The Crafts

Did you hear that? I think I heard someone yelling for help! Have no fear because Bat Girl is here!!!! The cutest super hero in the entire universe!

Welcome to costume week! It's a week of blog posts talking of nothing but fun dress-up clothes. After almost a full month of daily blog posts counting down the days to Christmas I feel wiped of any new material and it just so happens I took a whole bunch of pics of Kate modeling her dress-up clothes. I've decided to kick off costume week with a little Snow White. And it just so happens that Miss Claudia has a matching Snow White outfit. Aren't they sweet! Oh, and in case you were wondering I am typically pushed into the role of the Evil Queen and Prince Charming...but I don't have a costume for either. 

It was gray sweater day for the Crafts on Christmas day. Matt gave me a beautiful, gray cashmere sweater and I just happened to give him a gray sweater as well. And to top it off, I had already picked out the girls' outfits the day before...gray sweaters! (I have no idea why my head is cranked so funny.  I'm not exactly photogenic.) It is always fun exchanging gifts. I love watching facial expressions and reactions. Kate obviously liked whatever it was she opened here. Kate was the recipient of many, many dress-ups clothes. (I have the most hilarious pictures of Kate in all her outfits...but I'll save that for a future post.) If CJ sees Kate dressing up then she has to do the same. CJ loves her big sister more than any Christmas present out there. CJ also loves being tickled... and booing Grandpa. Surprise! It was a super fun Christmas morning at the Craft farm. I need to get pictures from my mom's camera sometime soon so I can share some of Christmas at th...

I'm really not sure what happened on that last blog post. I posted pictures.  They were on my blog.  And then they disappeared. Blogger and I are in a bit of a spat so maybe it was revenge? Anyhow, I have them up and running now!  Or so I think. It almost looks like CJ has a halo around her head in the below photo but I can assure you, it is occasionally undeserved!!  :) The girls and I have been doing some serious playing here the last two days. Serious. Intense board games, countless tea parties, we've taken dozens of walks around the house pushing strollers full of baby dolls.  We've fed, burped, changed and put many 'babies' to sleep. We have colored, played guitar, drummed, banged on pianos and consumed hundreds of wooden donuts. We've shared lots of smiles and fallen victim to several 'fights'. And we've (I mean I've) packed up dozens and dozens of old toys and hidden them in closets. I know I'll see those toys again but not for ...

Did you have a good Christmas? We did. It was fantastic. The skies let loose and snowed for 12 hours straight. That made for extra happy kids. Christmas Eve included church and a Christmas party at my in-laws. That was honestly the best picture I captured of these two Christmas Eve monkies. Miss Claudia was beyond wild at church. We could have dropped her off at the zoo and the zoo keepers would have mistook her for a wild animal for sure. Christmas early morning was spent here opening gifts. Everyone had a quick cup of milk before we began our travels. We had two other celebrations to get to that morning. Lots of family and lots of fun. We have now returned home. Tired. Messy house. Things everywhere. And yet, our hearts are full. We had a fabulous Christmas and I wouldn't have changed a thing. Today we haven't left our jammies because we are too busy playing with toys. The girls and I are loving every minute of it. Hope you too had a v...

Hahaha...I just realized there is a 'Happy Thanksgiving' coloring page in this photo! What poor timing. Also in the photo is CJ pointing to our new pet goldfish. You see, every Christmas Eve Eve Matt returns home from work with various gifts including goldfish...which usually don't live past Christmas. Baxter the Cat and our girls LOVE them. Speaking of love, the girls (Kate specifically) are in love with the idea that Christmas is one short day away. Let the fun begin!

It is quite literally a winter wonderland out there today. (Well, at least it was the day I took this photo.) In fact, Kate says to me, "Mom!  It is snowing dogs out there!" I think she meant, "it was snowing cats and dogs."  Still funny! We did brave the crazy snow Monday morning but we also spent a lot of time drawing, cutting and gluing. Here Kate is creating her first ever book. An artist / writer in the making! Notice the unusual collection of things on the table? Dollhouse baby, telephone, batteries (pink and silver ones), Barbie clothes, Fox in Socks book, and leftover lunch dishes!

