First Snowfall

Cincinnati got a little snow this weekend. The perfect amount actually - just enough to play in, but not enough to mess up traffic or cause any real inconvenience. Learning from last year's "it's too late in the season and Target is out of snow pants" episode, I have had the girl's snow gear ready to go since early November. We bundled them up and took them in the backyard to frolic! Maggie absolutely loved building the snowman, while Claire preferred being pulled in the sled. Fun times!

Bundled up and ready to go!

Frosty (sitting on top of the tree stump)

Maggie's Preschool Christmas Show

There are many things I love about staying home with the girls, but never missing a preschool party is certainly one of the top. Maggie's class put on quite a show for us, singing three songs with hand motions and all! After the show, we made a candy cane ornament together and shared some Christmas cookies. Such fun!

"Here is the chimney. Here is the top.
Open the lid and out Santa will pop!"

Jingle Bells

Spreading some Christmas cheer

In the Spirit

We are in the Christmas spirit around here! We've been enjoying all the family-friendly holiday events Cincinnati has to offer. So far, our December has included, a trip to the Duke Energy building downtown to view the historic train display, breakfast with Santa at the Sharonville Community Center, and a (out-way-past-bedtime) trip to the zoo for the Festival of Lights.

Maggie is very excited to participate in all the rituals of the season, including opening the tab on the Advent calendar and lighting the Advent wreath at dinner. The only available surface to display the Nativity is on a bookshelf in the girls' playroom, so as you can imagine, the BVM, Shepherds and Baby Jesus quickly became action figures moving about the shelf and welcoming various other animals into the stable. Claire has started singing along to "Frosty the Snowman" and loves all the lights and ornaments on the tree.

The girls' enthusiasm is contagious! I have enjoyed decorating the house this year, knowing that I'll spend many Christmases here. Our fireplace was serviced and is now in working order. Jim revved up the chain saw and has prepared our Yule Logs. Jim and I are very excited to celebrate our first Christmas morning in our own home. The bringing together of traditions from each of our childhoods, while adding our own special touches, will hopefully make for a magical season for our two beautiful girls.

Decorating the tree

64th Annual Train Display

Obligatory screaming on Santa's lap picture

Bundled up at the zoo

Happy Birthday Jim!

Jim celebrated his 35th birthday this week! For his birthday dinner he requested an old childhood favorite, beef meatball stroganoff over rice. It was an interesting meal and, needless to say, the next time it will be cooked for him is next December 2nd. Thankfully, there was a decadent chocolate cake to follow! Claire uttered a "Happy Bir-day Daddy" and Maggie sang along for the first time.

I am so grateful to have such a wonderful man as my husband. He does so much for me and the girls and is the kindest person I know. I look forward to another 35+ years as his wife!

Thanksgiving 2009

We spent the week of Thanksgiving in St. Louis celebrating with Jim's family. It was our first car trip in the new mini van, or "living room on wheels" as Jim calls it. The girls enjoyed the built in DVD player and the trip wasn't nearly as long as those 11 hour trips back to Ohio from Pennsylvania. Maggie and Claire had a wonderful time exploring all the vintage toys at MawMaw and PawPaw's house, including Daddy's stuffed kitty cat and Aunt Julie's doll house. Our Thanksgiving feast was especially delicious this year and since I'm "eating for two" I certainly indulged! As always, it was wonderful to spend time with family. It dawned on me during the drive home that the next time we're in St. Louis, will likely be with Baby #3 in tow!

Doll house fun

The kids table

Leaves!

We love the wooded setting against our backyard for many reasons, but the shedding of the leaves in the autumn is certainly the biggest drawback. Jim spent countless hours raking and blowing in the back yard. Luckily, the forest behind the house makes for a great dumping ground just on the other side of the fence. We did take some time one weekend to enjoy the best part of the season, jumping in the leaves!



Playtime is over, now back to work!

E,I,E,I,O

Claire's singing has really taken off lately! She loves to sing along to the ABCs, Old McDonald and Row Your Boat. It's too cute!

You better watch out. You better not cry.

