leotard

Anyone with a daughter in gymnastics/ballet will know how I felt this morning when Lucy put on her leotard.... She starts next week, you can bet there will be a blog or two during the season!

santa was here...

Turns out, Lucy and Violet were on the "nice" list! Christmas day started at 6 a.m. and Lucy was shocked when Daddy brought her and her sister down the stairs.... Lucy asked Santa for a dolly and he threw in a dollhouse(and a few more goodies)...
It was a super fun day that ended with our traditional family dinner...

reindeer food

Lucy is getting ready for Santa's arrival and made reindeer food this morning! So cute!

silent night

I just watched both of my girls fall asleep to me singing 'Silent Night', what more could a mom want at Christmas time? Oh yeah, one of these.... Please join me, pour yourself the biggest glass of wine and enjoy this last week of Christmas. I am not getting caught up in "getting done," this year, I am going to soak up every moment of the tree glowing, the music, holiday recipes, Christmas movies and let everything else just be. I am sure my husband will be nodding his head reading this, since just about every day he comes home to the house looking like a tornado with Christmas carols blasting and some sort of baking going on. He probably thinks I have gone crazy...maybe I have, maybe that's why I need the wine, or maybe I am just soaking up the Christmas spirit and trying to spread some. Hmmm, as I type, I have figured out my main reason for all this....
My mom is 5,000 miles away this Christmas in Romania where they are gathering around the tree telling stories of Jesus' birth, reminding their kids to clean their boots for Father Christmas, roasting a pig (Ignatius.) In Romania, the Christmas gifts are sweets, fruit, nuts and pastries. The most important part of the holiday is Christmas caroling with the village. Can you imagine all this? Just today I had a TWENTY minute conversation with my husband about returning a doll to Target because I didn't think it was the right one that Lucy wants from Santa and he phoned me on location to figure out which one to bring home! Seriously, she is TWO...guess I AM caught up in some of the wrong US traditions. So tonight after I sang silent night and watched my two angels fall asleep, I decided to remind myself, (and all of you,) a little of what we are SUPPOSE to be enjoying during this season. I miss my mom, but I am so thankful that she is there with family, being surrounded by that kind of love that sometimes is no where to be found in this country. The wine has taken effect, tears are flowing, good night all, Merry Christmas.

Christmas came early!

Violet asked Santa for her, "two front teeth," and SURPRISE, Christmas came early! Our sweet girl woke up this morning with a new tooth starting!

Christmas spirit

TEN days until Christmas! My Lucy has more Christmas spirit than most adults, it is so fun. Tonight she found this Santa hat and wore it around the house saying, "ho ho ho!"
Hope these pictures spread some cheer! Is your shopping done??

Christmas on the Cove

Last Saturday(yes, I am just now blogging) was our annual "Christmas on the Cove" evening at our house. We did a throwback and went vintage on our clothing, decorations and desserts. As you can see from our sweaters, it was hilarious and fun. The evening was awesome, especially with our gin slushies, personal chef and grandparents putting all the kids to bed, yippeee!

gingerbread tree

PARENTS...forget the gingerbread house...go with the tree this year, it stacks and they decorate! LOVE IT!

cookies and cocktails

Today we had our day of baking cookies with friends, it is one of my favorite days. This the kids did some decorating too, so fun. I always leave feeling like we are the lucky ones getting to bring home Erin's date pinwheels, YUM!
Oh and those fancy cookie presses don't work like they do on t.v.!!

reading

I HAD to post this picture! When my mom was here, she recorded a book for the girls, Violet just loves it.