The New and a Review

Happy New Year!

Can I just say that if my bread experience just now is any indicator...2013 is going to be a great year!

I just made bread and, for the first time, it felt right!  It felt like I knew what I was doing!  I mean, the bread may taste like sand and it may be as heavy as a brick, but kneading it felt right!  I can't explain it other than...the dough was soft and pliable...and it didn't stick to every nook and cranny of my hands (like under my nails)...and it didn't stick to the table and look like a globby science experiment...and I didn't have to use six cups of flour, but only five...and it didn't stress me out!  I mean, maybe it's because I just exerted all my stress getting my kiddos to bed.  Baby girl might have pulled out all the stress feelings my body could produce for one night as she asked to take her socks off, put them on, get a drink, get her cat--no not that one, that one!--get some chap stick, play with my hair, change her pants, play with her sister's hair...until I finally sent her to the guest room so her sister who has to get up for preschool in the morning could go to sleep!  Maybe it's that.  But, maybe, just maybe I'm getting the hang of this!  Which is no small feat considering I had seriously thought about letting the starter die this morning instead of feeding it.  Can I get a woot-woot?!?!

Ok, let me reign in my emotions.  Before I can fully embrace 2013, there are a few loose ends I need to tie up from 2012.

First and foremost, December.  This past month was full of goodness.  Full.  And I haven't even begun to cover it all in the 9 short posts I've written.  Good times.  Good memories.  Here are a few we captured in pix.  Okay, maybe more than a few, but I will not apologize.  There are good memories here.

 The day my big girl had her preschool Christmas program.  Terrible picture.  Perfect program.

And the next day...her class Christmas party, complete with pizza and a gift exchange.  She received a Polly Pockets.  And although she would never admit it, I think she was disappointed.  When we went to the store to pick out the doll she was supposed to take to give away, she picked out a big doll with a pacifier that could stay in the doll's mouth, as she stressed to whomever she described the doll; she thought that was so cool.  She was not at all interested in the small dolls like Polly Pockets; yet, that's what she got.  After they all opened gifts, she just sat and stared at it.

Here she is staring...

And here is her sister, pacifying herself while all the big kids open presents.

And, later that night, we bundled up in snow suits and went outside around 10 or 11 to watch the meteor shower.  We saw a few; they looked like shooting stars.  Seeing the meteors was easier than spotting my girls in this picture.  If you squint, cock your head, and twitch your nose three times, you just might get a glimpse of some beautiful little things lighting up the night.

The next day we had a tea party with one of big girl's "favorite friends," as she calls them.  Big girl had found a Fancy Nancy book about tea parties at our church library a long time ago.  We HAD to go and check it out again so that we could use some of the ideas for our tea party.  Such as candy bouquets...

...tissue paper flowers...

...construction paper place mats and plastic utensils bedazzled with jewels, napkins folded to look like fans, and name cards made with marshmallows...

About a week later, we traveled to my family's to celebrate Christmas.  While there, we baked up a lot of bread and some cinnamon rolls.  They were best right out of the oven; after that, I didn't really care for them.  Here they are rising..

And while we were there, we celebrated baby girl turning three.  (How much longer can I call her "baby" girl?)  She had originally asked for a Micky Mouse Clubhouse cake, but then big sister asked for a princess cake and we all know about little sisters wanting to be just like their big sisters.

And this is just too cute not to share...baby girl sleeping in her car seat on our way home.  Can you find her amid all the covers, stuffed animals, and pillows?

When we got home on Christmas eve, this was waiting at my man's office for us...from some very sweet and generous friends, indeed!

I love it!  To be honest, at first I wasn't sure.  A lot of the coffee pods are extremely strong.  But then I found a few that aren't and the convenience of making one cup of coffee at a time has rocked my world.  And, for those extremely strong coffees, I found a trick:  use my old 4-cup coffee pot to brew two large cups, using only one pod.  Then you have two perfect cups.  And tea!  I can have a cup of hot tea in seconds.  Whoever invented this thing shared my very firm belief:  life is better with a hot drink in hand.

Baby girl was still getting birthday gifts when we returned home.  Here she is putting stickers on her "sticker card," with the unneeded but welcome aid of her big sister.

Christmas day was very full.  We went from my man's dad's, to his Aunt Becky's, to his mom's, before returning home and finally letting the girls get into their stockings.  Here they are surrounded by a few of the many things they received that day.  Funny thing:  with three new electronics, an Easy-Bake oven, dolls, animals, crafts kits, and more, the thing they seemed most excited about--and you see them playing with here--were glow sticks that could be made into bracelets and necklaces.  Even Daddy had to be adorned.

And the day after Christmas, we woke up to THIS...

Baby girl's snowsuit is at least three sizes too small for her.  She wears a 3T and I really think it might be an 18 month suit or something crazy like that.  She cried when I put it on and I felt terrible, even though I am laughing now.  Once outside, she seemed to forget that the legs ended below her knees and the arms barely covered her elbows.  It kept her warm and dry and she had fun.

Making snow angels...

...and snow balls...

Unfortunately, I was sick the next day; so, even though the snow stayed on the ground, we stayed in the house.  But the day after that, when the snow started melting, I bundled them up again and sent them out without me so they could play in it one more time before it was gone.  I watched from the kitchen window and the deck, nervously.  They seemed so little and far away!

And when they came in, after having hot chocolate, they finally got to use their craft kit Ma-Ma gave them when we were at her house.

And last but not least, I thought I would offer one last laugh from 2012.  It starts by admitting something slightly embarrassing:  my girls have seen Madagascar.  After being told by someone who has a 4 year-old daughter that it was a good, clean movie that their daughter loved, we decided to let our girls watch it when it came on TV recently.

I wouldn't recommend it for preschoolers.

That admission behind me, here's the funny.  There is a part in the movie where one of the animals sings, "I like to move it, move it; I like to move it, move it; I like to move it, move it; you like to...MOVE IT!"  What do my girls remember about the movie?  This song.  They sing it all the time.  Correction:  we sing it all the time.  I've embraced the fun.  So, we were singing it a couple of nights ago and dancing around the kitchen when big girl says this:

"One day I was doing my work at school and I sang this song and Mrs. Donna said, 'Why don't you move it, move it on your paper?'"

"You were singing when you were supposed to be working?!"

"Well, I was singing while I was working.  I can sing and work at the same time."

"Maybe you can, but Mrs. Donna said something to you because your singing could disrupt the other kids."

And later, to my man, "That gives me some insight to her personality at school. Can you believe it?"

My little girl, who was too shy to even play with the other kids the whole first month of school, is now singing, "I like to move it, move it," when she is supposed to be sitting quietly and working?!  I am literally still shacking my head in disbelief.  I never knew it was in her.  And, as strange as this may sound, I love it!  She isn't afraid anymore.  She is comfortable with Mrs. Donna and her new friends.  And she is having fun.  Strangely enough, this shocking story of her classroom personality brings me joy.