tryout with flying colors. 

We have had a full day of fun on this unexpected snow day. Welcome, February. Soooo glad you are here!

Going on a Bear Hunt

Have I mentioned that I love Sunshine School? I cannot even begin to say how much it has been a blessing to me and my girls this year. We are so thankful to be a part of such a nurturing and creative environment--especially on days like today.

For our January event during our snowy, wintery focus, we had a pajama day for our cute kiddos... They wore pjs, and they brought their favorite teddy bears and flashlights.  Then the director hid the bears to set up for our hunt. Here are my little cuties before we left for school:

We began this morning in my class by making these bear lights, worn below by my Addy-belle.

Then we read our class this book:

And then after snack and music, we took our class on a bear hunt.  In the meantime, I came to Ansley's class for her bear hunt. They did a miniature version of what the big kids did, and she was most excited to find the Teddy Grahams around her Ansley-bear's neck.

We reenacted everything the book covers--going through the grass, the river, the mud, the snowstorm, the caves, and we chanted, "We can't go over it. We can't go under it. We'll have to go through it..."

Mrs. Mindy, our preschool director, lead us through the adventure.

And here is my cute class after we rescued our bears.

I really believe in having moments like this--moments that foster creativity, moments that celebrate the simple joys, moments where child-like hearts are contagious. Thank you Lord for these precious moments.

Have I mentioned that I love Sunshine School? I cannot even begin to say how much it has been a blessing to me and my girls this year. We are so thankful to be a part of such a nurturing and creative environment--especially on days like today.

For our January event during our snowy, wintery focus, we had a pajama day for our cute kiddos... They wore pjs, and they brought their favorite teddy bears and flashlights.  Then the director hid the bears to set up for our hunt. Here are my little cuties before we left for school:

We began this morning in my class by making these bear lights, worn below by my Addy-belle.

Then we read our class this book:

And then after snack and music, we took our class on a bear hunt.  In the meantime, I came to Ansley's class for her bear hunt. They did a miniature version of what the big kids did, and she was most excited to find the Teddy Grahams around her Ansley-bear's neck.

We reenacted everything the book covers--going through the grass, the river, the mud, the snowstorm, the caves, and we chanted, "We can't go over it. We can't go under it. We'll have to go through it..."

Mrs. Mindy, our preschool director, lead us through the adventure.

And here is my cute class after we rescued our bears.

I really believe in having moments like this--moments that foster creativity, moments that celebrate the simple joys, moments where child-like hearts are contagious. Thank you Lord for these precious moments.

You read the wrong books...

My post title is one of my favorite--albeit watered down here--quotes from Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting. When I first heard this quote, it resonated with me. I had always considered myself a voracious reader, devouring anything I could get my hands on, but had I missed the right books somewhere along the way???

Even though I was an English major and loved writing myself out of any pickle, I often opted for the cliff notes versions of some of the classics I was assigned to read. I appreciated the imagery-rich descriptions of settings and clever dialogue and delving deep into the language to discover hidden meanings, but I much preferred the thrilling page turner with the seductive plot (Judith McNaught's Paradise was one of my all-time favorites. I know, right!?!?). As an English teacher, I have been so blessed with getting to go back and give some of these classics their due, but I always encourage my students to find something--anything--that they can sink their teeth into when they choose their own reading materials. I firmly believe that reading something is better than reading nothing (with the exception of fifty-shades-of-trash and the like).

As a child, I spent hours holed up with Little House in the Big Woods, Ramona Quimby, Anne of Green Gables, The Chronicles of Narnia, and my mom's old Nancy Drews and Boxcar Children, but I also devoured every Baby-Sitter's Club and Sweet Valley Twins book I talk my mom into ordering from Scholastic as well.

As a mom, I have tried to be intentional about what I have introduced my girls to in the literary world.  I am so, so thankful for my friend who introduced me to this book below:

It is such an inspiring book that really challenges what we are teaching our kids through what we expose them to. As a literal--and literary--person, I have always been focused on the words, the word pictures, the dialogue, and the story. This book reminded me of the power of the illustrations, and I have been introduced into a whole new world of capturing the young reader through actual visual pictures that make the words come alive.  I am reading these books with fresh eyes.  This book supplies a recommended reading list for each age group, and we have made our library lists--and our Amazon wish lists--through this resource.

