Super Stuff from a Sunday

Sunday was a really busy…but really good…day.

I think this is the first time I remember the girls waking up early, talking about something exciting.  Their clock usually turns green at 6:30, and it’s very rare I hear from them beforehand.  Sunday morning, though, it was in the neighborhood of 5:40 when I heard B “talking”.  It wasn’t long before A called me to take her to the potty.  When I went in their room, B said, “Mommy!  Tomorrow we get to start our countdown calendar!”  It dawned on me that’s what had them so excited.

I made cinnamon rolls (not homemade) for breakfast, and then the girls watched me get a chicken dish in the crockpot and a cake in the oven.

The girls played a little bit while I cleaned up the kitchen, and then they joined me at the kitchen table.  While I addressed holiday cards, they did some Christmas drawings.  We just got our Christmas books out on Friday, and that was clearly their inspiration.  They kept drawing manger scenes…they were there, as were different animals…and there was always a Baby Jesus.  Except sometimes Jesus looked like a cat.  (It’s the thought that counts, right?)

The girls made a Christmas collage for Daddy to take to work with him, and then they supervised while I put the garland on the mantle.

We turned on some Christmas music to keep us focused.  The girls weren’t too keen on *my* music (a collection of Top 40 hits through the years), but they were grooving strong to a kids’ sing-along CD.

Daddy came home and we had lunch, and then the girls watched me make icing for my cake.  They kept saying, “It looks like a wedding cake, Mommy!”  That’s gotta make a mama feel good.  :)  I made a couple of cupcakes for them, and they had a great time trying their hand at decorating.  I was impressed they both managed a letter “S” [for Sasha, of course].

While the girls enjoyed some “quiet time” with Daddy in the basement – watching a show on Animal Planet – Mommy ran a couple of quick errands.  When I got home, the girls were playing a made-up game of Duck-Duck-Goose.  Since they only had two players, they enlisted a big exercise ball…when the ball was the “goose”, they had to work together to push the ball around the imaginary circle…which drove them into hysterics.  I was in hysterics, too, watching them playing together.

At last it was time to put up the Christmas tree, and the girls were ecstatic.

They were on Carpet Watch, picking up any of the “needles” that fell from the tree as Daddy and I assembled it.  They were pretty patient through us putting on the lights.  At last it was time to decorate!   

They got each ornament out of its box, and rang every bell that we had.  They kept wondering which bell Sasha would like on the bottom of the tree, to ring with her tail.  They laid out a couple for her to examine, and she graced us with her presence and sniffed the bells, which thrilled the girls.

The girls did a really good job of hanging the ornaments.  Baby A kept asking me to pick her up so she could reach a higher branch.  I did that once…before discovering she’s too heavy for me to hold like that for very long!  Gulp.  That then became Daddy’s job.

It was so cute to hear the girls say, “Oh, I remember this one!”  and, “I remember making this in the three-year old class!”

This year, for afternoon snack, the girls got to have the cupcake they’d iced.  I couldn’t believe they remembered their snack from December 1 LAST YEAR, when we put up our tree.  “We had popcorn last year, Mommy.  We sat in the foyer and ate while you and Daddy put up the tree.”  Wow!

Even on such a busy day, we’re creating memories, alright…and I love it.