A brief intermission

Ok... this is one of my favorite pictures of my three little munchkins...

Gracie's face is priceless!

On the sixth day of Christmas...

Nana had a tea party for Hannah and Grace. We sat around the table drinking tea with our pinkies raised (ok, maybe not) and calling each other darling. It was very sweet.

 

The biggest excitement of the day was the arrival of Aunt Mo, Uncle Jon, and finally... cousin Elsa!

 Now the fun and games at the Hess House REALLY kick in!

On the fifth day of Christmas...

yes, I know, I skipped the fourth day of Christmas, but that was just a day of driving and driving and driving in rain and driving into... GEORGIA! Yippee, we arrived! The "nana bead" was moved and we were there. We had planned to take a break and stop at Furman University on the way down, so I could show Daryl and the kids my school, but Gracie had finally fallen asleep and it had started raining, so we kept trucking to Georgia and nana and poppi. We were glad to be there.

Nana and 3 of her 4 granddaughters

So, on the fifth day of Christmas, my true love... well, actually my kids, got to open a present that stays at Nana and Poppi's house, but a present we thought was the coolest thing EVER... the Weehoo! Check out the pictures.

What is that?!?! It is the Weehoo!

Hannah ready for her Weehoo maiden voyage.

Gracie ready to test out the Weehoo.

Gracie in the bike trailer behind Poppi

Poppi ready to take off on a biking adventure.

 The Weehoo is really cool. I kind of wish they had one in my size. When the girls are in it and peddling, they really are helping move the back wheel.

 Here is a clip of Hannah and Daryl testing it out.

On the third day of Christmas...

my true love and my family were blessed by the gracious hospitality of 2 of my college roommates and their families. Wow, did we ever feel loved and cared for. Both during our coming to and going from Georgia we spent time with the Taylors and the Pendergraphs. My girls loved connecting with their kids (8 kids... 7 and under... the adults are outnumbered and boy did it sound like it!). And I always enjoy time with my girlfriends. These are one of the awesome friendships that you don't need to spend much time in the back-story, because you already know it. These ladies have known me for almost 20 years... pre-teacher, pre-seminary, pre-wife, pre-motherhood. Love you gals!

Here is a clip of the energy level in Kim's house after we enjoyed a delicious lunch and dinner.

Kimberly's 2 kids are missing from the action as they had already left to go home to bed as this was a school night. This high energy romp was during our attempt to gather the rest of the crew to go back to Kimberly's for the night.

On the second day of Christmas...

my true love (and family) drove and drove and drove to Raleigh, NC. On the way we stopped at a rest area that had lots and lots of leaves. The older girls burned off some energy playing while I nursed Elizabeth and then she joined them in the leaves.

Am I the only one who worries about doggie "leftovers" while playing in leaves? I think it is a remnant of something that must have happened playing in leaves while growing up. Thankfully, this romp was spared this cruel event.

12 (actually 14) days of Christmas

This morning I downloaded over 200 pictures from our Christmas and realized again that we really had a wonderful time. Daryl counted that we saw 57 different people, not counting the people we saw at my parents' church. Wow! No wonder it is taking us a bit to feel back in the swing of things.

So, I'm totally using this theme from a friends blog and will share our Christmas in several (maybe 12) posts.

On the first day of Christmas, we left on our 1225 mile road trip to Georgia. We had some very happy and excited girls!

A friend at church told us about something her mom did on long road trips. They had a string of beads and would move the beads every so many miles. I thought this was a great idea and set this up for the girls... ironically, it was more important for me than anyone! I loved seeing the beads "fly" across the ribbon every 50 miles.

Our first fun stop on the first day of Christmas was the Crayola (or as Hannah says "cry-ola") Factory in Easton, Pennsylvania. The girls had a lot of fun at the various craft stations and they got several markers, crayons and "magic" clay with their admission.

Here is Hannah and Grace at the magic clay station.

Our overnight stop on the first day of Christmas was with my Aunt Glynnette and my cousins, Brittany and Natasha. We enjoyed a delicious supper and breakfast as well as delightful company. It was great to catch up with them. My girls quickly commandeered Brittany and Natasha and their childhood toys. Thanks for entertaining 2 travel weary pre-schoolers!

The lovely Lentz ladies

Coming soon... the 2nd day of Christmas!

Christmas Books continued

Happy New Year! We have been to Georgia and back again (so much fun and lots of things to share, but that will happen... hopefully... in another post). During our trip we continued our countdown to Christmas with books and here are the rest of them.

An Ellis Island Christmas (by Maxinne Rhea Leighton, illustrated by Dennis Nolan)
I picked this book up at Ellis Island over 12 years ago, during a trip with my Richmond crew. I wanted to start collecting children's books as souvenirs of the places I went. (This was the only one I've gotten... oh, well). Anyway, it is a sweet story about a little girl and her family coming to America to connect with her father. Hannah got a little worried in the middle, but it turns out well.

Winter Wishes (Disney Princess: Step into Reading book)
This one was especially for my "all princess" girl. It is standard Disney, but fine as a early reader book.

The Mitten (Jan Brett)
I love Jan Brett's stories and this is one of my favorites. A little boy, Nicki, goes into the snowy woods with his new snow white mittens. He drops one and some animals use it as a cozy place to curl up in... all at the same time.

Christmas Peek-a-Boo (lift the flap book)
Another cute book for Elizabeth... actually Grace still enjoys lifting the flaps of the books.

The Christmas Star (soft sculptures by Christine Potter, story adapted by Moira Butterfield)
This is the Christmas story wonderfully illustrated by soft sculptures. I found the illustrations really creative and a fun way to tell the traditional story. I appreciate stories that have the wise men coming to a house with a toddler (more true to the original).

This is the Stable (Cynthia Cotten, illustrated by Delana Bettoli)
I love the illustrations in this one and appreciate the fact that they portray the people as from another culture (again... more true to the original story). This book is a building rhyme (I don't know the official term) where each part adds to the part before, repeating as you go, so that by the end you are telling the whole story.

The First Noel: A Holiday Pop-up book (illustrated by Pat Paris)
I don't know where I got this book, but it is a beautiful pop-up book. The kids really enjoyed seeing what would pop-up on each page.

Room for a Little One: A Christmas Tale (Martin Waddell, Jason Cockcroft)
We just got this board book for Christmas from a friend. The illustrations are beautiful and it is a sweet retelling of the traditional story.

Pooh's Snowy Day

This is one of the classic pooh stories... so sweet.

On Christmas Day we read the bible story from the Big Picture Storybook Bible. I highly recommend this Bible for parents of young children. It is a great way to introduce them to the whole picture of God and His story.