Skating at the St. Regis

Rachel and I took the afternoon for a little mother-daughter time on Friday.

I had been wanting to take Rachel ice skating and the St. Regis Hotel offers skating sessions during the Christmas season.

She did great and loved it.

It was a lot of fun and the setting was beautiful. The rink is on top of the swimming pool and is covered with big red tent and lots of twinkling lights and Christmas trees.

We skated for an hour and then took time for hot chocolate and smores.

               The lobby of the hotel had a thirty foot Christmas tree and a life size gingerbread house.

                   The house was so pretty and it smelled so good.

    We had wonderful afternoon together and I am thankful for having special time with Rachel.

          She has already asked me if we can go skating again next year, so guess she had fun.

 

 

 

 

Photos from my Phone

                                               We are enjoying our Christmas vacation.
                                                    Just a few pictures of our week-----

The girls when we were in Blue Ridge for the Santa train.

We spent an afternoon baking and decorating cookies for Santa.

Christmas Eve service at our church.

Girls playing nicely with new Christmas toys.

Pretending to fly an airplane.

The day after Christmas the weather was rainy and cold, so we took the girls to play at the INK childrens museum. They had a good time and then we went out for lunch.

We have been pet sitting this week. Rachel brought home the class pets- two little frogs named Bert and Ernie. We also are taking care of a sweet dog named Sierra.

The Christmas tree at the mall.

Cutie pie Rebecca with her two pairs of pajamas and some serious bed head!

 

 

 

 

Christmas 2012

We started our Christmas by going to our church for Christmas Eve service and then home for dinner.

The girls before church.

After church we had dinner and tried to get some family pictures.

Our little funny girl.

We let the girls each open a gift before bed.

Rebecca got her DreamLite! Thank you Nana and Papa!

 

Rebecca woke up early Christmas morning, but I got her back to bed. Rachel was up around seven and then we had to go and wake up Rebecca.

We got Rachel a brand new bike. She was very excited! Today was very rainy and foggy, so she didn't get a chance to try it out, but hopefully tomorrow.

We spent the day at home playing with new toys, relaxing and having a really good turkey dinner.

It was a very Merry Christmas!

 

 

 

 

 

The Santa Express

 

                                     Today we took the girls to Blue Ridge for a train ride with Santa.

There was a quick story time and we sang a Christmas carol. They handed out color books for the kids and then Santa and Mrs. Claus came by to hand out jingle bells and say hello.

A photographer came and took our family picture. They wanted twelve dollars for a picture, so I just took a picture of the picture and figured that was good enough!

After the train ride we walked around town and made a stop for ice cream and then time to head home.

Fun little trip to the mountains!

 

 

Photos from my Phone

We are officially on Christmas vacation! It has been so nice to sleep in and take it easy the past couple of days.

I got an early Christmas present- an iPhone5! I have been trying to figure out what all the buttons and different apps do. I downloaded the Instagram app to take pictures and here are a few photos that show what we have been up to this past week.

Last Saturday, our neighborhood had a "Breakfast with Santa" party and the girls had a chance to visit with Santa and share their wish list with him.

Rachel is in the childrens' choir at a nearby church and the choir sang at both worship services this past Sunday. And then after church, Rachel and I went to do a little Christmas shopping. We went to Macy's and Rachel wrote a letter to Santa.

The lights on our tree decided to go out on the bottom half! What in the world? I tried fixing it, but no luck. Looks like we will be buying a new tree for next year.

Rebecca has taken to playing with this Nativity set. She likes to line everyone up in a straight line and carries on quite the conversations with Joseph and Mary.

We went to Rachel's Christmas party at school.

Yesterday, Rachel rode the church bus and went with girls from her AWANA class to sing Christmas carols at a nearby nursing home and then out for lunch. She had a fun time and I am so thankful for the friendships she is making at church and her teachers.

Last night I stayed up late and wrapped all the Christmas presents.

Snowman donuts for breakfast!

Rachel watching her video from Santa Claus.

 

Looking forward to the weekend!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Holiday Hoopla

                   Another busy week here at our house with various Christmas activities.

 Today was Rebecca's Christmas program at preschool. All the kids sang and then we went to the classroom for a little party.

Our little singer. Doesn't she looked thrilled? I was nervous when I saw she was in the front row,  because Rebecca likes to hold up her dress sometimes, but she was well behaved. And she was loving her new red shoes that I bought for her last week.

The preschool parties are fun, but they wear me out. Soooo many people in a tiny little room and lots of noise and chaos. I don't know how her teachers do it everyday. After the party, I tried to get her picture  by the tree and this was the best shot.

                                   We came home and played and both took a little cat nap!

We went to my MOMS Club kids Christmas party this afternoon and it was lots of fun. The girls are loving all the parties and fun. Last week, I went to Christmas lunch with Rachel at school.

Other news around here- Jack our Elf on the Shelf has come back for another visit. Rebecca is much more aware of him this year and usually in the afternoon she finds him and goes to say hello.

Rachel received a letter from Santa in the mail a couple of days ago. I am pretty sure that it is from our mail lady. She was soooo excited and read a couple of times. Rebecca got jealous, so I had to make a letter for her too!

I still have lots to do before Christmas and hoping it all get done somehow. Tomorrow Rebecca are meeting friends for lunch and playtime. Looking forward to the weekend!