Below are some of Addison's current favorites.  The Great Girl Stories collection is something that my mom picked up at a bookstore in Seattle a couple of years ago. In it is a collection of snippets of some of the classic early chapter books that I hope Addison will want to read--stories from Anne of Green Gables, Matilda, The Little Princess, Ramona, Pippi Longstocking, Heidi, Little House in the Big Woods.  We have just started reading some of those, and it thrills me to see her focused interest. I also LOVE it as well!

These are some of Ansley's current favorites. She asks for the Rainbow Fish every time we sit down, and she has named her babydoll Annabelle, and all of her stuffed monkeys are now George.

I am so thankful to have come across this book, and I would definitely recommend it!

***In my reading world, I just finished Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot, and it was so, so interesting!

My post title is one of my favorite--albeit watered down here--quotes from Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting. When I first heard this quote, it resonated with me. I had always considered myself a voracious reader, devouring anything I could get my hands on, but had I missed the right books somewhere along the way???

Even though I was an English major and loved writing myself out of any pickle, I often opted for the cliff notes versions of some of the classics I was assigned to read. I appreciated the imagery-rich descriptions of settings and clever dialogue and delving deep into the language to discover hidden meanings, but I much preferred the thrilling page turner with the seductive plot (Judith McNaught's Paradise was one of my all-time favorites. I know, right!?!?). As an English teacher, I have been so blessed with getting to go back and give some of these classics their due, but I always encourage my students to find something--anything--that they can sink their teeth into when they choose their own reading materials. I firmly believe that reading something is better than reading nothing (with the exception of fifty-shades-of-trash and the like).

As a child, I spent hours holed up with Little House in the Big Woods, Ramona Quimby, Anne of Green Gables, The Chronicles of Narnia, and my mom's old Nancy Drews and Boxcar Children, but I also devoured every Baby-Sitter's Club and Sweet Valley Twins book I talk my mom into ordering from Scholastic as well.

As a mom, I have tried to be intentional about what I have introduced my girls to in the literary world.  I am so, so thankful for my friend who introduced me to this book below:

It is such an inspiring book that really challenges what we are teaching our kids through what we expose them to. As a literal--and literary--person, I have always been focused on the words, the word pictures, the dialogue, and the story. This book reminded me of the power of the illustrations, and I have been introduced into a whole new world of capturing the young reader through actual visual pictures that make the words come alive.  I am reading these books with fresh eyes.  This book supplies a recommended reading list for each age group, and we have made our library lists--and our Amazon wish lists--through this resource.

Below are some of Addison's current favorites.  The Great Girl Stories collection is something that my mom picked up at a bookstore in Seattle a couple of years ago. In it is a collection of snippets of some of the classic early chapter books that I hope Addison will want to read--stories from Anne of Green Gables, Matilda, The Little Princess, Ramona, Pippi Longstocking, Heidi, Little House in the Big Woods.  We have just started reading some of those, and it thrills me to see her focused interest. I also LOVE it as well!

These are some of Ansley's current favorites. She asks for the Rainbow Fish every time we sit down, and she has named her babydoll Annabelle, and all of her stuffed monkeys are now George.

I am so thankful to have come across this book, and I would definitely recommend it!

***In my reading world, I just finished Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot, and it was so, so interesting!

These are a few of my favorite things...

I love my friends.

Last night we had an Oprah/Pinterest-inspired "Favorite Things" party. This was a sequel to our "Pinterest" party that we had back in the early fall/late summer. There were six of us, so we each bought 5 items of something that we consider a favorite and brought them with us, and our price limit was $5. Becky made heavy hor'devours, Heather made a delicious dairy/soy free chocolate cake, and we exchanged our loot.

This cake was decadent. So yummy, HDP.

This is what I was going to bring, but I couldn't get myself together to make five of them. Brain fog from too much holiday food??? I did make Karen's though and so she just got it for a belated birthday treat. Instead, I brought my favorite winter nail polish for everyone. "Grey Area."

Here is an up close picture of the goodies: Personalized ornaments, washi tape, emi-jays, MODA lip balm, Starbucks mixes, and nail polish.

Here is an "arial" shot. And that's me in the gray boots behind the table too. :)

I am so thankful for such good girlfriends and love making these memories with them. Thanks for a great night, ladies!

I love my friends.

Last night we had an Oprah/Pinterest-inspired "Favorite Things" party. This was a sequel to our "Pinterest" party that we had back in the early fall/late summer. There were six of us, so we each bought 5 items of something that we consider a favorite and brought them with us, and our price limit was $5. Becky made heavy hor'devours, Heather made a delicious dairy/soy free chocolate cake, and we exchanged our loot.

