Super Stuff on a Monday

We officially kicked off the holiday season at our house this week.  We’ve been reading Christmas books, singing Christmas songs, and making Christmas goodies.  In addition to all the goodwill, here are a few more things that made my week super-fabulous!

1)      Baby A asking me how to spell words as I was making supper one night.  She made a huge list…some of her friends’ names, and anything she could see, including kitchen, computer, and sleigh.  I was so impressed at her determination!

2)      The girls coordinating to sing me a song when I get in the car.  On several occasions, the moment I’ve shut the door, the girls have burst into song.  It’s usually the “ABC Song”, and then they discuss what’s to come next.  It’s adorable how they “perform” for me!

3)      Silly Day at the girls’ preschool.  The girls were tickled pink to put their shirts on backwards and their hair in dog-ears.  And they liked their dog-ears so much, they’ve wanted to wear their hair that way several times this week.  The cuteness is OK by me!

4)      Flipping through radio stations in the car, I paused on the news.  The report talked about Romney meeting with Obama.  “They’re talking about the election!” B said.  How do you know?  “I just heard Mitt Romney!”  I love her eagle ears and her elephant-like memory.

5)      The girls love to hear me tell them “stories from when they were tiny.”  A couple of times this week, they’ve pretended that with their baby dolls.  B was asking A, “Tell me a story from when Abby was a baby,” and A was happy to oblige.

6)      The girls guessing at words I was calling out the spelling…both their names, my name, Hubby’s name, our cats’ names, “Mommy”, “Daddy”, “Alabama”, “New York”…I was impressed!

7)      The girls have been really interested in letters and spelling lately.  I remarked that they’d be reading in no time.  “Do you want to learn to read?” I asked them.  B responded with a resounding yes, but A said, “NO!  I want you to read to me!”  HA!

8)      After a blissful nap for BOTH GIRLS, we took them to Panera for a special treat…a Christmas tree sugar cookie.  I got them set up at the table, while I waited for the hot chocolate and coffee I’d ordered for the hubs and me.  I got to watch my three loves from afar…Daddy conversing with his baby girls as they enjoyed their cookie.  It was a perfect picture out of a magazine, at least in my book.

9)      At Panera, the girls wanted to try Daddy’s hot chocolate.  Once it cooled, I held the oversized mug for them each to have a sip.  How sweet it was to see the light in their eyes at that honor, and how cute they looked with whipped cream mustaches!

10)   We attended our local “Dowtown Lights Up” ceremony on Friday night.  The girls remember going last year, and I love that this is becoming an awesome family tradition for us.

11)   We put up our Christmas tree on Saturday.  The girls watched relatively contentedly as Daddy and I strung the lights, and they did a surprisingly good job of hanging the ornaments.  Their favorite is a music box bell that my grandparents gave me in 1977.  They’re old enough to wind it themselves now, and I’ve heard its tinkle-y “Jingle Bells” countless times in the past couple of days…the sweet sound of my childhood.

12)   While the girls went for a ride with Daddy on Sunday morning, I got out my nutcracker collection to decorate our mantle.  The girls were so excited when they came home.  “Make them bite my finger!” Baby A kept begging, a memory from last holiday.

13)   In Advent calendar events, we put up our Christmas tree and our outside lights (thanks to the crazy-warm weather on Saturday!), and we made our annual batch of Chex mix on Sunday.  The girls would have loved that anyway, but seeing it written on a card (even though they can’t read…HA!) seemed to make it even more special.

14)   I’ve been amazed the details – and scripts! – the girls remember from our Christmas books…it’s been a full year since we last read them, but right away they were correcting any word I missed.

15)   And…because I don’t wanna forget a thing…here are some of my favorite quotes of the week:

Playing "school", B said:  "Sissy, what do you want to learn about?"  A: "About being nice to each other."  B: "I don't know anything about that."

Playing “racing”:  "Let's stay together, Sissy," B suggested, and A agreed. I think that kind of misses the point of "racing"...but I love that they're looking out for each other.

A, pretending:  "OK...we're to Mongolia! Let's get out of the car!"

B, pretending:  "Sissy! Let's have a party today! You get the treat bags ready!" Something about that being their first thought about party planning just cracks me up.

"Sissy, you're so conciliatory." It was out of context, but I'll still give Baby B an "A" for effort.

B did something, and I heard A say, "No, Sissy. Mommy and Daddy would not appreciate that." HA! Right, she is!

So thankful for my super-fabulous girls!!!