Sledding

It's officially winter here in South Dakota. I know this because a) the butter we leave out on the counter to be "soft" is rock hard in the morning b) my electric blanket is my best friend and c) when the forecast says temperatures will be above 40 degrees, we get really excited about how "nice" it's going to be. We've had two snows worth talking about, so yesterday we went up to hang out with friends in Custer and do some serious sledding. There were a few times we underestimated how fast and far they would go and our friends had to race after the sled to stop it from hitting the barn. After that we strategically placed adults at all risky areas.








So...other than that we are marking off days to Chrismtas, building our Lego advent calendar every night, and I am finished with classes for the semester after I turn in my last 3 assignments today and tomorrow. I am looking forward to a month off and engaging in all things Christmas.

Dear Santa

Linnaea and Elise decided to write letters to Santa today. Well, they dictated their lists to me and I wrote them down. Here are their lists, word for word. Please note these are not things we actually want them to have. It's just funny to see what they are thinking about.

Linnaea:

"piggy bank

roller skates

toy all black cat whose name is Ariel

Ariel doll with a white and pink dress and pink glass slippers and pink earrings

pink overalls with pink stars

glass thing like Sierra's thing

green computer that's real with a plug to plug it in

pink phone

baby with a cradle and a star nightgown"

Elise:

"another Ariel doll with a green dress

Cinderella doll, big like Ariel

Tiana doll

Briar Rose doll

glass thing like Rhiana

Hello Kitty doll

new bunny with a eye like Linnaea's [explanation: they both have identical bunnies, but Elise's bunny's string eye came unraveled and it hangs out]

Pinkalicious sticker book

purple phone

roller skates

Disney - write Disney on there so Santa knows we went to Disney

purple table

toy Santa

purple Briar Rose doll

purple booster seat

little table for Belle

little princess set like we got at the Toy Story store [explanation: the "Toy Story store" is actually Toys R' Us - we went there to get them Woody and Buzz dolls before we went to see Toy Story 3 two summers ago]

kitty toy one black and one purple

purple computer for us to play with"

Elise Singing

http://youtu.be/c6Fpf1T90Zk

Storybook Island

The girls got princess makeovers.

The Things Kids Say

Just had to note this funny conversation with Linnaea today. We're teaching her how to ride her bike, so I was walking next to her guiding her when she starts talking about getting bigger:

Linnaea: "When I get bigger, I can ride your bike, Mom."

Me: "Yes, when you get WAY bigger you can ride it."

Linnaea: "When I get stronger I can ride it."

Me: "Yes, you will get strong legs like Daddy's."

Linnaea: "But I'm probably going to get your arms."

Me: "What kind of arms do I have?"

Linnaea: "Your arms are kind of....kind of....sucked in."

I guess that's the nice way of saying I have bony arms.


And Elise was trying to steal black olives off the cutting board as I was cutting, and here was our conversation:

Me: "ELISE! What does Mommy have in her hand?"

Elise: "A sharp knife."

Me: "And what will happen if you put your hand in the way?"

Elise: "I'll get hurt, then you'll need to fix me with Fred."

Me: "Fred? Who's Fred?"

Elise: "No, fred. Like sew and fred." Oh. THREAD. She had just seen me use a needle and thread to sew Linnaea's Cinderella dress that morning.

Good Bye Winter...We Hope!

We have finally entered spring, at least we think. We have not put away our coats, boots, hats and gloves yet, just in case. I'm certain that as soon as we do it winter will return. In the meantime, we've been getting days in the 60s about every 2-3 days, and even a day or two in the 70s. Always windy, windy, windy. This weekend was like fall - rainy, dreary, and cold. But those nice days give us the strength to persevere!

Elise is doing really well at spelling and reading. She can read all words in the -at word family, most from the -et and -og families, and is very good at sounding other three-letter words out with our help and spelling them, too. She even arranged our magnetic letters to spell D-E-S-M-B-R and told us it was December. We were really impressed! Linnaea is really good at writing the letters but isn't showing as much interest in spelling as Elise is.



I found this picture hiding on my camera. It's the last snow we had back in March. The snow was finally wet enough for a snowman!





We went for a hike in Custer State Park on the first almost-80 degree day we had since October. It was beautiful! Here we are with our friends, Sierra and Bryce.





And here we are with Mommy.





Here we are on on of our 4 stream crossings. This is NOT the one Linnaea fell in.





Elise's new haircut. I love this picture and really wish it wasn't blurry!

It's Been a Long Time...

It's been almost two months since I've posted pictures. It's because there haven't been too many exciting things going on here in South Dakota. We go up to Rapid City every 2 or 3 weeks and take the girls to their indoor swim complex. They have a total blast and we can never get them out of the water. They've even started going underwater without any encouragement from Kevin or me. Elise and Linnaea started going to morning preschool on February 1st, and they like it. It's a block and a half away, so I walk them there at 8am and pick them up at 11:30 and we walk home. Almost every morning I have to force them to get dressed to go. They take after Kevin in that they are quite happy playing around the house in the their pajamas. But when I pick them up I have to force them to come home with me, so I know they like being there. Since they are in preschool I have had the opportunity to volunteer at the elementary school. I LOVE it! I've observed/helped in 5th and 3rd grade classes and go to the kindergarten class every Thursday. Kindergarten is a lot more work but I just love being there and getting to know the kids. I am so excited to get my classes done and get started teaching, but I'm expecting it to be another 1 1/2 years plus a semester of student teaching. I am so happy I've made the decision to go back to school for elementary education.

Well, here's a few pictures of us hanging around the house:



We were supposed to be putting stickers on ornaments but thought we'd see how they would look on our own faces.





My first attempt at French braiding Elise's hair. She let me try one more time after this but I have not been able to talk her into letting me practice any more than that.





Working on the puzzle Aunt Carolyn and Uncle Tim gave us for Christmas. We will do all 4 puzzles in about 45 minutes without any help from mom!





This is how Linnaea makes me do her hair sometimes. Two ponytails with two different colored rubber bands and two barrettes to match on each side.





Goofy sister time!





Linnaea is working on one of the Valentine's crafts from Grandma and Grandpa.





Elise paints her Ariel suncatcher, also a Valentine's gift from Grandma and Grandpa.





We made these curly crowns one day when we were bored.





My little girl who loves fancy shoes and dresses. By the way, Elise and Linnaea decided about a month ago that they would switch favorite colors. Elise's favorite color is now purple and Linnaea's is now pink. Elise insists on wearing all of Linnaea's purple clothes and using her purple things. I don't know how long this is going to last.





Linnaea in her ballerina costume and Elmo slippers.

Before I Forget...

I'm horrible at remembering to record the funny things they say, but it's probably because most things revolve around bodily functions that are inappropriate to write down. But here is a good funny one:

Kevin made a yellow cake with chocolate frosting last night, which was a real event because I can't even remember the last time we had cake or cupcakes. Linnaea got a tiny chocolate mustache from the frosting.

I told her she looked like a French man and said, in a funny French accent, "Oui oui monsieur!"

Elise, ever so concerned with being EXACTLY like Linnaea, asks me very worriedly "Do I look like a wee wee Mommy?"

The only think I could say was "Yes, sweetie, you do."

Christmas Things

Getting ready to make cookies!





Elise insisted on leaving ALL the carrots we had for the reindeer.





Linnaea takes a picture of me taking a picture of her and her new camera.





Linnaea wrote her name for the first time.





Elise dresses up her new doll and wears her own ballerina outfit to match.





Elise washes dishes in their new kitchen.