First, I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! I thought I might post on Christmas day to wish everyone a great day, but I ended up just spending time with the family and staying off the computer...mostly.
Since I went a bit crazy last week doing all those Christmas activities, I thought it might be good for the girls to just have a relaxing and fun week playing as a family. On with the photos. Since this was the first week of Christmas break for the girls, we intentionally spent some extra time outside like they do at school to ensure they get enough sunshine and fresh air. We strolled to a few different playgrounds for the girls to play on in the mornings. They love swings.
And the push-merry-go-round. :) They actually took turns pushing each other around - even Ri was able to turn Tay!
All the while, Baby stayed sound asleep in the stroller - snug as a bug.
Gorgeous day spent outdoors with my girls.
Gifts from the girls on this chilly day...they found a couple flowers for me.
On another day, the sky was so incredibly blue that we just went in the back yard to play.
Jeff installed the little swing for Rea before this week started so we tried it out. It was pretty chilly outside, but she still really enjoyed the swing.
The biggest sister was so sweet and generous and let Ri ride the other swing and even pushed her for a while. Don't mind the weird faces they're making...they were giggling when I went inside with the baby because she was getting cold.
We decided to sit by the sunny window and watch the big sisters playing outside.
Rea has been getting more and more curious lately...
I'll usually watch her for a bit, and then call her name...at which point, she immediately stops what she's doing and looks at me just like this: CAUGHT!
I am enjoying the time the girls have at home during this break...although I have to admit it's EXHAUSTING having them all day long. The older two are pretty independent now, and the littlest enjoys being entertained by her big sisters, so I get some breaks here and there. Here, Tay is telling a story while looking through a book (with her pirate hat on) and Ri and Rea are playing with cylinder blocks together.
I periodically have them do a few pages out of workbooks, and luckily, they both seem to enjoy doing them. Even Ri works hard at her page - her attention span is much shorter than her sister's, so I usually only have her do one page. She was doing an excellent job concentrating and writing her ABCs. :)
Tay is my "student" because she really seems to enjoy working and learning these days. She loves sitting at her desk and doing work sheets and practicing her numbers and writing.
I love seeing the girls working like this...seeing photos like this makes me want to homeschool (still a possibility), but with the baby getting even more active, I just don't know if I can provide the focus and attention the older girls will need to really be able to teach them properly.
Ever since I started following
The Pioneer Woman, I love making cinnamon rolls for the holidays. They taste so delicious and they are so pretty and perfect for giving away as gifts. You can freeze them before they rise and keep them in the freezer, or you can do what I do...
I bake them all first...then while they are hot, I ice them in maple icing...(although for this batch, I completely forgot I ran out of maple extract!) and let them cool in the pan. Once cooled enough, I cover tightly with tin foil and freeze them! Whenever you want yummy cinnamon rolls, you can then stick them in a low-temperature (about 250F) for about 10-15 minutes to get them warmed up and there you have it!
So pretty!
Baked and iced mini-pans of cinnamon rolls for gifting!
Ah, Christmas Eve...all the girls dressed in their new, matching pajamas, we got some adorable photos of them by the Christmas tree, and sent them up to bed.
Then, brought out all the Christmas presents and arranged them under the tree and stuffed the stockings. These girls are SO blessed. The girls only asked for one thing on their Santa letters, though...Tay asked for a toy bus cart (for carting around her tea set and such) and Ri asked for a kitty cat...::sigh::
For some reason, we ended up without a tree topper this year...mainly because Jeff and I really wanted to find a special one here in Germany, but couldn't decide on one in time. Next year. We'll start early and find a nice one. In the mean time, the girls decided Kevin (the minion) would act as the tree topper.
Baby decided it wasn't really bed time yet...still adorable.
Back asleep fairly soon...
Ah, the older to girls decided to sleep in our room tonight!
Well, the next morning was so exciting and chaotic, I didn't get a chance to get any decent photos! :( But, the memory is still clear in my mind. I can't complain. :)
And of course, the Christmas morning family photo. The girls still look half asleep. It's a good thing we got the photo before opening any presents because after the present opening, you couldn't even see the floor!
Our Christmas morning went as expected, but we had one more surprise for the girls. We fed them a little something and then we loaded them up in the car and drove them to Nuremburg. During the car ride, we let them watch a movie, and Ri was making such an adorable face and holding her hands together that I had to take a picture...must have been a very serious part of Dora's Christmas Carol!
So what was the surprise? :)
The "stage."
The SHOW! :) The girls were thrilled!
Tay's been practicing a lot with her bow and arrow set...she's getting really good!
Baby loves bath time. (Sorry, there was no transition).
After bath and pajamas, she sometimes refuses to fall asleep as expected...so I just bring her down and let her lie around until she gets tired enough.
She does this for a while...but doesn't sleep. Just rolls back and forth bumping her head on the cushion.
Now she's just staring at me because I just keep taking pictures.
This Saturday, we took the girls on a quick trip to a castle in Burglengenfeld (try saying that fast!). Oddly, we couldn't go inside, so we just walked around it.
Ri preferred to walk, Rea was sleeping in the carrier, and Tay was riding the stroller...odd, but hey. Whatever works.
I did get some cute pics of Ri, though, as I trailed along.
Here is the entrance...it was locked.
Along the wall...here's the sign!
The scary part was that all along the path that led around the castle, there was an ELECTRIC FENCE. Sheesh...it was scary trying to keep Ri on the path without grabbing the wire!
See? The path is not so large...
The views were beautiful...Tay sitting and admiring the view below.
Lovely...
Lunch at a tasty Italian restaurant in Burglengenfeld.
On the drive home.
At home, trying to take photos of this cutie, and she just keeps trying to look around the phone at me...
Then, she decided to crawl over to Daddy and pull up on him.
Daddy asked for kisses...
Went in for the kiss...
She said, wait...are you taking pictures again?
Then, she poked his nose.
Then gave him her signature kiss...all tongue!
Look at this short person standing up. She's so cute!
She does not like the flash. She would like me to pick her up now.
We hope everyone had a very blessed Christmas filled with love and family, near or far.
Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year to you all! Frohe Weinachten und gutes neues Jahr!
