The fancy side of Franny

For some time now, I have let Franny follow her own fashion instincts. And with very few exceptions, I have kept my opinions to myself regarding her sometimes questionable ensembles. To be fair, in most recent months, her choices have become increasingly appropriate and have taken the most careful regard to color and pattern matching, as well as the ever-critical shoe selection. On this recent trip to see Santa, she broke new ground, insisting on donning some accessories, as well. And, although in the end, she decided not to see Santa this year, she did get many complements on her scarf while we were in line!

Storytime

One of Franny's favorite books right now is Pinkalicious. Here, she reads quite a bit of it to Cole.

Untitled from T on Vimeo.

New skills

Franny and Cole have been doing a lot coloring together since the snows arrived.  Today, I went over to see their drawings, and found that Franny had written Cole's name (almost).  I know that "Cole" is one of many words that she can read, but I'd never seen her write it spontaneously on her own, before.  Great job, Franny!

Another snow day....at home

As we continue to watch more and more snow fall and accumulate, we are thinking less about how fun the snow is, and more about how much we'd like to get out.  Today, we were once again home bound, but the kids had fun sledding down our street.  With the snow too deep for Cole to walk in, and our feet never touching the layer of ice we know accumulated yesterday,  even with warming weather it is hard to estimate when we will be able to navigate out of here, again.  The snow is beautiful, but we are ready for some Oregon winter weather, again!

Snow daze

The joy of snow...

 

Trimming the tree

Decorating the tree was a very big deal at our house this year.  Both Franny and Cole really got into putting the ornaments up.  It's always an adventure with young kids--Cole also really liked taking them down, while Franny insisted on putting a minimum of three ornaments on each branch.  Our tree definitely looks like it was decorated by a 3 and a half year old and an 18 month old, but we wouldn't have it any other way!

O (very wet!) Christmas Tree

Our wonderful Christmas tree outing tradition with Grandpa was extremely brief this year, due to cold, windy, rainy weather.  We were fortunate enough to have a conveniently timed, short reprieve from the pelting rain long enough to find a tree, cut it down, and quickly be on our way.  Franny and Cole didn't seem to mind the light rain, mud, and rain, and especially liked Grandpa's chainsaw.  But, they also seemed to be glad when we once again in dry, warm clothes.  While it was unfortunate our trip was rushed, and our haste probably resulted in our selection not being the best tree at the farm, it was still very special to continue our tradition with Grandpa.  And, as far as Franny and Cole are concerned, that's all that matters, anyway.  How right they are!

To build a gingerbread house

Last year, our gingerbread house collapsed before we even finished decorating it. Whether it was too much frosting or faulty construction on our part, needless to say, it was a little disappointing...

This year, however, we gave extra time and attention to assure that our structure was strong--after the initial assembly we waited 8 hours before decorating it, to make sure the binding was dry. This time period was excruciating to Franny, who had already been waiting and waiting to construct our house since we brought it home weeks ago. But, it was worth the wait, as Franny had a great time decorating, experimenting with applying frosting, and eating all the bits and pieces. Of course, now the question is When do we eat it? For Franny, having a cookie house covered with candy that is only to look at is almost too much to bear. Hopefully, once we start our holiday baking, her torture will be eased.

And what did Cole think? Well, eating the frosting was probably the high point...

Free time

Franny, taking a lesson from her mama this morning, spent some time "resting" and reading a magazine. Silly girl!

Thanksgiving

Who adores who more?--it is really hard to say.  Either way, it's definitely one more reason for me to give thanks this past holiday.  These relationships are priceless.