Working For The Christmas Card

We wondered for a while - I'm not going to say how long -

how to top last year's Christmas card. We were

certain we couldn't, but we wanted to do

something a little unique, so.......

we decided to dress in old fashioned looking

golfing clothes.

We enlisted the help of Mimi, and after a quick

lesson in camera mechanics, we went off

to Forest Creek Golf Course. The day was

getting away from us, and it was very

chilly and windy.

It was pretty much impossible to get Royanne

to look at the camera. We were entertaining

several groups of people!

Hat on............facing away from the camera......

........hat off.......

.....running off, facing away from the camera.
Hat on!

Snazzy Bruce.

Posing with a golf cart.

Hat on, facing the

camera, eyes downcast!

Facing camera, hat on...............

mommie making dumb face,

daddy not facing the camera!

Trying to reason with her, I guess.

Ro facing camera, daddy has hat!

Ro running away, Bruce cracking up...........

Where's the kid?

Hat on ground, Royanne throwing pink

golf balls.............parents about to give up!

So, when we got back to Mimi's, we took some

pictures in front of the fireplace, but we looked

really stupid dressed up in golf clothes, in

front of the Christmas fireplace, so

we ditched that idea.

So, after it was all said and done, Mimi had

taken about 85 pictures.


* * *

Playtime

Liam and Royanne enjoyed playing together the

other day when I watched Liam for Kay.

Royanne was feeling a little puny and was on the

floor with her silky and Liam joined her.

After a few minutes he said he thought she

needed a back rub. Such a sweet cousin!

Liam brought some foam kits with him and spent

a few moments making a mask with shells, waves

and an octopus. I made one with flowers for

Ro but she said no way!

Abby joined them later and Ro showed off

her new stool. The three of them got on it

(in it) at the same time later on,

and at least 2 of them were screaming!

* * *

Kay and Craig went on a little vacation, and I watched the

kids some while they were gone. The pjs are

too cute, huh?!!

Liam challenged Royanne to a game of

swords aka plastic snap together beads.

He bipped her head, she bipped him back.

This went on for quite a while, and they

were both hysterical.





Liam faking pain.

Silly kids!

Twinsies!

Royanne, Line One

Royanne was really confused when Bruce went back to

work. As long as she can remember, he's been

home with us. His back injury was December of last year!

So, when he calls, it is a real treat for her:

she gets to do one of her favorite things

(talk on the phone)

with one of her favorite people

(Daddy).

Even when the phone rings and it is not him, she'll

keep on saying "Daddy? Daddy?"

Speaker phone is really fun!

Climbing Into Mischief

I've decided it is time to put the stool away

in the garage for a while.

She keeps on climbing up on the island!

I even lowered the platform one notch, but she

is not hindered. When she climbs, in

addition to the possibility of falling off, she is

able to reach items closer to the middle that are

not intended for her.

Can't turn my back for a second! She is so fast!

The purpose of the stool was to give her a place

to be while in the kitchen with me, besides

between my feet. I thought she could color

or work with her puzzles or Noah's Ark.

After she climbs on top, she'll bang her head on

a number of assorted cookware.

Then there was the morning she threw the lid

to the butter dish in the floor and

FINGERPAINTED with it!

A Few Words About Fashion

This post is odds and ends about clothing or accessories.

When I found out I was having a girl, my friend Julie,

who has 2 boys, thought I'd enjoy a girl - she

said you can dress her up and do things with

her hair. That's true but now I think probably

boys cost less.

Reason:

Last year (when it didn't even fit!)

(.......see? Girls DO cost more!)

I found and bought this cute little coat.

It's a cotton blend, but it is meant to look like

tweed. Royanne really likes it. We're hoping there

will be a Sunday that is it cold enough to wear it.

Royanne has a cute little book she got from her Mimi,

called Love From Woolly.

It is about a sheep that knits items for her

friends. It is a lift-the-flap book. Ro

really likes it, so to make it more fun,

I gathered items for her to put on while I read the

story: socks, gloves, a hat and a scarf.

The hat was a handmade gift from her great-great-

Aunt Jessie last year so I asked Aunt Jessie

for a special scarf to go with the book.

The gloves are actually infant mittens on a string,

but easier for her to maneuver.

Since Royanne has given up her famous

headbands, I decided to make her some clips

that I could possibly slip in without her

noticing. I needed alligator clips. I couldn't

find them anywhere!

I was telling our friend Miss Jo about it and she

had some and shared them with us.

I barely got them placed for this picture before she

started taking them out.

Bathtime Bear Towel

MY

SWEET LITTLE GAL!!!

Christmas tree decorating, candy canes & cookies

This whole Christmas thing...........

with sour faced Santas at the

end of long lines, and too warm

weather, alternating with cold, damp weather....

Royanne doesn't know what to make of Christmas lights

decorating houses and yards,

the Christmas tree in the living room.......

the one in her bedroom....................

.......but she was up for taste testing the cookies

meant for Santa in a few days....

*

Playing with the wooden garland.

She looks like she caught Santa coming

down the chimney!

*

Slinging jingle bells.



Liam taught Royanne - against my wishes and
instruction - that the candy canes were real candy and
therefore edible. He took them right down off the tree.
I told him she really didn't like sweet
things, but that if she found out she
could unwrap & suck on them a bit and drop them on
the floor (and leave a mess for mom) that she would.
She now has a new hobby----unwrapping canes
and licking them a while and dropping them,
JUST LIKE I SAID!!
I have sticky messes and shards of candy ground
in the carpet!!!
(but it's okay...)



All wrapped up.



"Let me deck the halls!"




Royanne with her pink tree......complete
with baby lambs in the branches to match the
bedroom's decor, and pastel colored candy canes.




So, we decided that it would be better for Royanne
to not place breakable ornaments on the tree.
I strung around garland that looks like candy, and Bruce
brought home boxes and boxes of candy canes. We gave Ro
a quick lesson in hanging them and let her do the rest.

As you can see, the tree has patches of heavily

decorated branches!

She had so much fun decorating and then

clapping for her handiwork.

When some fell on the floor, she'd just

leave them there. Some fell from higher

branches, too.

Some point upwards, some go down.

None were moved or rearranged.

Such talent!

So sweet!

At the end of the day, she placed her

bedtime bottle in the tree.

She is so funny!!

The finished product.

Toothbrushing

Before it started getting cold - all three days of it! LOL-

I would let Royanne sit on the counter with her feet

on the sink when we brushed, but it wasn't working out

too well with footie pjs and shoes.

So, we got to borrow a stool from Abby's

house (with instructions to return it so she

can use it for her own chil'ren).

It works out ok, I guess, since she isn't

at the spitting stage, and she can reach

the water if she stands on her cute

little tip toes.

She's trying her hand at independence, and
toothbrushing is a struggle these days!