Holiday Happenings by iphone

Yea, it's true that not everything in this post is directly related to the holidays, but it's also true that the holiday spirit has a way of taking over the whole month.  Everything just feels that much more special. There's a little more magic in the air. Here are some phone photos from the month of December.

First...some random stuff:

A sweet note from Josie: "I love you because you do show love"

Holiday Home:

Bea has figured out how to color and save her work on the iphone:

Josie is working on mastering the world famous DD Thumb Trick:

Favorite decorations surface:

The first ornament of year gets hung:

"Hi My name is Josie. I wanted to help my little sister. I helped her put her pajamas on. Yesterday. Not today."

Baking, baking and more baking.

Holiday favorites emerge:

Warm drinks become the norm (tea before bed):

Bedroom tree:

Spice Mice:

Beautiful morning:

Long days & early bedtimes:

Ballet season in full swing:

More baking:

And more mice...this time with whiskers!

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One of the special holiday happenings this month was our trip the holiday train show at Krohn Conservatory. It's so beautiful and the trains never disappoint. I left my camera batter in the charger (grrr) so I only have phone pics (double grrr).

We discovered a new coffee shop in Mt Adams:

 This month our wonderful new neighbors through a "Meet the Schneiders" potluck  (no offense wonderful old neighbors, we miss you). The girls were SO excited that they were literally dancing down the street!

 There are seven girls under seven on our little street. Needless to say it was a a blur of dancing, spinning, twirling little girlies. It was such fun, and we really have such a wonderful diverse set of families on our street.

Earlier in the month we had some snow flurries - nothing stuck to the ground but it was still enough to hold the attention of two wee ones out the kitchen window (especially Bea was beginning to think snow was just a myth).

Oh I just couldn't blog about December without including a "stinky." These little guys are everywhere! Hear me - everywhere!

The girls have started the annual holiday steamed milk tradition. And stuff like this just cracks me up.

And we published two more papers - which made for a busy but rewarding month!

And then some really bad things happened in Connecticut and it sent shockwaves across the hearts of all Americans. And that night as Louie and I stood in the kitchen counting our blessings, this happened:

And Josie & Bea were off to Xenia & throwing up an X is exactly what you do to celebrate that.

We celebrated the season with a trip to Crossroads for Awaited with our dear neighbors the Chacons.

And every night we went to bed to this.

We got new gear from great friends:

And made holiday surprises:

And cuddled:

And then the presents started rolling in. 'Tis the season to be jolly.

 

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!)