Skål with Grandma Laine!

In case the video doesn't explain, this is the swedish version of "cheers!" Elara and Grandma had a laughing fit while "drinking" and playing!

suitable for framing

At the beginning of any visit, I tend to be more focused on getting shots of whatever action is happening. Pictures of people playing, places we go to, trouble my children have gotten into. But as the visit starts to wind down, I find myself trying to make sure I've gotten "the shot." You know, the one where everyone is smiling, looking at the camera, and close to each other. You need both kinds of pictures to really tell the story. I love how in these pictures both Z and E have on the new outfits Grandma bought them during (one of) our trips to Kohl's. Thanks Grandma Laine!

SpunkE

Oh little girl, how you test me! You are equal parts best friend and nemesis. Full of spunk and drama and attitude, you know how to push my buttons when you feel like it. But you also are really good at the warm and fuzzies.

Since birth you have known the exact moment when I am drifting off to sleep, and take that opportunity to need me for something. 

You have gorgeous hair, that you never want me to brush or style. 

Getting dressed in the morning is a battle, and even when i think I've won, I'll come around the corner and find you half undressed, and pulling on a new pair of pants. 

You say nilla (vanilla), got-for (forgot), no-man (snowman) and have a bigger vocabulary than I can keep up with. 

You regularly tell me that you ride on a pink school bus, and would give anything to get on the bus with Zachary in the morning. 

You named your baby dolls: big baby, little baby, and tiny baby. 

You sometimes call me Mommy, instead of Momma. 

You wake up with the sunshine, raring to go, and hungry. But there's a good chance that after your 5 course breakfast, you'll only nibble a little for the rest of the day. 

Brushing your teeth is one of your favorite things to do, unless I try to help, then you're over it. 

You think coffee is the best thing in the world, even though you know you can't have it. But if Momma has it, of course it's amazing. (thank goodness for coffee milk!)

You want to play whatever Zachary is playing, and do whatever Zachary does. You'll even sit at the table and do "homework" with him.

The past three weeks we've read the same two books every nap time and bedtime. You Are My I Love You, and I Love You Stinky Face. For weeks before that, it was always Moo, Baa, La La La, and Oh My Oh My Oh Dinosaur. But Daddy has to read the Pirate book, and Zachary has to read Bambi. 

Already you love to talk on the phone. Anytime I get a call, you are in my face trying to figure out who it is, and whether I'll hand over the phone.

You'd go to gymnastics every day if I took you, and you're always up for a dance party.

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is still a favorite, but sometimes if another show is on, you'll tell me it isn't over, and we can watch Mickey Mouse later. 

You stomp your feet and cross your arms like a teenager. 

No way can I fit all of your personality into one blog post, but this is a start. Maybe if you hadn't woken me up with the sun this morning, I'd stay up a little later working on this. But I know you'll be up early again tomorrow morning, and I still have to recover from today. Love you princess stinky face.

Wanna Build a No-maaan?

No these aren't blizzard pictures--this was a little bit of snow we got one day while Zachary was at school one day. It was light and fluffy, and although my kids have been desperate to build a snowman or have a snowball fight, we couldn't have mooshed this snow into anything. But don't worry, Elara had no problem eating the snow. 

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Warm and Cozy and Cute

With the blizzard that blew in yesterday (pictures of the blizzard will eventually show up on the bog, I promise) these pictures look particularly cozy. Grandma is under a blanket, Elara is snuggled up in her new Sophia jammies, and the Christmas lights are glowing warmly in the background. They were busy admiring all the pictures grandma has on her phone. Elara especially loves seeing the pictures of her and Zachary as babies.

twinkly lights

We were a little busy on Christmas proper to snag very many pictures of the kids and the tree--at least not holding still. Elara wasn't going to let that stand for long. She was absolutely in love with the oynaments, and the twinkly lights. So before it was time to take the Christmas stuff down, she paused long enough for a few pictures Both kids were also happy to pull out all our Christmas themed singing/dancing stuffed animals. We even had a mouse that belonged to Mame!

leaf me alone

Looking at our backyard, you would have no idea that we had already raked up all the leaves once earlier in the season. We should have gotten to round two sooner than we did, but weather, travel plans and holidays all got in the way. So we finally, and by we, I mostly mean Paul, got around to raking over the shutdown. And--just in time, by the end of the day, we were raking up the last corner of the yard in a nice little snow shower.