Snow!

 You can do a lot with a little snow.  We made a little snowgirl and had a fun snowball fight.

 Rielee came back from her sledding trip at the mountain and brought her sleds over to try them out in the yard and driveway.  She was trying to ride one standing up while being attacked by the twins.

 We played a game of Googly Eyes last night, Ava had to draw with the blue lens and switch hands.  It's a pretty fun game, it helps that the girls are all good at drawing.

Rielee and Ava tried out one of the masks Rielee got for Christmas. It was a bit too strong for Ava though, she took hers right off.  Rielee loves all the spa stuff.

Christmas Eve

Our Christmas Eve started at home, exchanging gifts with Charb, Kelly, Ava and Harper.  The girls were happy with their Barbie camper, but just as happy with some whoopee cushions they got, too, go figure.  Then we all went down to Robin and Dan's for dinner, Santa's visit, the traditional family pictures in front of the tree, and the gift exchange.

 The Gourde/Utecht Family

 The Gourdes, we missed Lexi and Luke, but they were with their Dad's family.

And the "kids" who are mostly grown now, oh my.  Little Tor kept us all entertained playing ball with James during the gift exchange.

The Gourde Girls

Auna and Parker, waiting for 2016-when they'll turn 16.

Tierney, Macee, Emmy- hearing the sound the these three laughing is priceless.

Santa!

Santa brought them the "Mama with baby stuffed animals" they had on their list!

Such a fun evening with our wonderful family. 

Rielee's sweatshirt, cookie baking, chapter books

 Rielee was all smiles when she came over to show us her new club sweatshirt, she's sure enjoying her new volleyball team.

 Our cookie baking session Saturday was mostly a bust, I was out of red food coloring, overcooked the first batch and dropped the last batch on the floor, but Ava and Harper didn't care.  They had fun decorating the few cookies they had left.

As a Christmas gift, the girls' teacher gave them books.  Ava's was a Junie B. Jones chapter book, her first ever.  Harper must have been a little envious, because when we went to the library she found a Nancy Clancy book on her own, one their school librarian had read aloud to them.  She needs a little help reading it, but was eager to try.  Ava checked out 2 other Junie B. books and was surprised to see that Rielee's name was on the card in one of them.  Rielee loved all the Junie B. Jones books, as did Lexi.

Best fort ever, cuties, Rielee piano recital, gingerbread houses

Sunday Ava and Harper built the biggest fort ever, using every blanket and chair in the house.  They had separate rooms for music, scissors, cooking, toys, reading, even band-aids. 

Had to have a picture of the three of them Monday morning since they were all dressed in black and white with jeans on.  They were excited to go to school and hand out the Christmas mugs they made for their teachers and special ladies in the office.

After taking a year off from piano lessons, Rielee is back at it and had her recital tonight.  She played "Silent Night" and did a great job.

I got to help in Emmy's classroom today as the kids made gingerbread houses and decorated them.  They had so much fun and were very creative.  It went amazingly well.

Emmy's helper

Rielee doling out Tacky Glue so this guy could add a bow to his wreath.

Rielee had today off because of the flooding, so she went with me to help in Emmy's room.  The kids made puzzle piece wreaths with their pictures in them as a Christmas gift for their parents.  They also made cards and decorated a sack to hold their gifts.  Rielee wants to be a teacher when she grows up, so she was very serious about helping out, and tickled that she also got to correct some papers.  It was cute when Emmy introduced Rielee to the class as her cousin, they were surprised,"she's your cousin?!"  Emmy explained that she had cousins of all ages.

Luke, Auna basketball, reading and elves

Monday we watched Luke play a home game at  vs. Columbia River.  It was a good game, really close, Luke had a couple of 3's and they won. 

His 3 sisters and all their curls on the sidelines, playing a game on the iPad.

After Luke's game we went to LaCenter and watched Auna play.  The Rockets sort of had their hands full with the tall, quick Wildcats and lost, Auna had 9 points.

Last night, Ava read her library book to Rielee.  She was so proud of it, she had asked the librarian for a book on polar bears, and this one had many fun facts about them. 

This morning after breakfast, I said something about my invisible elf and what he had done last night and suddenly Harper's eyes lit up.  She jumped up, got Ava and they went in the bedroom, instructing Papa and I to keep out and said when they came back out, we were to shut our eyes and we would have something to find.  Well, they had made us our own elves, it was so cute!  They hid them and we had to find them.  When Rielee came over, they made her one, too.  Such thoughtful girls! 

Old Maid, Really big Roo

Papa and the girls  had to play an early morning game of Old Maid with Rielee before she went home, she had never played it before.  Papa lost.

Rielee with Roo in June...

and now, she's grown so much!

Tree day

We made a trip to Miller's this morning to get our tree.  It was cold and rainy and the girls were mostly impressed with the deer poop, but Harper managed to find just the right one, tall and skinny- without walking too far.  Rielee came over and the three of them decorated it.  Getting on the ladder to reach the top was definitely the best part.  They did a great job and it looks very nice.

