elfie

Neeley and Kayla wrote a letter to Santa and put it under the tree.  They explained how all of their friends had an elf on the shelf but they didn't.  Much to their surprise there was an elf under the tree the next morning and we appropriately named him "Elfie".  He came alive each night and did some pretty crazy things.  He beach bathed in the bath tub, made snow angels in the sugar and snow flakes with the q-tips, toilet papered the Christmas tree, left treats and all sorts of other mischievous things.  We all hope he comes back next year!

Festivities

Experiencing the holiday season in Arizona is a whole new ball game.  Since it is so hot in the summer all of the cities do their parades in December.  And WE LOVE PARADES!  So it makes the holidays way more festive.  The way we are bundled up you would think we were in sub zero temps but really it wasn't much colder than about 55/60 degrees.  I guess you could say we have Arizona blood now.  Visiting the lights at a different temple was really fun too.  Here they make lights look like flowers and rain drops.  That's why Kate is standing under the palm tree with her mouth open.  It was to catch the rain drops.  It was magical to experience Christmas time in a whole new place with new adventures and new traditions to form.  And who says there is no snow in Phoenix.  I have proof from this pile of snow in a parking lot I saw one day.  I think it was left over from an activity a business had done earlier that day with fake snow.  And that's how I like snow.....fake!

Paradigm Shift

Have you ever had the definition to a word drastically change for you in life?  My entire life the word winter has had the same meaning.  As long as I can remember, winter was: snow, cold, grey skies, snowmen, coats, hats, gloves, snowflakes, bitter, biting cold, sleds, slick roads, heaters, wind, staying indoors, miserable... and the list can go on like this forever.  The onset of cold meant Halloween was near.  The first snow meant Thanksgiving was around the corner.  Biting cold was a signal of Christmas.  And grey skies in January meant months of depression.

For me the definition of the word winter has officially changed.  It's a paradigm shift of what reality now is!  This year winter changed to blue skies, warm air, back doors left open all day, snap dragons and purple pansies, ducks at the pond, lush green winter grass, kids playing outside for hours on end wearing nothing more than a jacket, parades, out door swimming pools (heated of course), leisurely walks, picnics, hikes in the mountains, months and months of the kind of weather that requires no heater or air conditioner.   Thanksgiving came with a feeling of appreciation and thanks, not the snow.  Christmas arrived by the spirit of giving, not biting cold.  And January brought feelings of joy and anticipation for the coming months rather than grey skies of depression.  It's a paradigm shift so great you couldn't possibly imagine unless you experience it first hand.  I feel as if we are wild desert flowers, finally having found the right soil on which to thrive!

Play Group!

Kate hates to be left out of anything.  That's why when the girls are all at school she is beside herself not knowing what to do!  Thank goodness for preschool that takes up three mornings a week and play group that takes up another day.  When it was our turn to host I just couldn't resist making a fun snack.  Although I think it might of been too cute because they all wanted to save it to show their moms instead of eating it.  In the end they did all eat it because who could resist toast, hot cocoa and a marshmellow dipping stick?  Glad to have lots of play mates and glad that our school just started an all day Kindergarten program.  One more year of long days without sisters to entertain to go.  Then my baby is off to the big K!  Miss her yes, excited for a new chapter of motherhood...for sure!

Don't Eat a Poinsettia!

I just love seeing my girls sing.  I think it all started back when Kayla was little.  Way back when we called her LaLa.  She loved to belt out any song she had heard and knew every word to any song after she had heard it just a few times.  She still is that way today only a little more shy about belting it out to just about anyone.  Kate sure takes after her in that sense.  Kate doesn't sing any song... no matter what or where she belts out a gutsy performance.  This Christmas we got to attend three different concerts to see the girls all perform.  They each had perfect performances, but my favorite has to be "Don't Eat A Poinsette (or you might regretta and getta tummy ache!) sang by Kate at her preschool concert.  You can see in the picture above just how serious she belted it out, especially compared to the other kids.

Deck the halls!

One of our favorite traditions: Decorating the tree the weekend before Thanksgiving!  Yes I said before Thanksgiving.  This tradition started when we lived in Las Vegas and would go home for Christmas.  If we wanted to enjoy our decorations we had to put them up early.  And for some reason the tradition stuck.  It's a good thing because now living in AZ we go home for Christmas too!  It's fun to go down memory lane and see the girls get excited with each thing we pull out of the box!