team work

it is incredible – the last 2 play dates nicole and I have had with our kiddos charlie and addison have played the entire time without ANY FIGHTS!! this might not seem like a big deal to anyone but nicole and me, but we have literally been managing them since they were about 12 months old.  they love each other so much and have so much fun together, but it is hard to share toys and work together and it takes time to be able to really play together (a brief 2.5 years – note to self). last week, nicole came over with addison and cayden and once they arrived charlie and addison did one lap running around upstairs then ran downstairs and instantly began playing trains. they played perfectly the entire time. once becca (who had also joined the party) mentioned seeing if the boys wanted to come up and eat – nicole and I quickly said “no! they will come up when they are hungry. we don’t want to interrupt them”. sure enough, when they were hungry they ran upstairs, sat and chowed down 2 pieces of pizza and then ran back down to play until it was time to go. epic.

here they are working together to get a super long train through the tracks. I also have to give charlie some props. he has been FANTASTIC about sharing. he knows addison loves the train called kevin and before addison comes over he will go find kevin and give it to addison when he comes in to play. it has been delightful to watch him enjoy sharing his things with a friend.

I know what you are thinking – who engineered such a fantastic track? me – that’s who. guess I can add train track engineer to my list of careers now too.

now nicole and I are working with cayden, ellie and claire on sharing and playing nicely. and so it begins.

the perfect please

claire does not just say the word please (“peess”) she really SAYS please with the arm curl. the arm curl is more important that actually saying please for claire.  it is awesome. the best part is she totally made this up. she even shows ellie how to do it too.

a typical scenario. me – “claire, can you say please?” claire – does a big arm curl and waits. then when I ask again she will say “peees”, but makes sure she keeps the arm curl.  

we love your creativity kindercare!

friends, buddies, bubba and besties

our weeks are flying by and we are loving hanging out with our….

bubba

cuddling before nap.

our besties – becca who is 39 weeks pregnant. claire and ellie can’t wait to meet baby hubanks.

 

becca was cracking claire up.

claire found charlie’s clean underwear and loved putting them on her head and running around.

more besties, friends and buddies- nicole, cayden and addison came over for a lunch playdate. we love being with the dufendachs and of course I don’t have one picture of nicole from this playdate. but I do have some of claire and cayden having scuffles on the bench over cars and space. now that addison and charlie are happily playing downstairs we are upstairs managing the cayden and the girls (well usually just making sure ellie or claire don’t take all of cayden’s toys away).

addison and charlie at lunch.

love these two together.

HANDSOME boys!

then a silly picture.

we are so blessed here with with great friends. I can’t even think about saying goodbyes yet. 

footsie

the girls play footsie and giggle every time they are in their high chairs (and facing each other). it is so sweet.

here they are reading together too. so sweet these two. e & c.

ready for skiing!

after nap on saturday we decked out the girls in their random ski gear to make sure they would survive the winter. they look a little like hillbillies, but are going to rip down the mountain this year (or at least that is the hope).

the second they see their ski gear both ellie and claire start nodding their heads up and down and making sweet noises, which is their sign that they are eager to put on the gear. when they don’t want to do something they DEFINITELY let you know.

claire with her boots on. she was practicing her tuck and walking in her boots. they are still so tiny (maybe 21.5 lbs) it is crazy they can even get around with all of the snow gear and heavy boots on.

 

ellie was obviously worried about being left out. she was hauling her boots over for bill to put them on.

claire was just going to push her stroller a bit with her boots on while ellie got her on. I had to stop that for fear the tree would soon be tipped over.

 

 

then claire got clicked into her skis.

ellie waited patiently for her turn.

and she’s ready!

our two little ski bunnies. they look hysterical! ellie is in pink.

 

practicing her tuck. then ready for ride across the living room powered by daddy.

ellie was pouting while claire finished up her ride.

the practice ride includes pushing them down the hallway and then you pick them up and turn them around and come back.

 

loving it.

ellie’s turn! daddy needed a break so I had to take over.

 

these two girls had a blast and loved having their skis on. I can’t wait to see what they actually do when they get on snow for the first time.

chopping the christmas tree down 2012

today we got our 2012 christmas tree. bill claims it is our best tree yet and I agree. we usually go to get our tree the weekend after thanksgiving, but bill is on call next week and weekend so we decided to take advantage of the beautiful day and go today. I am SO glad we did – I might even suggest we start it as a new tradition. and since I am usually someone who takes down the tree december 26th (maybe even the evening of the 25th – by that point I am so sick of the needles) it is kind of fun to have it up early.

on our way to enzenhauer evergreens for the last time. next year at christmas we will be getting a tree in NZ and probably in summer clothes!

claire happy. bill weird.

  

we arrived and the kids were stunned.

I thought charlie was so cute checking out this little tree. just his size. 

 

the tractor was moving around and charlie (and the girls) were enjoying just watching it.

taking off to go find a tree!

I love it when he wears his daddy’s old hat.

ellie and bill taking off to find the tree.

 

charlie loved roaming around, finding sticks and hitting things. all boy that kid.

 

you might wonder where kindercare is…on my back! she saw the ergo and asked for a ride. I love when they ride on my back.

it was so nice just letting the kids run around. nothing to break. only dirt to play in and eat.

ellie running free.

claire was happy holding onto my hand.

heading up to the big grouping of trees where bill was sure we would find our tree. bill wanted that massive tree he is standing in front of. I was scared because that would never have fit in our house. instead we went with the third tree back on the right.

bill assessing the tree. it is it!

bill with his kids.  claire is in the middle and was reluctant.

 

claire ejecting as usual.

my crew. poor ellie took her hair clip out so her hair is in her eyes the whole time.

 

choppin’ time!

lots of curious littles.

notice claire has a stick. she loves copying charlie.

so excited the tree is down!

 

claire imitating charlie hitting the tree.

she was even roaring a bit.

bill explaining tree rings to charlie.

 

then they counted the rings. our tree is 10 years old (and bill confirmed it with the dude who owns the place).

what a handsome boy!

claire holding bill’s hand because she was a bit worried about the tractors.

c watching the tree bailer.

claire watching how the tree gets on top of our car.

eleanore.

 

oh no! a tractor! ellie had my hand so claire grabbed my watch.

enjoying the traditional hot chocolate in the trunk.

love this of c and the girls.

almost everyone looking.

mmmm. marshmallows!

ellie.

claire giving me her fish face on the way home.

once we got home and had the girls strapped into their chairs for lunch we brought in the tree and the kid’s nativity set. charlie was SOOO excited! it is so fun watching him remember things about last year (or at least what we reminded him of or he saw in pictures) and be excited about it.

we picked a new spot for our tree this year. i'm excited for a change.

charlie put a few ornaments on before nap. he was so excited about putting them on so we did the rest of them tonight once the girls went to bed.

before bed the girls were already getting more adventurous with the tree.

ellie REALLY wanting to touch the giraffe.

claire was goofing and crouching low and inching towards the tree.

nice try kinder.

it’s done! notice anything funny here? yep – only put ornaments on the top half of the tree to try and avoid breakage from the badgers (and c).

I forgot to take pictures of charlie helping us put the ornaments up, but he helped with every one. we actually some in our boxes this year because of only using half the tree. it was sweet with charlie helping though because he wanted to talk through where each of the ornaments came from. he also wanted to “help” hang them all up, which got harder to manage the higher up they had to be. let’s just pray that the girls continue to be respectful of the tree. I am hoping it doesn’t become a climbing gym.  the schmitt family is ready to celebrate Christ’s birth!