Jammies on, ready for their sleepover in front of the Christmas tree. 

Christmas decorating, Ava's school

 We had so many laughs with the girls this weekend.  First of all, we got the Christmas decorations out and they helped me decorate.  They had a ball with that.  Sunday morning, Harper got up first but Ava slept in a little, when I went in to check on her, she had gotten up and turned on the lights on their little tree and was just lying in bed, staring at it.  They're so excited for Christmas and especially for the first appearance of their elf "Lucy".  Rielee is excited to find out what her elf "Jack" will do first, he's a very mischevious guy.  Rielee typed Ava and Harper's Christmas list for us, too.

 They went back and forth playing at our house and Rielee's and wanted a picture in the frost-which looked like snow to them.

Ava was our teacher this weekend.  She set up her school and her list of students that she watches carefully for good and bad behavior.  The checks are for good,  X's are bad.  Papa was in trouble a bunch and she said Mom was talking.  She was so serious, she taught 2 lessons, the first on how to be kind, the second was safety rules.  It's all great fun except sitting in their little chairs is a killer.

Emmy and Dan's house

Emmy and Dan were moving into their house today so we went down to check it out.  It's a nice house in a quiet neighborhood, just perfect for them. We met Charb there so we could bring Ava and Harper home with us.  The girls loved the house, especially the gazebo in the back yard and all the leaves.  They would have been happy to stay there and run around but we got out of the way quickly so Emmy, Dan and moving crew (Mom, Dad, Auna, Parker, Aunt Sharon, Garrett, Aunt Sue and Charb), could get back to unloading and unpacking. 

Macee's last volleyball match

 Monday night we went to the University of Portland to watch Macee play in her last volleyball match for Gonzaga since she'll graduate next spring.  She was sad, said she'll miss her teammates, but is ready for new challenges, like law school-she takes the LSAT in a couple of weeks

David came to watch and took this picture of all of us. 

It's been a fun 12 years of volleyball with this girl

Harper's footstool

I brought this footstool in the house from storage and Harper latched onto it like it was some kind of treasure.  She packed it around all weekend, using it to climb, of course, but also as a table, a house for her baby and as a piano stand.  Papa showed her how she could use it to sleep in the chair, and sure enough, that's where she was this morning.  Never know what will capture their imagination.

Sleepover

 We had all 3 girls spend the night Saturday night.  They stayed up until 10 and surprised me by going right to sleep.  Ava was first up at 6:30 this morning, Harper followed her and then they woke up Rielee.  She would have been happy to sleep longer but they eventually got her moving. 

It was still so cold out this morning, only 39 degrees when Ava and Harper asked to go out and play.  They bundled up and played for about a half an hour before they decided it was a little too chilly. 

Cartwheels, sketches and worms

 We had a fun weekend,  Ava and Harper spent Saturday and Sunday with us.  Harper was excited to show us how she has perfected her one-handed cartwheel.  Her pinky is better and she's not wearing the splint anymore.

 The girls watched Project Runway Junior, they loved it and spent the rest of Saturday night sketching dresses.  Rielee is even asking for a dress form for Christmas, so she can try designing her own clothes.

 Ava found a worm in the muddy ground Sunday and named him Joe. She loves worms, Harper-not so much, she managed to get soaked playing in the water though.

 Rielee pretended to give Joe a kiss.  Ava found one other little worm and wanted to bring it in and take care of it, but left it outside when I told her it would miss it's family.

Fifteen minutes later, they were playing Mom and baby and Harper was getting her makeup done.

Rielee veterans program

Butler Acres School does a great job of impressing upon it's students the importance of honoring veterans.  They parade the entire student body up and down the street, dressed in red, white and blue, singing patriotic songs.  It's awesome.

In the afternoon, the 4th and 5th grades participated in a Veteran's Day Program.  They sang several songs, recited poetry, and thanked all the veterans who were present.  Rielee did a nice job.

Papa's surprise, Harper's pinkie

 Sunday the girls surprised Papa with a cake they decorated in Seahawk's colors for him.  They wrapped up some food gifts, too, Harper was really excited for him to open a can of sour cream and onion Pringles, which are her favorite.  He had to hide them or they would have eaten the whole can.

Harper reading her take-home book to me-she's wearing a splint on her fractured pinkie, the result of a collision on the slide at recess.  

The birthday box

Sunday we went over to help Dan celebrate his birthday.   A couple of his gifts were in big boxes, so Harper asked if she could have one of them.  They played with that box the rest of the day, it was a dressing room,  refrigerator, bed, a house and a boat.

 Today it was Harper's throne during a game of UNO.

 Then she was cuddled up in it.

Ava and Rielee  got some time in it, too, it started to fall apart but a little duct tape fixed it right up.