Learning to Ride

Nana, Papa, and Tia arrived yesterday just in time for dinner.  Mikayla showed her love and gratitude for them coming up by giving everyone some "sugah".

Today, we took the girls over to the school across the street so they could show Papa their bike riding skills.  Hey, maybe we will get the training wheels off before next Christmas!!  They got the stop and go down to a tee now.  All I have to say is THANK YOU for helmets!!  Delilah had her first fall today and although it was a small fall (turning a corner a little too fast), when she fell, her helmet hit the ground.  But with the help of her Papa, she was right back on the bike and going full speed ahead!

Here is Papa chasing Mikayla with Delilah in the background.
Papa giving Delilah a little push.
Mikayla so proud of her big girl bike.
Delilah so proud of her big girl bike.

Happy Birthday Jesus!!

Merry Christmas!!  It is so amazing to see how the joy of Christmas is increased with the innocence of children.  The girls woke up and ran into our room asking if Santa came yet.  We had them run out to see and Delilah was fixated for the next 15 minutes on where Santa was - saying he was lost or stuck in the chimney.  We had to keep reassuring her that Santa was back home in the North Pole sleeping because he was tired from all the houses he visited during the night.  They both loved seeing the trail of "snow" left from the fireplace to the Christmas tree. Mikayla was a little overwhelmed by opening the presents and not being able to play with them right away so next year, we will probably break up the present-opening throughout the morning.  But they were truly blessed with many wonderful gifts from friends and family.   

Here... Mikayla and Delilah on their new bikes from Nana and Papa with their new protective gear from auntie Neitra. This was an interesting experience, teaching them to ride a bike that they can't pedal backwards anymore (or it makes them brake). But they started getting the hang of it.

Mikayla in some of her new dress up from Grandma (as Cinderella)

Delilah in some of her new dress up... as Snow White

Nana, Papa, and Tia are coming the day after Christmas so we held off on doing the official Christmas dinner at home. We went over to our friends, Mike and Brenna's house for dinner. The girls were excited when we got out of the car because there was a real snowman on their front yard (in Roseville!). Guess Santa drops off snow every Christmas eve for their twin boys to play in. Fortunately, it was so cold throughout the day that snow was still left, allowing the girls to throw a couple of snow balls at each other and at Daddy.

And our yearly picture with the pajamas that Santa left all of us. We attempted a entire family picture with the dog too... but Popcorn decided not to cooperate very well with the first one!

"I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus"

It is Christmas Eve and the girls are decorating cookies for Santa Claus.  Of course, they had to taste them to make sure they wouldn't make Santa sick.

After making cookies, we watched Polar Express and drank hot chocolate.  
Delilah shares her hot chocolate with Daddy.
Girls giving Christmas love to the baby.
Girls putting cookies and milk out for Santa Claus before heading to bed.

What's for Christmas Dinner?

While we were enjoying our Saturday before Christmas, we were figuring out what to have for our Christmas dinner.  Lo and behold.... our Christmas dinner was walking in our front yard - hurry... let's get the b-b gun!!  (just kidding animal lovers!! We wouldn't really eat wild turkey anyway - too gamey!)  But Popcorn made a run for them when we were all outside watching them.  Fortunately, she listens to us and we got her back inside before she attempted to have her Christmas dinner early.

"Sweet Dreams Are Made of These..."

Okay - so that isn't a Christmas song but it had to do with sweets!!  Today, Mikayla made a cake all by herself.  Delilah was having a tough day so she just watched but she will help make cookies for Santa on Monday.  

Here are Mikayla and Delilah painting their Christmas cakes.  Crayola came out with a cake thing this year that kids get to paint (of course, using edible paints) the decorations on their Christmas tree.
Mikayla with her finished product... proudly showing Daddy her work.
The girls enjoying the cake!
After all of the sugar rush ended, they went peacefully asleep.  Delilah hugging her Pluto.
Mikayla just hugging her blankie.
A silent night for all....

2 Weeks and 1 Day....

Only 15 days left till D Day.  After seeing my doctor on Monday, she said I am now going to be the first scheduled surgery that morning so it will be an early morning or a late night - whichever you want to look at it as.  Everything is looking good.  My cervix is still long, closed, and high up there.  I am softening (20% effaced) but she said that is typical at this stage.  

I still can't believe we have made it this far.  It is such a miracle and I remind myself of that when my ribs are hurting, my back is uncomfortable, and I am playing with my water-retained ankles (which is actually quite entertaining - making designs that stay there for a few seconds before they bounce back to the swollen cankles!)