This cake was decadent. So yummy, HDP.

This is what I was going to bring, but I couldn't get myself together to make five of them. Brain fog from too much holiday food??? I did make Karen's though and so she just got it for a belated birthday treat. Instead, I brought my favorite winter nail polish for everyone. "Grey Area."

Here is an up close picture of the goodies: Personalized ornaments, washi tape, emi-jays, MODA lip balm, Starbucks mixes, and nail polish.

Here is an "arial" shot. And that's me in the gray boots behind the table too. :)

I am so thankful for such good girlfriends and love making these memories with them. Thanks for a great night, ladies!

Christmas Memories

I can't believe it is already over. I feel this way every year. I always wish I coulda, woulda, shoulda slowed down more, built more fires (in 60 degree weather, right...), listened more to Dave Barnes and Michael Buble and Chris Tomlin, taught my girls the lyrics my all-time favorite Tender Tennessee Christmas, spent more nights at home being intentional, done more advent activities, and so on. Why always more more more? It's just the way with things, isn't it.

Once I got past my post-Christmas blues (or at least decided to try to get past them), I accepted that we had a very full and special and wonderful holiday season. A just enough season. A healthy focus on Jesus, giving to others, and celebrating love, family, and gifts. Sweet Addison tearfully admitted that she didn't understand "the joy of giving" when we were shopping for our 3-year-old angel and buying her some things that Addison wanted for herself, but on Christmas Eve she wanted to try that Berenstein Bears story one more time, and she smiled and said she thought she "finally got it." Love that sweet girl.

Before we move on completely and start gearing up to begin a new year, I wanted to document our family's celebrations of this special time of year. Bear with my photo dump.

We celebrated with the Dean Family at Opryland Hotel this year, and we had a ball! We went on boat rides, looked at all the lights, found all of the Christmas trees, and ate at the Cascades Restaurant in the middle of all of the fun. We laughed when we saw "Dean Family Christmas" on the list of the hotel's events that day, and we even got more tickled when we sat down at our table and saw our personalized menus.  I love this picture below that shows my grandparents with their 6 great grandchildren.

This one is pretty special too with them and their three grandchildren.

Here is our side of the family...

And our family of four too.

We left from Opryland and headed south to see the Crawford side of the family in Decatur. We enjoyed more presents, Andrea's yummy ham and deer meat and an abundance of homemade mac and cheese (much to my husband's delight), Beth's sweet potato casserole and fudge batches, my green beans (thanks to Lindsay's shared recipe), and Steve's chex mix that has already almost been completely devoured at our house.

The girls' something to play with from Nana and Pop was Calico Critter houses and campers; their something to wear was Tiny TOMS, and they both got Tasha Tudor books to read. Such a blessed Christmas.

Here are Nana and Pop opening their gifts.

I think they both loved this special one from the girls:

The cousins ended the night after their baths with a dance party. I've never seen Ansley shake her bootie quite like she did that night, or Addison break dance so smoothly. Thankfully we got them to pose for this picture together. Love them:

We enjoyed a Christmas Eve Party at my grandparents' house where we played Christmas Carol Pictionary and laughed at Addison and Savannah's repeated drawings of Rapunzel.

The children love this marble fireplace, and it scares me senseless with its sharp edges. They had fun singing carols there though.
                             

 My Holt grandparents and their four great grandchildren

Then we got home, and it was time for Santa to get busy. The girls got some great treats from Santa this year!

And some more treats from Mom and Dad upstairs.

 We woke the girls up on Christmas morning and made them sit on the top of the stairs until Daddy had the video camera ready.

 Their first look at their loot...

 Addison made a beeline for her Ariel dress.

 Ans wasn't quite sure what to think--about Santa himself--but she made her beeline for her labrador Calico Critter family.

 They loved snuggling with their plush Mulan and Snow White dolls that they had asked for.

 Addison couldn't believe it when she pulled her OTHER Mulan doll out of her stocking. Santa must have thought that Rapunzel and Belle needed a friend. :)

 So excited about their Ariel and Aurora Little People.

 Then we went upstairs to do our family gifts. Here they are with their something to READs:

 Their something they NEEDs... Addison's new outfit and Ansley's new big girl room bedding.