Since Monday, the limits have been set with the Halloween candy around here. A day of indulgence was allowed initially, but now I'm cracking down. I let the girls pick one piece to have with their lunch and dinner. Maggie caught on pretty quickly and hasn't balked much. Claire, on the other hand, is not too happy about this. Today after eating her mini box of Milk Duds at lunch, she was asking for more candy. I told her no more candy and assured her she could have more at dinner. (Not that she has any concept of delayed gratification at this point.) Well, she goes into full meltdown mode. Screaming and thrashing in her booster seat while proceeding to pull the table cloth off the table. This quickly escalates to include throwing her remaining lunch on the floor. I promptly remove her from her seat and tell her lunch is over. Claire then heads to the island, where the pumpkins are sitting, and starts hanging and trying to climb up to reach them. After many unsuccessful attempts, she throws herself to the ground (finding the plushest area rug in the kitchen first) and starts kicking and thrashing about. When this does not produce the results she wanted, she comes over and starts trying to hit me and again pulls the table cloth off the table. I firmly repeat "no more candy" as much for me as for her. The screaming and thrashing continue.

Meanwhile, Maggie is happily sitting next to me eating her turkey sandwich and watching Claire's every move. At one point, I look over at Maggie and her eyes are wide! She has an expression on her face that's a mix of sadness and fear. On the verge of tears she says, "I think Santa's not going to be able to come 'cause Claire's not listening to you!" And then she adds, "If Claire doesn't listen to you, Christmas won't come!" I put my arm around Mag and assure her that Christmas will definitely come and thank her for being such a good listener today. The funniest part is, I have only resorted to the "Santa only comes for good girls" form of bribery one time. I guess it left an impression!

Trick or Treat

We had a fantastic time Trick or Treating this year! Grandma and Grandpa Flynn came down to adore the girls with us. Our neighbors had us over for a slice of pizza to fuel up for the big night. Poor Maggie was terrified of the boys who were dressed as a spooky goblin and gorilla. She clung to Daddy at first, and then kept reassuring herself, "It's just pretend!" Claire wanted to dig into her candy after the first stop, but quickly caught on that if she could just keep up with Maggie she would get a lot more in her pumpkin.

Maggie and Claire ran excitedly from house to house, with the occasional wagon ride in between. After each stop, Maggie would triumphantly declare, "I'm going to eat all the candy!" Watching the girls excitedly discover this age-old tradition was one of the best motherhood moments in a while. Their unbridled enthusiasm had me smiling from ear to ear. I turned to Jim at one point in the evening and said, "This parenting thing is starting to get really fun!"

Partners in crime

Checking out her whiskers

Claire, rooting through the pumpkin from the start

"Wait for me Maggie!"

Bizzare toddler behavior: preferring lollipops to chocolate!

Fall Fun 2009

'Tis the season for the pumpkin patch! Last weekend we headed to a local farm for some fall fun. The girls loved jumping in the straw pile, running through the straw maze, picking out tiny pumpkins and refreshing with some apple cider. As always, this was a great photo opportunity!

Rare displays of sisterly love


Pumpkin patch fun

"Listen up Claire, Mom wants a nice picture so you better smile!"

"But I really don't like being wedged in here like this!"

Catch me if you can

A baby pumpkin, just the right size!

Sisters!

It has been so fun to watch how the girl's interaction has evolved as Claire has gotten older. The newest development is that Claire is fighting back now and won't take big sister's abuses lying down. If Maggie is tormenting Claire, she will often push and shove while shouting, "MANI!" (her word for Maggie) at the top of her lungs. Just this week, Maggie took some dogs that Claire was playing with and ran into the kitchen. Mag held the pups over her head, one in each hand, just out of Claire's reach. Quick on her feet, Claire realized the best way to disarm Mag was to reach up and grab the binki right out of her mouth! This resulted in Maggie lowering one hand to get her binki back, at which point Claire snatched the dog right back. I almost fell to the ground laughing it was so hysterical! This retaliation on Claire's part is so new that it's pretty funny most of the time. I have to remember though, that Claire is old enough to learn about limits and the way we treat people. Hopefully, I can keep a straight face while disciplining, less it be ineffective.

Actually sharing the dogs, a rare moment.