"Away In A Manger..."

We received cute little gifts from our preschool teachers yesterday at the last day of school till 2008.  We got ornaments with the cutest pictures of our angels in them as well as some pictures of the kids dressed up for nativity scenes.  Mikayla was a proud girl shepherd (as she called it) and Delilah was a little upset that she wasn't Mary but still wore the wise man's crown well.

On another preschool note that was quite cute.... we were getting ready for our last day of preschool in 2007 when Mikayla mentioned how "so-and-so" isn't nice cause she says Don't Play With Me.  So I told Mikayla that it isn't nice to say that because it does hurt people's feelings and why doesn't she play with someone else if that person says that.  Mikayla sat there and thought for a moment and then said "I know who I will play with.... Delilah!  I like playing with Delilah!"  I would only hope she likes playing with her sister... but it was so touching to hear her love for her sister come out like that.

"Silent Night"

At MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers), the 3's and 4's had been practicing a couple of songs to sing at our Christmas meeting.  So most of our meeting was done and we were just waiting on the lil' ones to come in.  I had my video camera ready to tape Mikayla and Delilah singing with the other kids (or at least standing there).  The door opens and the line of kids start winding through the room.  One kid yelled "Hi Mom!"  Next thing I knew, Mikayla and Delilah were looking for me.  Delilah found me and yelled Hi and waved and kept walking... Mikayla found me and ran over to me and started crying.  So for the next 8 minutes, she was attached to my leg and wouldn't go sing in the front with the other kids.  But Delilah walked right on up.  I couldn't get videotape of her singing for two reasons... 1) The lady "conducting" them was right in front of me so I would have just had her behind in most of the video and 2) Mikayla wasn't letting me move around easily to get a good video of Delilah.  Oh well, at least some of my friends got some pics.  

Ha Got Ya!!

So I have actually had two people comment on the blog titles! :-) I thought I was being clever. hee hee

This one is exempt from the December blog titling due to the nature of it. I just got the girls' class pics back. We didn't do any individual ones this year but did want the class pic so here it is...

"It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas..."

We went to our Mother's of Multiples holiday party and the girls had a blast making crafts, decorating cookies, eating, and hanging out with Santa.


After taking pictures, I all of a sudden realized... I look as big as I feel!!

"Here Comes Santa Claus..."

So we decided to brave the malls on a Friday morning - thinking it wouldn't be bad - but oh no... all the stay-at-home moms obviously thought the same thing!! :-) After waiting one hour in what looked like a short line, the girls finally got to see Santa and tell him Merry Christmas. Mikayla definitely has the innocence about her with Christmas now. It is so cute and makes me smile even when I am upset that they had been fighting all morning long. As we were leaving to go see Santa, Mikayla said, "Santa is going to bring me some new shoes for Christmas." Now, that sounds worse than it is - Mommy and Daddy do keep new and hole-less shoes on her feet. However, she has managed to finally destroy two of her Dollar Tree dress up shoes in the last three days. Both Delilah and she loves to wear their high heels around the house. Now with only one pair left, she is hoping Santa brings her more. :-) Delilah just is still in awe of all the decorations. But both understand that Christmas is Jesus' birthday but LOVE the factor of Santa Claus (probably due to all of the tv Christmas shows).

On a different note, we have 4 weeks left till D-Day!! After meeting with my doctor this past week, it sounds like I am second in line for surgery that day so most likely, it will be an 8 am appointment (meaning be at the hospital around 6:30 am). I get more definite information at my next appointment on the 17th of December!

"Oh Christmas Tree..."

Today I test-drove a recipe from The ADVENTure of Christmas. It is such a wonderful book if you don't have it!!! Anyway, the cake I made is called a Flaming Star Tree. It is an edible representation of why we put lights on our tree. For those who don't know, Martin Luther (from the 1500s) was overwhelmed by the awesome beauty of the stars twinkling in the blackness of night that he wanted to recreate God's creation in his living area. He chopped down a small fir tree and gathered up all the candles and carefully placed them on his tree. His children's eyes suddenly opened to the meaning of Psalm 19:1: "The heavens tell of the glory of God. The skies display his marvelous craftsmanship."


So I made this sample cake to see if would come out good... and it did. The girls loved it and of course, even Daddy was amazed by it. So I will be making another one for our MOPS meeting next week. The sugar cubes were dotted with a bit of peppermint extract and then lit on fire with a match.

While making this cake, our daughters were enjoying an enchanted Christmas as Belle!!