Christmas!

On the mad dash up to Christmas day this year there was much fun to be had and goodies to be eaten. Unfortunately, no snow. It was a brown Christmas... to that I say pppptttthhhhhhhhh!!!!! Oh well, it was still a lot of fun, and I'm sure that we'll get our fill of old man winter here in a week or two. 

The last couple of weeks were filled with Christmas programs, Christmas parties and Christmas cookies... did I mention that there were goodies to be eaten? The Preschool had a nice program and it's fun to see the kids try so hard to show off the songs and gestures they've learned. I asked the girls to sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" in between songs, but they wisely declined to do so. After the program we had cookies.

The Mom's of Multiples club featured a early visit from Santa... and we ate cookies.

Krista and the girls made a Gingerbread house... on an unrelated note, someone brought cookies to work.

Christmas Eve we went over to Erma and Kevin's house so the girls could exchange presents. I seem to remember cookies being present; nope, we had cheesecake. We got home and just missed "Santa" flying thru the skies of Billings. After the girls went to sleep, Krista wrapped the last of the presents and then we started assembly of their doll house. As we drifted off to sleep I still had visions of screwdrivers dancing in my head.

Christmas Morning came @ 0700. I'm betting that this is the last time we get to "sleep in" for the next 10 years! It was a flurry of activity as the girls went about the task of determining what presents were theirs, comparing with their sisters and then maybe playing for a moment before setting off to the next gift. The doll house was a big hit as was just about every My Little Pony that was opened. Clothes, games and puzzles rounded out the gift giving. Not loosing sight of the "Big Picture" when asked at Dinnertime, "who gave us Christmas" Audrey, Madison and Zoie responded "God gave us Christmas". Somewhere an athiest that drank a can of Red Bull lost his wings.

Zoie the Bag Lady

Madison "PEEK A BOO!"

Audrey w/Mom's shoes

Not sure what's happening here.

filing in for the Christmas program at their Preschool/Church.

"Take me out to the Ballgame..." sing it with me!

nice program and a wonderful message

This is the house Babes made

future architect Madison

The girls were happy to announce that their house is completely recyclable... NOMS!

Waiting patiently for the gift giving to commence.

mine!?! mine!?! mine!?! mine!?!

Twas the night Before Christmas...

They were much more adept at ripping the paper off this year.

Zoie probably took more time opening her presents than the other two.

Princess Celestia, probably Audrey's favorite present.

They each received a pony in a purse from Grammy.

A purse AND a pony!?!

It's sooo fluffy!

hello... where's my cookies!

Deck the Halls!

As is Christmas tradition we went out in search of the perfect tree. I chose one, Krista chose one so the tiebreaker went to the girls. The girls chose my tree, so I took them out to dinner (bribery is awesome). We stopped on the way home to reattach the tree that was now trying to ride sidesaddle on the Excursion. I said to Krista, remind me not to pull under the carport as we would probably slice the tree in half. I got distracted and dang near did it anyhow, good thing the anti-lock brakes work! A few days later we moved the tree inside and started decorating. The girls were pretty excited about the festivities, plus they all got a 'My Little Pony' Pinkie Pie ornament to put on the tree and for the icing on the cake, Krista had finished up their new fancy dresses.

Pinkie Pie ornaments!!

Birds-eye view of the decorating process.

Hams in their new dresses

Group hug!

Not exactly sure what that face is.

Girls and Santa

Audrey loves her waffles... this time starting with the middle.

Christmas memories

The short Christmas chronology picks up in 2002 with a picture of me and Opus. He looks so happy being made to wear some reindeer antlers (NOT!) This was in our little 2 bedroom house which was then on the outskirts of Glendale. A couple years later a picture of a little Christmas tree in the same house. On to 2005, having dinner at my brother Bret and his wife Janet's house. That is my late aunt Fern, she hated to have her picture taken, but was always a good sport about it. 2008, babies 1st Christmas at my parent's house. We had only been in Billings for about a month at this point. 2009 we didn't put too many ornaments on the bottom of the tree, and last year the ornaments that were within the reach of little hands were mainly plastic.  

 

2002

2004

2005

Zoie and Dad 2008

Girls and Mom 2008

2009

2010

Piano Duet

I know there isn't much here... I'll try and get some new pix up this week.

Halloween day

The last post should have been entitled "Halloween Weekend"... oh well. Halloween started of with, appropriately enough, a trip to the dentist!

Why did the guru refuse Novocaine when he went to his dentist?
He wanted to transcend dental medication.

It was the girls 1st trip to the dentist, just a routine checkup and gentle cleaning. They did really well and there were no major concerns for their teeth.

Audrey is ready for some X-Rays

Zoie, relaxing in the big chair.

Madison was checking out the equipment.

Sparkly teeth!

...and the best part, a PRIZE for being so good!

Then it was off to Trick or Treat at the YMCA, they had a little haunted hallway. Zoie would have run thru there about 50 times if we would have let her. Audrey was a little less enthusiastic about it, but still enjoyed it. For Madison, about twice thru was good enough for her.

Madison thought it looked like Jack from Nightmare Before Christmas.

Zoie didn't want Jack to hold her.

Audrey just though it was funny.

Decorations in the stairway at the YMCA.

The girls and "Whyatt" from Super Why, playing with the dancing/singing skeleton.

Finally the payoff, Trick or Treating with Erma, Dani and MacKenzie in their neighborhood. The girls (2 bees and 3 ladybugs) had fun going from house to house and all in all it was a pretty mild night... I remember more than once trick or treating in the snow.

Trick or Treat!

I thought all the little jack-o-lanterns were awesome.

what a fun night!

 

Halloween!

How can you make a Jack-o-lantern stop smoking?

Make him wear a pumpkin patch!

We took a trip to Red Lodge to visit the Nature Center (Lynx, Lamas and Bears, oh my!). It was fun, not exactly the Cincinnati Zoo, but it was fun. The animals are mainly wild critters that were injured or sick. We got to see a bear making its hibernation den. The wolves, foxes, and a bobcat were all pretty active and running around. Afterwards we had lunch and drove up the road to Hell Roaring Plateau. We stopped about half-way up and played in the clouds.

Timber sprites.

Roads? Where we're going we don't need roads!

Emerging from the clouds.

Back to the stream

A breathtaking view, even when the visibility is low.

Say: "DADDY DON"T THROW ME IN THE WATER!"

Now a montage of Halloween-time photos: The girls had a short program at their Preschool along with Trunk-or-Treating and pumpkin decorating. Then Saturday they went to a local Assisted Living facility with the Mom's of Multiples group to do reciprocating treating. The girls handed out Krista's homemade Oatmeal/Cranberry cookies and got some candy and smiles in return. 

Zoie's pumpkin with beady eyes and a big smile.

Madison has chosen the big eyes and Mona Lisa-esque smile.

Audrey went all out on hers.

 When asked what kind of face is on your pumpkin?

 When asked what kind of face is on your pumpkin?

 When asked what kind of face is on your pumpkin?

Getting ready to hit the nursing home.

trick or treat... I SAID TRICK OR TREAT!!

Brightening the day.

We had a fun day!

 

The End.