Early Christmas

It's been a busy and festive start to the month of December.  We wasted no time after Thanksgiving decorating our tree! Dana and Alice did a great job helping out, even if there were a few casualty ornaments. This weekend we had an early Christmas celebration with all of our family in Middlebury.  It a jam packed weekend but the kids loved every second! They can't wait for the next round of festivities in Maine!

 Goofy girls!  If you're paying attention you can see Dana's shirt reads, "Grandma's Angel." Ha...I love putting this on her...if only it were true!

 Big silly grins and a decorated tree.

 Not sure when the day will come that both girls will decide to cooperate and actually look at the camera!

Both Dana and Alice were adamant about putting the star on so they both got a chance. Dana went first and then Alice placed it in it's final spot!

 Christmas in VT! One of Dana's favorite gifts was a toy drum from Gogo and Gumma.

 Grandma Net getting some cuddles with Channy Boy.

 Dana loved her new drum.  Our house is now equipped to make lots of "music."

 Alice was obsessed with her alphabet cookies!

 Uncle Josh "testing" Isabel's bracelet making set.  He's enjoying it a little too much if you ask me!

 Gumma the patient! Gumma received lots of care and attention from Alice, Isabel and Eva as they gave her a thorough check up with Emma's new Doc McStuffins kit.

 Princess Janet trying to stay out of the chaos. Smart girl.

 More princesses!

 Channy Boy making the rounds. Loving his cuddle time with Gumma, especially because she gives him blocks to chew!

 Again, Janet staying away from the madness. She looked all too content, lounging on the coffee table, logging some computer time.

 And speaking of lounging...we had some great play under the dining room table with Alice and Dana's new sleeping bags!

 Still circulating...time to hang with Gogo. What an easy going little man.

 Love this pic. Girls were just warming up to the party after some short naps.

 Attempt at a family picture. These are pretty rare...

 Silly Alice!

 Eva and Dana had a love fest while waiting for all the kiddos to gather for the family picture! Some lovely choking going on here, although Eva doesn't seem to mind.

 Some good, strong hugging with two happy girls!

 And kisses for these two besties! What a pair!

 Children's picture - about as good as you can hope for with this crowd.

 The family picture went only slightly more smoothly!

Thanksgiving in VT

 We had a great time at Thanksgiving this year! We enjoyed staying with Gramma Net just a few houses down to give the kids a little needed room to sleep and get some quiet time.  Alice slept in Net's office room that has one of Grandpa Bob's favorite deer heads on the wall!  Net and I thought we should cover up the deer, as neither of us thought we would want to fall asleep looking at it, so we covered it up with a sheet.  I hoped Alice wouldn't even ask about what was under the sheet... Instead, she got happily into her bed and then asked me, "why did you cover up the deer, mommy?"  Well, I guess there is no fooling her. When I told her I didn't want her talking to it all night long, she said very plainly, "it's not real, mom." Well, sort of...

We drove through some snow on our way up so the kids had some nice white stuff to play around in.  They enjoyed clearing off Gogo and Gumma's porch!

 That smile means she's up to something!

 We found some ice in the back yard but realized quickly it wasn't frozen through.  Eva had the pleasure of slipping and falling on the wet ice! Silly girl!

 This guy is just too cute for words.

 Alice loved all the cousin time.  She was very distraught when it was time to go...

 

A rare family photo of all the Perines!

The two year olds and Channy boy. This definitely required some adult supervision.  I think Dana took a few steps backwards in terms of her sharing/playing skills over the holiday. Hope they don't curse us at daycare.

 Had to add this great photo of Momere and Luke.  This was Luke's first Thanksgiving with the Leggett tribe!  We missed seeing the rest of the Whitney's but loved having Lukey around!

It took Carolyn no time to put the Thanksgiving decorations away and bust out with the Christmas decor.  The tree was cut and decorated about 18 hours after Thanksgiving.  Pretty impressive turnaround!

 We had a great holiday! We are so thankful for our wonderful family in VT and ME! (and everywhere else!)

Princess Dana

 As I went through recent pictures, I stumbled across these of Dana.  They perfectly convey her love of accessories and clothing.  I don't know where this personality trait came from but this girl  definitely has an opinion about what she will and will NOT wear.  Most of all, she loves to wear dresses.  It still boggles my mind but it's cute (sometimes) and certainly reminds us that she is a unique individual! 

Halloween!

 At long last here are a few photos from Halloween.  The girls were so excited about trick or treating that it was impossible to get them to stand still or sit still for a photo. These at least give you a sense of what Jaq the mouse looked like with his friend Cinderella!
(ps. the 'balloon' came from the friendly doctor at the Emergency Room!)

 We spend a lot of time talking up the Cinderella costume as she made a lot of noise about wanting to be a baby for Halloween.  Since we've spent the last 2 years of her life trying to get her out of a baby phase we were really hesitant to encourage a baby costume.  So instead, we put her in a Cinderella dress, which she loved because she LOVES dresses, and hoped for the best. At one point she started tugging at the dress and I was afraid it was coming off before we even got out the door, but luckily, with a little distraction and talk of trick or treating, no major crisis hit!

 Take 1 - and I'm the only one looking at the camera.  Dana and her creative method for wearing a crown.

 Take 2 - not much better. Oh well, you get the idea.

 House number 1!

 Full on running from house to house! They had a blast.  Dana walked nearly the entire hour that we were trick or treating.  She loved it!

 Back at home, enjoying a lollipop and checking out Uncle Ron's pics from England!

Car time

Since I rely on this blog site as my record of Alice and Dana's milestone's, I thought I would include a bit about our recent car experiences.  The girls have already begun bickering in the car.  It ranges from what song we listen to, to who is allowed to sing, to the level of volume, etc.  It goes on and on and on.  One funny interaction happens with some frequency though and often stalemates the conversation.  Dana loves to tell people to stop singing, "stup singin' mommy, stup singin'." And, because I prefer silence over complaining, I generally comply with Dana's semi-insolent request.  But, Alice has proven to be much less tolerant and surprisingly more creative in her attempt to derail Dana's demands.  When Dana asks (or tells) Alice to "stup singin, Ali," Alice simply says, "I can't. It's the speaker inside me." And then repeats this. Truthfully, neither Dana, nor I, know exactly how to respond.  I get a chuckle out of it every time. She proclaims it in such a practical manner, void of the typical contempt or impatience that accompanies her usual responses to Dana.  This statement is pure fact: "It's the speaker inside me." I love it.

If only they slept in the car all the time...

Fall update

 Beautiful fall in CT. Had a nice walk around the pond in our back yard.  Love this time of year!

 Doing Auntie Anne's nails!

 Dana's turn!

 Bushnell Carousel!

 Yay!

 Hold on tight!

 Hanging out at Trin while Alice had her swim lesson!  What a crazy girl this is!