Sleeping Beauty Maggie

Despite, having seen only two of the zillion Disney princess movies, Maggie loves all things princess! For her birthday, she received a Sleeping Beauty dress up set, complete with slippers and purse. She loves it! The way she was clop-clopping around the kitchen floor in the high-heeled slippers was hilarious. I got some great video of her playing dress-up.

Kitchen Renovation

When we bought this house, we knew the kitchen would be one of the first things that needed updating. The cabinets were falling apart, the counter tops disgusting, the sink barely functional and the refrigerator blocked the doorway. For four weeks, the wonderful crew of Kitchen Solvers occupied our home and transformed our drab old kitchen into my dream kitchen! Here are the before and after pictures (for those of you not on facebook).

Happy 3rd Birthday Maggie!

Three years ago a tiny 8lb, 12oz baby burst into our world! Now our little girl has turned 3! Maggie continues to gain independence every day. She is doing most things herself , like getting dressed and taking a bath, and doesn't like any help! She loves to count, help cook, play dress up, build with blocks and legos, and play pretend with her animals and lego people. Maggie is learning about separation and socialization, twice a week at preschool, and is navigating the change in her own way. On her birthday, I took some cookies we made to her class and got to observe her in school. Her job was to pass out the cups to all the other kids at snack time and I beamed with pride as I looked on.

We celebrated her birthday in grand Sesame Street style! It was a perfectly sunny day and we set up the bounce house in the back yard. The kids had a blast. Maggie even blew out her candles all by herself! It was fun to have family and friends with us as we celebrated our growing girl!

My first attempt at a two-flavored cake - yummy, yummy!


Making a wish!

Sharing cake with our friends

Our new matching aprons I made for Maggie's gift.

The word on the street

At almost 17 months, Claire's language is exploding lately. I can barely keep up with all of her new words. Today, she had three new additions to her vocabulary - video, (pronounced "vidi"), llama, and Farwig which is surprisingly clear. She has been trying to say her big sister's name for a few weeks, but in the past couple days, her version of Maggie's name has become very distinct. When the sisters are reunited after a separation, most often due to naps, Claire is overjoyed! She runs toward Maggie shouting, "Mani! Mani! Mani!' Some mornings Maggie sleeps in, and as Claire and I quietly tip toe out of her room, she'll look at Maggie's closed bedroom door and whisper ever so softly, "Mani?" It's the most adorable thing I've ever seen! I don't think she's close to saying her own name though. When I ask her, "Can you say Claire?" she just looks at me blankly and says "Me!" Maybe this means she won't refer to herself in the third person!

Time for Preschool

Maggie is starting preschool this fall! She will be going two days a week, in the morning, at the local Methodist church. We had a "Meet the Teacher" event on Monday and I was very impressed by the teachers and the school. Maggie wanted to wear "a pretty, pretty dress" on her first day. She was so excited about her backpack, she didn't take it off when we got home. Of course I had to document this major milestone! The first picture I took was a straight-on view where you could only see the straps. Then Maggie turns to the side, poses, and says, "Take one this way!" It was precious!

Visiting The Bixster

The girls and I got a reprieve from kitchen construction last week and headed to Michigan to visit Uncle JJ and cousin Beatrix. The girls had a great time playing with their cousin and Claire especially liked Bixie's cat Stanley. We really enjoyed Jay's neighborhood where we could walk to the park and out to brunch. It was Maggie and Bixie's first official sleep over, meaning they slept together on the futon in the basement. They loved it! It was wonderful to spend time together and enjoy some home cooked meals.

"Say cheese"

Snack time

Ice cream treats

Fun on the slide

Claire and the kitty

Pillow case for Claire

My first sewing project is "Mommy and Me" aprons for the girls and I. My apron is completed, although I need to make an adjustment before I'll call it done. I'm about half way through with Maggie's apron, which I plan to give to her for her birthday. Since this is my first attempt at sewing outside of class, it is taking me a painfully long time to complete this project. I wanted some instant gratification the other night, so I made a pillow case for Claire's toddler pillow. I used the pillow case my Mother-in-law made for Maggie as a template and was pleased with the way it turned out. I loved the birds on the print and the fabric is soft and cozy, great for resting a little head. Only 20 days left to finish Maggie's apron. The pressure is on!