Sunday, January 22, 2012

New Years Eve 2011

We decided to ring in the New Year with a fondue party! We started off with a cheese fondue with tons of options for dipping - lots of veggies, bread, pretzels, etc.







Then we watched the new Winnie the Pooh movie with the girls. After the movie we had the chocolate fondue! Of course this was the favorite part. To dip in the chocolate we had strawberries, bananas, oranges, marshmallows, pretzels, Oreo's, shortbread cookies, etc. Yum!




We forgot to buy poppers or noise makers but we did have some silly string so we celebrated "midnight" a few hours early with silly string in the backyard and then toasts with sparkling grape juice before getting the girls to bed.







I didn't make it to midnight this year - I blame it on the pregnancy! But excited to welcome the new year of 2012.



Buell Children's Museum in Pueblo, CO

At the beginning of last year, I purchased one of those coupon deals to the Buell Children's Museum in Pueblo, Colorado. Pueblo is about 45 minutes south of Colorado Springs. And there is no children's museum in Colorado Springs - so we have to go to Pueblo or Denver for that option. Anyway, we invited our friends Julie and Lily Turner to come with us so we could have some company in the car and at the museum. And they had never been before either so it worked out perfectly!

I was a little disappointed with this museum. They had tons of art projects available for kids to do which would have been perfect if Chloe wasn't with me - but many of them involved cutting out things and assembling things and she is not quite old enough for that! She did love painting and coloring some Christmas themed pictures. There was a little barn area with play food, a section of treats/sweets to play with (pretend), some computers to play on, and a log house to build. We played for a little while and then ate our sack lunches and then played a little more before heading home. The girls had fun so that is what is important but I don't think we'll be heading back to this museum anytime soon!







Christmas Eve & Christmas Day 2011

We decided to stay at home in Colorado this year due to Rob's work schedule and the expense of trying to travel around the holidays. It was a little different at first to not be with extended family but we enjoyed time with our little family and hopefully starting a few traditions of our own!

Christmas Eve we spent doing the last minute preps for the big day but mostly relaxed. We were going to do Chinese food for our dinner but Pei Wei was the food of choice and they closed really early that day and so I went with my backup meal of homemade pizza. After pizza, the girls got their Christmas pajamas on and we piled in the car and drove around listening to Christmas music and looking at Christmas lights. We did that for an hour and then headed home to do the Christmas story from the Bible (we used the Little People Nativity to help tell the story). Then we got cookies ready for Santa, carrots for the reindeer, and read "Twas the Night Before Christmas" before putting the girls to bed. They were a little excited but fell asleep before 9 p.m.








I didn't sleep well since I was so worried the kids would wake up (and Eliza did at 4:30 but I made her go back to bed!). Eliza woke up at 6:30 and since we had church at 9 - we figured we might as well go ahead and start the craziness!









And the girls were obviously good enough for Santa to come and visit! I think they were pretty spoiled. The hit of the day was the big slide that Santa brought for the girls to share. It is in our playroom until the summer time and I can safely say it is used EVERY SINGLE DAY.




Other highlights were a wooden kitchen and accessories for the girls to share.


Eliza got her very own little camera and roller blades. The pictures she takes are hilarious and I will have to devote a blog post to some of her views of the world! She is getting a lot better at her roller skating as well by practicing in the kitchen and on our patio outside.




Chloe was happy with everything but the slide is definitely her favorite! And of course she loved the candy in the stockings and consumed it right away (and is visible in almost all of hte pictures of her on Christmas morning) and her little baby doll that was in her stocking. She got one of the Plasma Cars that everyone has enjoyed riding on and also got a balance bike from Grandpa Snow White and Grandma Debbie. She is a little unsure about the balance bike since she thinks she should have pedals like her big sisters bike - but we'll be practicing more as the weather gets nicer and I'm sure she will love it.




Definitely a good morning for the girls! They tore through everything and after cinnamon rolls for breakfast, we got dressed in our Christmas best for 9 a.m. church. Thanks to my sugar filled children - it was a long hour but I still enjoy Christmas falling on Sunday. And then it was back home to play with toys!

We had some friends over from the ward for Christmas dinner (Jeff, Julie and Lily Turner) and enjoyed spending time with them while the kids played.

Snow Day

A few days before Christmas we got a huge snow storm. It's the most snow that we have seen since we moved here over a year ago and I loved it! I didn't have anywhere that I had to go and right before Christmas is the perfect time to be stuck at home. The girls were excited to put on all their snow gear and head outside! Our neighbors helped us shovel our driveway and then played with the girls and took them on a little sled ride on the empty streets. We tried to make a snow man but it wasn't quite the right consistency. Chloe refused to wear her gloves but played and played until her hands were so cold that she cried! It was a fun morning that we followed up with some hot chocolate and movie watching and then played out in the snow in the afternoon. Okay I just watched but I don't have much snow gear that fits right now and can't find my snow shoes!