Advent: Weeks 2 and 3

Two weeks of fun coming right up - try to keep it quick. We've been doing a few more Christmas-y crafts, saying some Advent-appropriate prayers, got the Christmas cards mostly out, went to Aunt Maria's Christmas Concert (she can sing!), shopping is DONE, and gifts are wrapped! 

 Bonus: LOTS OF SNOW!!! Daddy and Miriam made snow ice cream for everyone.

 Tasty stuff.

We're really getting into the season now! And the tree. Oh the tree. Especially the tree. It's up...but it's pre-lit, ten years old, and MANY branches aren't lighting up this year. Daddy is so busy with work that we threw on a strand of lights to fill in the "bald" spots and moved on. Perhaps a new tree is in our future.

BIG news! The girls went to their first movie! We saw Frozen, even Felicity who did surprisingly well. She just looked around and sucked her thumb for the first two-thirds of the movie. Then Mommy and Felicity went to that little entrance hallway where Mommy could still see the movie and Felicity could "walk-pace" holding onto Mommy's fingers. We've recapped the entire movie scene by scene at lunch, in the car, at supper, in the bathtub, etc. every single day since. Watched everything on YouTube about it. Colored pictures of the sister princesses. Greeting each other as Oaken: "Whoo-ooo, Vivian, whooo-ooo." Getting borderline obsessed. Wonder what the Easter Bunny will bring them...

We also celebrated Grandpa's birthday. He needed lots of help blowing out his candles...

And Christmas cookies! We made and decorated several kinds last week to give to the neighbors. Vivian ate iced the cookies.

 Miriam was the master sprinkle technician.

Daddy took over quality control. Cookies were approved for shipment around the block.

And not related to Christmas: Felicity found a blueberry on the floor this week one morning. Somehow it had gotten out of Vivian's oatmeal. Baby was thrilled and hummed to herself while shoveling it into her mouth before Mommy caught her. Blueberry on her face and hands, the floor, her clothes. There MUST have been more than one down there.