It's Christmas Time!

Daddy and Nicholas went together to pick out our Christmas tree this year. They are quite a team because they picked out the most beautiful tree we've ever had. I have struggled this year with how to decorate. Last year I put away my traditional white lights for the tree and outside of the house. Instead I bought the multi-colored lights so that everything would be more colorful for the children. We did have a colorful house but I wasn't happy with it. I hated looking at all of the colors. It was just too much. So this year, I went back to the white lights and hoped the children would be just as excited.

Of course, Nicholas noticed right away and complained that we didn't have the "rainbow" lights up. But he was still a good helper with decorating the tree.



Our Elf, Chimney, came back to visit this year. He is from the North Pole and Santa sends him to check on Nicholas and Rachel. Each night he flies back to the North Pole to tell Santa if they have been good or report gift ideas to the elves. When he returns he finds a new place to sit for the day and then leaves again that night. We are not allowed to touch Chimney because he will lose his Christmas magic and not be able to fly back to see Santa. We can talk to Chimney but he is not allowed to talk to us. He first appeared on our Christmas tree (click on the picture to enlarge it and you'll see Chimney in the top of the tree). Nicholas found him quickly that morning and started telling him all about his Christmas wish list.



He has also appeared on the kitchen clock...



And in a decorative stocking hanging in our bathroom...



We love Chimney! Nicholas loves to jump out of bed each morning and run around the house trying to find him. Stuart and I love him because Nicholas knows that Chimney is watching so he's on his best behavior so Santa hears only good things about him. Last year Nicholas had a lot of questions about Santa Claus and Chimney and he really seemed to be doubting the whole idea of Christmas magic. But this year he is fully into it and hasn't had any questions or shown any signs of disbelief. I hope he can hold on to that magical belief a little longer :)

Daddy and Rachel worked on fixing some lights on our Christmas garland. Rachel loves all of the lights and colored ornaments and even the Santa hat!





I love Christmas! I love being surrounded by lights, garland, the tree, little Santas and snowmen around the house, and Christmas music playing during dinner. But most of all I love the special time with family. The fun the four of us have together but also spending time with our parents, siblings, and their families. What a joyous time of year!

Staying Warm Inside

It's so cold here that Rachel and I stayed home today just to keep warm. Rachel had fun wearing a warm hat and doing her usual exploring around the house.





Next to the playroom, I have a bookcase of educational-type toys and books. Every day Rachel has to go over to the bookcase and pull off books, just because she can. There is always a mess to clean up but she is having fun and learning how to manipulate things in her environment.







Rachel loves to carry things on her arm like a purse. She sees me carry a purse and diaper bag, big brother carries his school backpack, and Daddy carries his laptop bag to work every day. Of course, she just wants to imitate us. So she picks up anything with a handle and goes about her business with it hanging on her arm. Sometimes she carries around 2 or 3 bags on her arm.





"Mama, why are you taking a picture of me with hat hair?"

What's Inside?

Rachel loves her "What's Inside?" box that Grandmother C. sent her for her birthday. It's a cute little fabric box that comes with 8 little plush toys like a sailboat, octopus, and rocket ship.



The toys are in the box but the way the box is designed, the child can't easily see what's in the box so it encourages them to explore their curiosity and reach in and feel the textures of the toys as they pull them out. I love anything that encourages children to focus attention on one of their five seneses. But this toy also encourages curiosity, deductive and imaginative thinking, as well as object permanence (an object is still there even if I can't see it).





But it has so many other uses as well. Sometimes it also makes for nice teething toy.



Or a pretend purse.



Rachel loves this box and even kisses the little plush toys inside. Notice Stuart's surprised face in the background. Rachel doesn't give us kisses very often but she likes to kiss her toys. Little stinker!



I had seen this toy a few years ago while working in our church nursery. But at the time I thought Nicholas was getting too old for it so we never got it for him. Little did I know that age 5 he would still enjoy playing with it.

Snow!

Our first snow of the season! We had heard last night on the news that there might be a few flurries this morning. When I looked out the window at 7:00 am the ground just looked wet and there was no sign of snow. But by 7:30 when we were leaving the house to go to school, it was snowing pretty hard. I let Nicholas play in it for a while then I decided that we were having too much fun to go to school - yes, I'm a bad (but fun) Mommy. So we stayed and played with snowballs.



Look at that smiling face!





Nicholas still loves to eat snow although this time he didn't lick it off of everything like he usually does.



It was fun seeing all of the snow accumulate although it never got really thick.



But it was enough to make snow angels!



Even the little angel came out to play. She was all bundled up in her snow suit and it was so puffy that she couldn't sit up on her own. Nicholas held her up for this picture but as soon as he stood up Rachel flopped over backwards.



Rachel couldn't sit or stand well in the snow. She was unfamiliar with this big puffy snowsuit. But amazingly she smiled the whole time and never got fussy about the cold wet stuff we plopped her down in so early in the morning.



Unfortunately the snow didn't last very long and as the temperatures warmed up it just turned to rain. So back to responsible mom mode, I took him to school. He wasn't sad though. He couldn't wait to tell his friends how much fun he had playing in the snow.

Hard Hats Required In Construction Zone

Rachel plays with Nicholas' toys as much as her own. She loves his little tool bench and today I found her wearing his Tonka hard hat. She's been hammering and playing at the tool bench all morning.