A Recap of the Holidays

So I neglected the blog again. Hopefully I can catch up a bit and keep up with it this time around.

We had a wonderful holiday season. I was actually sad when Christmas came around because I was enjoying the time leading up to it so much.

We kicked off the season early with the arrival of Santa at the mall and visiting the Meijer Gardens before Thanksgiving.  We also visited with Santa at the Meijer Gardens where Amelia asked for a dog, a REAL dog! Santa nicely told her that dogs are too squirmy and wouldn't stay in his bag. He wouldn't want the puppy to fall out of the sleigh and get cold and wet from the snow.

This year we tried something new - rather than just putting treats into the advent calendar, I also included an activity or small present each day, such as socks, a Christmas book, or decoration. The girls really enjoyed the activities and on days they merely received a present, Allison would ask if they could do an activity instead.

Some of the advent calendar activities we did included: making a ginger bread house (now a yuletide family tradition), attending a family party at Allison's school, making cookies, going to the zoo and bringing presents for the animals, watching Christmas classics, and even buying a present for Toys for Tots.

The girls participated in our church Christmas program this year which was sweet and very touching. I have to admit during the service I thought about the families of those who lost a loved one in the Sandy Hook tragedy and I had a very time holding it together - which wasn't a good thing since I was up on the alter with the kids helping out.  At times the Sandy Hook tragedy made it very hard for me to be festive this holiday season since I carried a heavy heart during those weeks. However, it did make me realize how I can't take things for granted and that I have to celebrate these times I have with my family to the fullest.  

Christmas came around and it was full of celebrations. We had a great time visiting with both of our families. Once again the girls were spoiled with a lot of attention and presents. Allison and Amelia even got to see Aunt Cheryl, Uncle Dale, and their cousins Stephanie and Heather, who all flew in from Arizona.

Allison Update

Age: 5 years old

Likes: Playing board games, putting together puzzles, completing her workbook, and reading.

Dislikes: Hearing about anything "fun" that Mia did while Allison was in school.

Wants in life:  A dog and a trip to Disney World.

Strengths:  Allison is very sweet and is always concerned about others. She is doing well in school and is starting to read words which makes her very excited.

Things she needs to work on:  Knowing she can't get what she wants all the time. She also needs to know when to stop bugging her younger sister.

Memorable quotes:

On the way home from school:
Allison "Mom, I gave someone my phone number today, because he is my best friend. And he gave me his"
Me - "That's nice, what's his name."
Allison - "I don't know. I forgot."

Amelia Update

Age: 4 years old

Likes: Playing Little People, riding her bike and other outdoor activities, playing with Leapster and Wii, dogs (real and stuffed), and reading books.

Dislikes: Timeouts and taking naps

Wants in life:  A dog and a trip to Disney World. She REALLY wants both!

Strengths:  Amelia has a wonderful imagination and sense of humor. She continuously cracks us up with her dramatics.

Things she needs to work on:  Controlling her temper and keeping her hands to herself.

Memorable quotes:

I was trying to talk Amelia into eating her fish sticks and told her that they look yummy and if I were her, I would eat them. She replied back with: "If I were you, I would eat them too. But I'm not you, I'm me."


Amelia - "When is Penny going to get here"
Me - (blink, blink -what?) - You mean Porter? When is he going to get here?"
Amelia - "Yeah, Quarter. When is he going to get here?"
Me - "It's Porter, with a P."
Amelia - "Oh, ok Porter."

1/2 hour later.. "When is Quarter coming."

  

Halloween Fun

Halloween was so much fun this year as the girls were really into it. Allison and Mia couldn't wait to go trick-or-treating.  Allison was dressed as Strawberry Shortcake and Mia was dressed as a witch - a "mean" witch according to Mia. It rained all afternoon and the temperature didn't make it out of the 30's; however, we didn't let that deter us. I layered them up in clothes underneath their costumes to the point I was afraid they wouldn't be able to walk. Luckily, the rain stopped in time for us to go outside. It appeared that the poor weather kept a lot of the trick-or-treaters away, so the girls didn't have to compete with other kids until the end.  Other than Amelia wiping out and falling face first on the sidewalk, the girls had a lot of fun and collected a bunch of candy.

Celebrating Fall

 

What We Have Been Up To

So, I kind of neglected the blog a bit. I have to admit that I lost motivation for it. I had to remind myself that this blog serves as a our family journal as well.

Here is a brief recap of what we did in October.

We "ArtPrized' several times. Amelia and I made a few trips downtown. Allison and I had a special night out and visited a few sites.  Brian kicked me out of the house the last day and I was able spend some time wandering around downtown by myself. Three glorious hours later, along with a piece of chocolate cake and a fountain Coke, I felt completely rejuvenated. It was exactly what I needed.

Amelia turned four and we celebrated her birthday with the grandparents. My Dad gives each grandchild a glass piggy bank filled with pennies when they turn four.

I went on a field trip with Allison to the apple orchard. I also started volunteering at her school one afternoon a week to help during their lunch period. I am now known as "Allison's Mom". 

The girls took swimming lessons. 

Amelia and I spend quality time in the car every afternoon on our way to pick up Allison. Sometimes she plays her Leapster games and other times she is content with looking out the window. I love looking back and seeing her face.

I also volunteered at Allison's fall harvest party.  

We spent Saturday mornings relaxing. By the end of the school week, Allison is beat and makes it clear that she doesn't want to go anywhere on Saturday - all she wants to do is stay in her PJs and play. 

Art Graces the Sky

This past weekend we brought the girls downtown to a special event taking place at ArtPrize. One of the entries was the release of 15,000 - 20,000 Chinese lanterns. Due to poor weather the weekend before, they rescheduled it to the following weekend, which meant my Mom was going to be in town and could attend with us.

We didn't say anything to the girls that we were going until that evening at dinner time. We told them that the lantern launch would be just like the movie Tangled.  They were every excited. We arrived about one and a half hours early and kept ourselves busy with a game of Uno and taking funny pictures while Brian patiently waited in line to get a couple of lanterns for the girls.  After that, a long wait at the Ford Museum for the bathrooms kept us busy until it turned dark and it was time to light and launch the lanterns.

When it came time to light the lanterns, I was so busy watching Brian light them, taking videos, and watching the girls' reaction, I didn't even notice what was going on behind me. I will always remember turning around and seeing the sky lit up with the thousands of lanterns. It was one of the most breath-taking sights I have ever witnessed in my life. I was completely taken aback. I knew it was going to be a cool sight and I knew being the sappy person I am that I would probably get a little teary-eyed; however, I never imagined it would be so beautiful and emotional.

I still don't know what Allison thought of it. She was very serious about the whole thing - she watched but didn't say a word. It took Amelia a few minutes but then she was chattering away about how it looked like Tangled. Me? I was hyped up all night from the excitement. What I loved most was how the community came together for this event. I continue to  hear stories of how friendly everyone was; people sharing their lanterns with families who weren't able to get one before they ran out, or sharing their lighters. In watching videos that have been floating around (pun intended) on the internet, I hear people in awe at the sight. In reading comments on Facebook, people have been saying over and over that this will be a night that they will never forget and how much happiness it brought to their children. I also heard that the children at DeVos Children's Hospital were able to see the lights at they floated by - how cool is that! 

So to the people of Grand Rapids, I salute you. Thank you!