Snowflakes falling....

it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! We haven't made it out to play in the snow yet since it's only 15 degrees but Ellie went out to help Daddy shovel on Saturday.

Ellie visited with Santa at the mall before Thanksgiving (since there were no other kids around I let her…germ freak Mommy here). She didn’t want to sit on his lap but wanted to tell him she wants “all the presents” for Christmas this year. Once we got home we decided to write him a letter with her Christmas wishes. Here’s how it went dictated by Ellie:

Dear Santa,
I want all the toys & I told my mom I want all the toys. For my sister, give her a toy. One for Mommy, too. One for Dad, too. One for Grandma & Grandpa, too. One for my Grandma. And one for my Sue. Some for my friends: Carter, Olivia and Henry. For Mike & Rita, too. And for Dan. One more toy for me, I want Toy Story 3. I want the doctor kit, too. And I want a puzzle.
Your friend,
Ellie

That’s about as greedy and generous as you can get!

This year we are continuing some traditions and starting up new ones. Ellie and I went to see the Nutcracker again this year, a tradition we started last year that will probably always be my favorite.




Ellie has only gotten out of her leotard/ballet skirt and tights to put on pj's since we got back yesterday. She is officially a ballerina!

A tradition that we started this year is with our new little friend, Charlie. Charlie is our “Elf on the Shelf”. He sits and watches the girls to make sure they are being good then at night flies to the North Pole to report to Santa. The next morning he will be sitting in a new place somewhere in the house. At least once a day I mention Charlie…sometimes it works sometimes not!

Charlie showed up in Ellie's room the first day.

Ellie has been busy baking up a storm on a few different occasions with each Grandma. “This is so much fun!” she always yells covered in flour.


We even made a gingerbread house this year. I have to admit this was my first successful gingerbread house. Although my roof did start to slide Kevin got it under control. It also helped that my kit had a tray with built in grooves for the cookies to sit. Highly recommended in my opinion! Go to Target.


Can you believe Katelyn is five months old already? I can’t. She is trying to sit up on her own! She still slowly falls over from time to time but is doing very well. We’re so excited for her first Christmas. I’m guessing she’ll be very close to crawling by then. She already tucks her knees underneath when she is on her tummy. It still amazes me how quickly she is growing and progressing with her motor skills. In no time at all “mother Ellie” will be telling her to stay out of this or no touching that. I can hear her now, she’s such a helper (most of the time).

I managed to get the girls Christmas pictures taken last week. They turned out pretty well considering it was like a three ring circus trying to get them ready and everything set up.



We feel so lucky to be blessed with our two girls. Take time to appreciate those in your life and to enjoy the holiday for it’s true meaning. We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!

Love,
The Schmidt’s