 And their something they WANT or something to PLAY WITH.  We had an American Girl Christmas for Addison, and she is the proud new owner of her very own Kit Kittredge.  After watching the movie yesterday, she said that she can't believe that she never even knew Kit before yesterday, and now she is her best friend. Yes, I know that she is young for this, but I missed the boat growing up.  I was a little too old for them once they came out, and I was always wistful of Lindsay's Kirsten. Addison has never been into baby dolls, but she is fascinated with American Girls. There's not a look-alike one that fits Addison, so we decided to go ahead and take the historical plunge. I love Kit's story, and I think her smart resourceful creativity growing up in the Great Depression years is a good counterbalance to the overexposure of the princess culture. :) I thought that by getting Addison started at a young age, we could add to her collection and let Addison kind of grow up with her. Can't you tell by the expression on her face how excited she was!

 Ansley is WAY into baby dolls, so we got her her very own cradle to keep her most special baby doll in. She loved it also.

 Patrick and I got some loot too!

After we opened our gifts, we opened up our sparkle box and read aloud our gifts to Jesus and then read the birth story from the girls' story Bible.

When we got to Mom and Dad's for brunch, we were greeted by Santa himself and one of his elves. :)

 Daddy took a turn playing Santa too.

 Mom and Dad loved the grandparent gift that we made for them with the kids.

 Savannah opening her dollhouse camping set that we gave her.

 Addison opening her gift from Lindsay, Daniel, Savannah, and Sawyer. (It was nice to do gifts from oldest to youngest so that they could take turns, have to wait, and show thanks to the giver. Gift opening can STRESS me out. :))

 Sawyer with his Little People Superheroes from us. (Patrick wanted to keep this one for himself.)

 Sweet Ansley waiting patiently for her turn!

 Kit came with us to Christmas breakfast. It's a good thing too because she got to try out her new bed and bedding from Jaydee and Bear!

 Ansley brought her baby doll too and got to try out her new high chair too.

 Holding up favorite gifts. They loved their new toys, books, and outfits from Jaydee and Bear.

 Playing with Sawyer's heroes.

 Opening up our Crawford family stocking full of generous goodies.

Lindsay and I continued our tradition of giving each other our MomAgendas for the new year:

After we opened our gifts, we had fun playing with them--especially these two:

Both of their dolls' beds make a trundle or pull out, so they are so excited about future slumber (or "almost slumber") parties with their dolls.  

Since we had already traveled this year, we finished off our afternoon at the movie theater and took the girls to see Monsters, Inc. It was Ansley's first time at the movies and Addison's second. They both loved it.

We had ourselves a Merry Little Christmas and hope you did too!

I can't believe it is already over. I feel this way every year. I always wish I coulda, woulda, shoulda slowed down more, built more fires (in 60 degree weather, right...), listened more to Dave Barnes and Michael Buble and Chris Tomlin, taught my girls the lyrics my all-time favorite Tender Tennessee Christmas, spent more nights at home being intentional, done more advent activities, and so on. Why always more more more? It's just the way with things, isn't it.

Once I got past my post-Christmas blues (or at least decided to try to get past them), I accepted that we had a very full and special and wonderful holiday season. A just enough season. A healthy focus on Jesus, giving to others, and celebrating love, family, and gifts. Sweet Addison tearfully admitted that she didn't understand "the joy of giving" when we were shopping for our 3-year-old angel and buying her some things that Addison wanted for herself, but on Christmas Eve she wanted to try that Berenstein Bears story one more time, and she smiled and said she thought she "finally got it." Love that sweet girl.

Before we move on completely and start gearing up to begin a new year, I wanted to document our family's celebrations of this special time of year. Bear with my photo dump.

We celebrated with the Dean Family at Opryland Hotel this year, and we had a ball! We went on boat rides, looked at all the lights, found all of the Christmas trees, and ate at the Cascades Restaurant in the middle of all of the fun. We laughed when we saw "Dean Family Christmas" on the list of the hotel's events that day, and we even got more tickled when we sat down at our table and saw our personalized menus.  I love this picture below that shows my grandparents with their 6 great grandchildren.

This one is pretty special too with them and their three grandchildren.

Here is our side of the family...

And our family of four too.

We left from Opryland and headed south to see the Crawford side of the family in Decatur. We enjoyed more presents, Andrea's yummy ham and deer meat and an abundance of homemade mac and cheese (much to my husband's delight), Beth's sweet potato casserole and fudge batches, my green beans (thanks to Lindsay's shared recipe), and Steve's chex mix that has already almost been completely devoured at our house.

