Out of Hibernation

It's been a long winter, but spring is officially here!   True, the weather is still rather cold, and it does not actually feel like spring yet . . . but there are signs all around that the beautiful weather is around the corner.  We've been hibernating a bit this winter.  We stayed fairly busy with school, Bible study, church, errands, etc.,   But when we had down time we often entered hibernation mode and stayed in our pajamas all day.  We snuggled up for reading books together, we did a lot of painting and drawing, and we made a lot of chicken soup and beef stew and hot cocoa!

The Christmas holiday kicked things off.  We had a wonderful time in NY with our families, including a fun trip to Great Grandma's house.

We had a little snow this year, but not enough to use the brand-new-bought-two-years-ago-but-never-been-used snowblower.  Leah mostly likes eating snow and trying to catch snowflakes on her tongue.  Eliana is very ambitious about snow, wanting to build giant snowmen and forts and have snowball fights.  There is inevitable disappointment when all of those things can't happen with a mere 2 inches of snow.  But, she did make a nice snowball that has been in our freezer since January.

Leah went to her very first pajama party at the library. Eliana begged and pleaded for Leah to be able to go with her, on what was previously a "big girl" privilege.  However, once we got to the pajama party Eliana was out of sorts and had several meltdowns over pretty minor things.  She refused to join the group for the final photo, and spent most of the party moping.  I wondered if she was rethinking her decision to share her special privilege with Leah, or maybe just having an off night.  Sometimes it is tough to be four and a half.  Leah had a lot of fun though!

 

 

The highlight of the winter for these girls was probably the acquisition of these beautiful fairies.  The girls both love the Tinkerbell movie, and the Secret of the Wings movie (when Tinkerbell meets the sister she never knew she had!).  (FYI:  Tinkerbell and the Lost Treasure, and The Great Fairy Rescue = Way Too Scary!)  When Eliana saw that Sara had gotten these fairies as a Christmas present, she fell instantly in love.  In fact, on Christmas day we hardly heard a peep out of those two as they played with the fairies for hours.  It was just the motivation we needed to help Eliana to learn to fall asleep by herself.   Eliana will proudly tell you that she earned these fairies by going to sleep by herself like a big girl.  It's not exactly by herself . . . but it is a big improvement.  She has a parent tuck her in and stay with her for 15 minutes, and then it is up to her to fall asleep by herself.  Ten nights of this earned her the fairies.  The fairies don't look quite as beautiful as when they first arrived.  They've switched their clothes all around, not a single set of shoes is together, and Tinkerbell herself went missing about a month ago and has not resurfaced . . . but the fairies are still loved and played with every day. 

Here is Leah reading the fairies a book about themselves.  I wish you could hear the adorable narration that went along with this picture!

And of course the fairies (as well as some beloved family members) showed up for Peter's birthday.  Which also happened to be the weekend of the long awaited Laurie Berkner Concert!!!

Another highlight was our trip to Chuck E. Cheese.  I vowed I would never take the kids there . . . . but thanks to persistent commercials on Nick Jr., the girls were begging and pleading.  It was loud, crowded, and filled with fluorescent lights.  They loved every moment of it.  (Until they both had full blown meltdowns together when it was time to leave.)  Do you like how they both stick their tongues out when they're concentrating?

Leah had herself a half birthday.  She is two-and-a-half years old, and growing and changing every day.  She was gifted a harmonica (just like Eliana's), and her very first necklace.  Eliana and Leah enjoy playing together all the time and are extremely close.  Eliana understands Leah's speech better than anyone else and often is called on to interpret.  Eliana and Leah play imaginatively together all day long, constantly pretending to be different characters and acting out various scenarios. Leah has also developed a very strong will, and her own ideas and agenda.  This means that where she would previously acquiesce to Eliana, they now have more to argue about.  While they do argue a lot, the love between them is strong!  Eliana is affectionate and protective towards Leah, and Leah wants to do absolutely everything Eliana does, and clings to her in new situations for security. 

 
Leah loved her little gifts, but nothing beats Daddy's blackberry (and Daddy's lap!)  (Except for maybe Mommy's armpit, which is still an ongoing issue around here!!)

Eliana had her first attempt at a sleepover!!  Look how excited these two are . . . they certainly don't look like they're thinking about going to sleep!!   Eliana actually did fall asleep pretty quickly.  But Seniah, although she tried to be brave, missed her Mommy and went home a little after midnight.

 

We've had a blessed winter, and we're excited to come out of hibernation and into spring.  We're about to lose the bathrobes . . . so stay tuned for parks, hikes, and short-sleeve shirts!