Elayna's Surgery

Today Elayna went in to have her tonsils & adenoids removed as well as tubes put in. This surgery has changed a lot over the years. They now cauterize the incisions instead of stitches so instead of recommending ice cream and popsicles, they encourage crunchy foods like chips and crackers. The surgery itself only takes 40 minutes and it's day surgery so she was released only 5 hours post-surgery. Her daddy stayed with her the whole day and I was able to come and go so I could take Chantel to her Christmas party at school today too. Elayna's been tired and in pain (to be expected), but right now she's sitting on the couch with a tray of food in front of her watching a Barbie movie. I think she'll be able to handle this stay-at-home recovery thing just fine.

Chantel's Christmas Concert

Chantel's preschool put on a little 30-minute Christmas concert a couple nights ago. She knew the songs quite well and was super excited to wear her new dress for the night. Opa & Oma came over for hot chocolate afterwards (a treat the girls are getting lots of with our cold weather).

SNOW

Snow has arrived in our town and so far the kids have been spent lots of time in it and are loving it! Especially Chantel - I have to convince her to have breakfast before going outside and she has to wear her snow pants EVERYWHERE so she can wander and play in the snow every opportunity she gets.

Some pics of the gals . . .

I have been crafting but it's mostly Christmas gifts so I won't be showing any pics of those. We've been busy with the December bustle and the realization that Christmas is getting so close already! This past weekend was my husband's staff Christmas party - lots of fun! And last night was my Christmas party (I do some data entry from home for a dutch store) - also lots of fun! And next week will be filled with christmas programs from the girls' schools and Elayna's tonsilectemy is scheduled for next week as well.

So since I don't like to post without pics, here's some cute pics of the girls. The outfit that Elayna is wearing was won on an online giveaway from this store.

some Christmas baking . . .

I recently participated in a winter baking apron swap. The reason I love the idea of swapping an apron instead of just making one for myself is that it's much easer to enjoy something that someone else lovingly made for you than something you probably wouldn't otherwise make for yourself. Yes, sewing for myself is not easy because I'm my worst critic. It's also fun to think of someone else and put together a special package for them. Yesterday I received my apron and a pile of goodies from my swap partner in the apron swap. So the girls and I put on our aprons today and got baking. I love the mini cookie cutters and we made a pile of cookies and some peppermint fudge.

My partner did a beautiful job on the snowman applique on the apron and since Alyssa was more than happy to try it on, I let her show it off for some pics. I love the extra long straps so I can tie it in the front and the fact that the snowman is actually a pocket.

She also sent some special winter stuffies for the girls which they LOVE.

She also put in some appliqued snowman tea towels, a couple recipes, a mini cutting board (which is in my dishwasher) and a snowman card. Thanks Kristi for being such a great swapper!

the mini mom . . .

Alyssa has started taking over the disciplining lately. If someone's where they shouldn't be, she'll chase after them with finger wagging telling them to "Ge ou!". It's quite cute because she tries to repeat everything now and loves to reinforce everything I say.