This past Sunday evening Kate performed in her first ever Christmas program at church. She was, of course, an angel.  Literally and figuratively...ok, mostly figuratively. Per usual, Kate had more than a little spunk in her and spent a chunk of her time hitting the angel wings of a young boy while singing Christmas carols.  She also had some self inflicted shoe dilemmas. All in all, a successful Christmas program. And Kate sparkled through the whole thing!

In their matching jammies, the girls took turns 'flying' on Matt's feet. They also tucked blankets into the back of their jammies and pretended to be 'Super Girls!' So sweet and so fun!

Hungry? We nibbled on hotdogs the other day. All you need is one funny, little girl, a blanket, ketchup and mustard. These girls thought the hotdog game was super fun. And now our tummies are full.  Time for a nap!

Someone has been beautifying herself to prepare for Christmas. Lookin' good, Miss Claudia!

Christmas is only seven days away. And this morning I found some very excited girls who cannot wait any longer. Thankfully I held them off from opening any gifts...for now! And yes, it is apparently brown sweat suit day in our house.

Question: Blizzard? Answer: Puzzle! We love puzzles in our house. During last weekend's blizzard Matt pulled out this 1000 piece puzzle to celebrate a fall blizzard. Matt, Kate and I worked on it most of Sunday. Yes, Kate. That girl was so proud to help out.

Kate is full of tricks. She is an acrobat one moment and a ninja ballerina the next. Her new favorite trick is a head stand...an assisted head stand. This girl is overflowing with confidence.

A shot of little kid contemplation...

Baby, it's cold out there! Although the girls and I have not been subjected to it much...mostly due to CJ being sick. She had a bad reaction over the weekend to the antibiotic presribed to her. We are now trying a new anitbiotic and praying this one will work...WITHOUT side effects. Stay warm! You gotta love fall in Iowa.  -2 degrees this morning! And yes, it is still fall...in case you didn't know that.  Sigh.

Don't let this picture fool you. It's not Halloween.  And the photo wasn't taken on Halloween, either. My wee ones love to dress up.  Especially Kate. And if Kate does something that looks awesome then CJ has to do that awesome thing, too. Aren't they sweet! Oh, and that soccer ball! Balls are a hit in this house...soccer, basketball, football, golf.  If it's a ball then you will find these girls playing with it!

Miss Claudia was sick this week.  Poor thing! She has / had strep throat. And she slept A LOT!  Which is totally unlike healthy CJ. As a result, Kate and I had a lot of time on our hands. So we built ourselves a little something to play in.   It actually looks like a homeless shelter you might find under a bridge, but we decided to give it a happier name...our 'clubhouse'.

At first glance it may look like Kate is auditioning for a rap video. Nope. Rather she is ready to head outside for a jog.  A pretend jog. We really don't make her run!! She loves to put on her 'running shoes', my headband and Garmin (GPS watch) and run laps around the house. She is going to be a runner...just like here mama! Speaking of running... I want to invite everyone and anyone to the first ever Cocoa Go-Go 5K Run and Walk. Saturday, February 12th at 9 a.m. Race starts and ends at my house and you get all the hot cocoa you can drink. No registration fee, no t-shirts and no prizes BUT you get the fun of running in the snow with me and all your friends. It will be something to tell your grandkids someday. Why February 12th? I decided I needed something to motivate me to continue running through the winter and I obviously can't chicken out of a race that I am 100% responsible for. So I hope to see you then. If you decide to join me, please let me know.  Hope to s...

Remember that Iowa State basketball game we drove to last weekend? Well for some reason ushers were handing out giant Fred Hoiberg heads. (He's the men's head coach.) Not sure why.  ISU was feeling goofy?  Coach Hoiberg is full of himself?  Someone hit print on the wrong pic? Either way, we came home with several Hoiberg heads on sticks. And someone has been having a lot of fun with them...and I'm not talking about me or the girls or the cat.  :)

The other day while Kate was attempting to dress herself CJ stole Kate's undies. She then took off 'running' with Kate close behind. It was a good 10 to 15 minutes of giggles. Such goofballs!

Following my friend Julie's advice, we played a new game at our house. Wax paper skiing. It was a hit by all. We wrapped and taped wax paper onto feet and slid around the living room carpet. The girls had so much fun I wanted in on it too. And guess what?  It is really fun for adults as much as it is for kids. I think I  we will be wax paper skiing again sometime in the near future! Oh, and if you didn't notice, there is a new post just below this one. You must check it out!