ready for christmas eve service, a photo by telfandrea on Flickr.

Here are the girls right before the Christmas Eve service at church. Notice their coats are just a little too big.

pouring eggnog for santa, a photo by telfandrea on Flickr.

This is Cate pouring eggnog for Santa. Jane has a more complicated relationship with Santa. Her comment when confronted by anything to do with Santa/Ryan the elf: “Mama do it.” And Cate is like, “No, No JANE, Ryan goes back to the North Pole and tells Santa how we acted and then comes back to our house in the morning and hides in a different place.” Jane is TWO.

cate & alyce on christmas morning, a photo by telfandrea on Flickr.

We spent a good chunk of Christmas morning at Grammy & Papa’s with cousins. Mom and Dad came later in the day and we all had dinner at our house.

cate & aunt ellie go to breakfast on christmas eve, a photo by telfandrea on Flickr.

Did I mention Aunt Ellie was here? She always takes Cate to breakfast when she visits.

late night dinner last night, a photo by telfandrea on Flickr.

The princesses were the backdrop to a very late night dinner Telfer and I ate on Thursday night. Can you believe I bought these? I can’t either.

My girls have been down the toy aisle at Target exactly one time: to buy Gresham a birthday gift. We were at Target earlier this week so we could get the girls some snow gear and we were walking down the kitchen aisle when Cate spotted this box behind a bunch of crockpots. I couldn’t even see what she was talking about but her princess radar was definitely working. Her eyes lit up. She could not believe the glory of the princesses.

And so I went back on Thursday afternoon and bought them. And ever since then, all I can imagine is eight naked princesses and their discarded crowns and dresses strewn all over my house. But she will love them.

Hullabaloo aside, we are all still here on December 22. Yeah! Cate and I are excited to go to Maurice Sendak’s Nutcracker this afternoon in Seattle (with Sherry & Breklinn). A twirly dress is in the mix. Eleanor arrived late last night. Presents are being purchased last minute. Christmas cards may turn into New Year’s cards or they may just fade away this year.

I may have had a massive stressy, freak-out moment, or series of moments yesterday. I had to apologize to the girls. Jane kept nodding and saying knowingly, “Mommy is frust-er-a-ted.” Yes. But today is a new day and grace has been given and received. But back to yesterday: I realized that Jane had another ear infection and so we went to the pediatrician. Then there were a whole series of people I realized suddenly I still needed to give gifts. Thankfully, Telfer got done early and I was able to get most gifts bought and delivered. In some ways, I know it doesn’t matter that much but then again, showing gratitude to those who take care of my kids, who work for my husband all year, is important. I can say thank you and give a gift. It’s pretty simple really.

tea & madeleine’s, a photo by telfandrea on Flickr.

One of my resolutions for 2013 (starting early) is to bake something with the girls so we can have a tea party every Wednesday afternoon. Of course I had to go into work for a meeting this Wednesday afternoon so we had our tea party at 11:30 in the morning instead. We made madeleine’s for the first time. Cate and Jane “helped” spoon the batter into the molds and then helped me “clean” the bowl and then “lightly” dusted powder sugar on top when the cookies came out of the oven. The madeleine’s tasted wonderful but we learned a few things: don’t overfill the molds and be really careful when taking them out of the oven. I dumped ALL of them out of the pan into the bottom of my very dirty oven. Non-stick pans!

snow day, a photo by telfandrea on Flickr.

In general, I am behind. On pretty much everything. I am still trying to figure out what I can still do, and do well, and what I can kind of let slide. I still want to post on the blog so hopefully I can get it together. Not that everyone is clamoring to read my blog. But still. It’s something I have done for years and want to keep up with.

Anyway, I was up at 5:00 this morning so I could get everything in before I had to be at work: a run, coffee, shower, get the girls ready and off to preschool and then finally, me to work. I had everything set out from outfits to backpacks but one thing I didn’t account for: snow. Telfer made it to work early without any trouble so I figured it was fine. Checked the preschool website though and they are canceled today. Truthfully, it’s not that bad out there. And it’s pretty! So we are home and feeling snuggly. As Christmas is a week from today (A WEEK!) I have plenty to keep me busy. But first we are going out to play in the snow. Well. After Sesame Street. First things first.

thanksgiving table, a photo by telfandrea on Flickr.

This is ridiculous in its lateness but we had a lovely Thanksgiving with my family. This picture is after the meal so our plates look like, well, like dinner is OVER. Telfer and I both read Sam Sifton’s Thanksgiving before the festivities. Highly recommend. It energized our cooking and gave us a slightly judgmental and opinionated tone on everything related to Thanksgiving:  “well Sam Sifton says…” Telfer and I perhaps carried it just a tad too far but we had a really good time.

frosting cookies, a photo by telfandrea on Flickr.

Alyssa and her family stayed until Sunday and we had a kids day on Saturday. We frosted cookies and did a craft, Eden and Cora and I had book club at a local cupcake place, and we went to the new Olympia Children’s Museum. Note on book club: we read Gone-Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright and loved it.

my girls are drinking the bathwater., a photo by telfandrea on Flickr.

This picture was at the end of the Saturday. Neva is smiling at the camera sweetly while my girls are drinking the bathwater. Gross and funny. The fact that I can laugh at this makes me laugh all over again. I am so not a bathwater drinker.