The girls' something to play with from Nana and Pop was Calico Critter houses and campers; their something to wear was Tiny TOMS, and they both got Tasha Tudor books to read. Such a blessed Christmas.

Here are Nana and Pop opening their gifts.

I think they both loved this special one from the girls:

The cousins ended the night after their baths with a dance party. I've never seen Ansley shake her bootie quite like she did that night, or Addison break dance so smoothly. Thankfully we got them to pose for this picture together. Love them:

We enjoyed a Christmas Eve Party at my grandparents' house where we played Christmas Carol Pictionary and laughed at Addison and Savannah's repeated drawings of Rapunzel.

The children love this marble fireplace, and it scares me senseless with its sharp edges. They had fun singing carols there though.
                             

 My Holt grandparents and their four great grandchildren

Then we got home, and it was time for Santa to get busy. The girls got some great treats from Santa this year!

And some more treats from Mom and Dad upstairs.

 We woke the girls up on Christmas morning and made them sit on the top of the stairs until Daddy had the video camera ready.

 Their first look at their loot...

 Addison made a beeline for her Ariel dress.

 Ans wasn't quite sure what to think--about Santa himself--but she made her beeline for her labrador Calico Critter family.

 They loved snuggling with their plush Mulan and Snow White dolls that they had asked for.

 Addison couldn't believe it when she pulled her OTHER Mulan doll out of her stocking. Santa must have thought that Rapunzel and Belle needed a friend. :)

 So excited about their Ariel and Aurora Little People.

 Then we went upstairs to do our family gifts. Here they are with their something to READs:

 Their something they NEEDs... Addison's new outfit and Ansley's new big girl room bedding.

 And their something they WANT or something to PLAY WITH.  We had an American Girl Christmas for Addison, and she is the proud new owner of her very own Kit Kittredge.  After watching the movie yesterday, she said that she can't believe that she never even knew Kit before yesterday, and now she is her best friend. Yes, I know that she is young for this, but I missed the boat growing up.  I was a little too old for them once they came out, and I was always wistful of Lindsay's Kirsten. Addison has never been into baby dolls, but she is fascinated with American Girls. There's not a look-alike one that fits Addison, so we decided to go ahead and take the historical plunge. I love Kit's story, and I think her smart resourceful creativity growing up in the Great Depression years is a good counterbalance to the overexposure of the princess culture. :) I thought that by getting Addison started at a young age, we could add to her collection and let Addison kind of grow up with her. Can't you tell by the expression on her face how excited she was!

 Ansley is WAY into baby dolls, so we got her her very own cradle to keep her most special baby doll in. She loved it also.

 Patrick and I got some loot too!

After we opened our gifts, we opened up our sparkle box and read aloud our gifts to Jesus and then read the birth story from the girls' story Bible.

When we got to Mom and Dad's for brunch, we were greeted by Santa himself and one of his elves. :)

 Daddy took a turn playing Santa too.

 Mom and Dad loved the grandparent gift that we made for them with the kids.

 Savannah opening her dollhouse camping set that we gave her.

 Addison opening her gift from Lindsay, Daniel, Savannah, and Sawyer. (It was nice to do gifts from oldest to youngest so that they could take turns, have to wait, and show thanks to the giver. Gift opening can STRESS me out. :))

 Sawyer with his Little People Superheroes from us. (Patrick wanted to keep this one for himself.)

 Sweet Ansley waiting patiently for her turn!

 Kit came with us to Christmas breakfast. It's a good thing too because she got to try out her new bed and bedding from Jaydee and Bear!

 Ansley brought her baby doll too and got to try out her new high chair too.

 Holding up favorite gifts. They loved their new toys, books, and outfits from Jaydee and Bear.

 Playing with Sawyer's heroes.

 Opening up our Crawford family stocking full of generous goodies.

Lindsay and I continued our tradition of giving each other our MomAgendas for the new year:

After we opened our gifts, we had fun playing with them--especially these two:

Both of their dolls' beds make a trundle or pull out, so they are so excited about future slumber (or "almost slumber") parties with their dolls.  

Since we had already traveled this year, we finished off our afternoon at the movie theater and took the girls to see Monsters, Inc. It was Ansley's first time at the movies and Addison's second. They both loved it.

We had ourselves a Merry Little Christmas and hope you did too!