Wordless Wednesday

Ho Ho Ho Hiatus

Hi Friends, The Four Schneiders are going underground for December and will reflect and share on all that fun once 2015 happens! Until we meet again...

Decking the Halls, 2014

This year we decided that we'd head home from Chicago a day early to make the transition from Thanksgiving to Christmas happen overnight. We got home late Saturday night from Chicago and spent the entire day Sunday getting in the holiday spirit.  We pulled all the bins up from the basement and trimmed and tinseled and read and remembered to our hearts' delight!

Next stop:  Christmas tree shopping. They found "the one" pretty quickly.

This cracked me up. I said "Okay, do a tree pose!" I meant, "Pose in front of the tree," but they both immediately assumed yoga poses, which is kinda hilarious.

This is what I meant, but I definitely think the first happy accident is even better. (And doesn't Bea suddenly look FOUR?!)

Once we picked the tree, Bea was totally mesmerized by the process of sawing off the bottom branches and wrapping it for the car. She insisted on standing by until the entire process came to an end.

Then we had hot chocolate. Even if it was an oddly-warm 68 degree day.

We even managed to get the house lights up before dark!

And then it was TREE TIME! I love tree time! The kids always insist on rainbow lights and want to hear the story behind every single ornament (and there is one). It's so much fun.  They took turns on the stool to get ornaments way up high and I'm pleased to report we still ended up with little kid-created ornament clumps hanging from over-weighted branches. :)

Then "the angel-fairy" (that they picked over the star we used last year). Bea adds; Josie's adjusts.

So, as I write this somewhere about 30,000 feet above South Dakota after what will be my last business trip of 2014, I'm dying to get back to scenes like this.  I have a solid 16 days of time off this holiday season with the family. And I absolutely cannot wait.

These Days, November

November was truly a bit of a blur. It was busy on many different fronts and involved lots of personal and professional obligations. But we survived it, and alas it is now firmly December. Here's the wrap-up of all the November action that didn't make it on the blog yet.

Slow sister time.

Adventures with a new best friend.

Life lessons.

The run-up to the first of three business trips to close out the year.

Palm Springs in November - can't beat it.  Lots of hard work & the reward of good times with colleagues to close out each long day.

A surprise discovery in Cincinnati Family Magazine.

Scenes from around the house.

Styled by Beatrice

Out and about, acting silly with my girlies.

A rare warmish day spent playing!

First fire of the season.

Josephine insisted on collecting the wood all by herself. 

More family fun.

Lots of this lately. Lucky Beatrice loves wearing her cousin's hand-me-downs. :)

Work trip #2: Washington, DC

Special reports from home, courtesy of an MVP mama friend who helped out this trip!

I Spy HOME!

Time to head to the Festival of Lights!

More scenes from home.

A pic, courtesy of another mama-friend, of the two girls at their school Thanksgiving Feast. 

So much to be grateful for.