O Christmas Tree!

Finding the perfect Christmas tree is an annual holiday tradition that we hold dear - dating back to the days well before kids for the two of us. The last couple of years we've been getting super lazy and just getting our tree from Whole Foods. This year we asked around for favorite lots and ended up getting our tree from A.J. Rahn Greenhouse & Garden Center.  We had SO much fun picking out our tree, weaving in and out of all the hanging pines, collecting broken branches, skipping through the greenhouse oohing and ahhing at everything thriving, and checking out the year's first holiday train display.  (Bea looooooves trains.)  Here are some photos from our hunt for the perfect tree.

The next day, once the tree's branches had some time to get acclimated indoors, it was FINALLY time to decorate.  It was definitely a two-steps forward, two-steps back perfect process. Josie was unbelievably helpful, like legitimately helpful, in wrapping the lights and and garland.  Beatrice was unbelievably sweet, even if the opposite of helpful, in wearing and tangling the lights and garland.

 

The ornaments part was a blast. We collect different ornaments each year to represent our lives that year and it's really fun to go back through the memories - more than a decade's worth of ornaments from various trips & events, funny reminders of favorite TV shows, ornaments that represent the homes we've lived in (a starbucks mug from fourth street and owl to remember east walnut hills), and of course special ornaments that carry loads of sentimental value - like three little eggs in a nest and all the 'first christmas' ornaments for Josie & Bea.

Both girls have a Rudolph OBSESSION! This is a little Rudolph from Josie's first Christmas, but Beatrice would not let it go!

Even as she resumed her normal toddler activities!

And now for the star on our rainbow Christmas tree!

 

 And a little adjustment courtesy of the wee one:

I absolutely love the perfection of all the ornaments around the bottom!

Baby Rudolph finally finds his spot up high.

 Josie makes some final adjustments once we turn off all the lights and light up the tree!

 And then we had a light stick party and I taught the budding photographer all about shutter speed. There are about 50 of these, but here are her favorite shots!

First snow

It's a little crazy that Bea has been around for two winters now and has yet to see any snow. We've had teeny tiny flurries since her birth in March 2011, but nothing that has stuck.  So today is a big day!

First snow for Beatrice (EVER)!
First snow of the year for Josie (on the first day of Christmas break no less)!

The girls are beyond thrilled! And as I'm wrapping up what has been an amazing year for me at work, it is just super special to see the girls playing outside - knowing we have 11 days of holiday bliss ahead of us.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!!

Quick Quotes

So, it's been awhile since I shared any good Schneider girls "quick quotes" but I have a few for you today! Enjoy!

Josie to me: "Hey mom, Venus (the cat) went into the basement...just FYI."

Josie: "How long will it take those to dry?" (Referring to her panties that fell into the bathtub)
Me: "I'm not sure, but I'll probably just wash them anyway since they fell in the tub."
Josie: "Leave them hanging there to do an experiment. I wonder if they'll still be wet this time tomorrow!"
Me: "You'll be at Grandma & DD's this time tomorrow, but I'll let you know when you get home."
Josie: "Oh it's fine, just take a look tomorrow and then text me."

Josie: (in a conversation about why we refer to her giant pile of stuffed animals as "The Animal Army") "What kind of guns and bombs do they shoot?"
Me:  "Love bombs!"
Josie: "Oh, I get it! So the animal army flies over the world shooting love guns and love bombs through the sky and then all the love falls down into everyone's chimneys!"
Me: "Yep, exactly"
Josie: "And then when the love goes into all the houses...then there are no more people that don't have enough food to eat...and then there are no more people who leave lights on in rooms that they're not using!"

Bea to all of us, all the time: "Cheese...baby...mouth."  "Kefir...baby...mouth."  "Choc-choc....baby....mouth."  (This is the way she tells us what she wants to eat. Literally, put some cheese in this baby's mouth! It's too funny. And too cute. Especially as she points to the food and then to her mouth.)

The Deer

Our little family of deer have been very active in our yard this week. They've been spending most of each day here, munching what green is left on the shrubs, sauntering through the yard and casually making eye contact with two little girls through the window. Other times they sprint wildly from one yard to the next - almost like they're playing!  They're so peaceful and gentle and it really is an amazing thing for them to come close enough to the house that we can see deeply into their big soulful eyes.

Just now one of the young ones just showed up right outside by window (nudging the fountain to those of you who know our house) and then walked into the backyard and wove himself through the swingset then down the hill.  Those of you who know me well are aware that I look for symbolic meaning in everything, so I just couldn't help but to do a little digging on deer omens. I learned that deer symbolize the power of gentleness to touch the hearts and minds of wounded beings and that they represent the gentleness of spirit that heals all wounds. And well, I think that's lovely so I just had to share.

I also had to share this quick video we took yesterday of the deer out my office window. Josie thinks they are of course reindeer.  And Bea likes to guess whether each deer we see is the mama, papa or baby.  Enjoy!




And a little deer "quick quote" courtesy of Josie this morning, as we were making breakfast:

Me: Oh, the deer are back this morning!
Josie: Where, where?
Bea: Deer, Deer, Baby, Deer! (Translation: Show "Baby" the deer.)
Lou: Oh, that's the boy deer, see his antlers girls?
Josie; Oh, yea, that's the boy - the STAR-BUCK!    (No pun intended, the girl just knew the word had buck in it and Starbucks was the first connection her brain made!)

The unveiling

Over the weekend, Josie and Bea spent the night at Grandma & DD's (a first for Bea!) while Lou and I had 24 hours kid-free (for the first time since March 2011, if anyone's counting).

Sadly, I had a stomach bug but happily we had already made plans to stay in anyway. We've been collecting things for the girls' new room ever since we moved in. It was the only room in the house that the previous owners left unfinished. (Blank canvas!) And it took me about this long to get over the fact that the people who bought our old house made us leave every single bit of bedroom beauty that we put together for them (right down to the closet baskets....grrrr) which meant starting from scratch in this room.

 As an early Christmas surprise, we spent this 24 hour totally making over their room from the boring brown, curtain-less BLAH to a sweet and simple room that can evolve to suit them over the next several years.

Here are some of the BEFORE PICS:

Note boring ceiling fan with NO light, tan walls, changing table & general ho-hum

Note ugly shade and disorganized Baby Doll Chaos

And some DURING pics:

Because we know our limitations, we hired an expert

The report from Xenia: Cookies & Santa!

Ladies & Gentlemen, we have LIGHT!

Organization means "some assembly required"

And now for the AFTER pics:

Organized! Verdant! Lovely!

It was only a matter of time before we found somewhere to put Graham & Brown wallpaper. 

YAY - lovely light coming through the windows!

I've had these since the bedrest days before Bea was born!

Let me explain: We are getting the girls bunk-beds as the next step, but for now this is the solution. Bea still sleeps in her bed, but often falls asleep first reading books in Josie's bed. We moved the crib back in after the big reveal, but expect Bea to be completely over it soon!

I can't get enough of the curtains! 

And now for the video:



Oh, one last side by side: