Or a lot behind considering the last "5 on Friday" was before Thanksgiving. I guess it looks like I have some catching up to do. So here it goes:
1. We battled Hand, Foot and Mouth with Neve prior to Thanksgiving. It was not fun and it forced us to cancel our "Thanksmas" with friends. But, Neve's attitude was amazing and there will be plenty of other get-togethers to be had.
2. The illness did not stop us from being able to take our family trip up to Minnesota (although it was undecided until the morning of!) the week of Thanksgiving. We drove up during nap-time and hit the Rainforest Cafe at the Mall of America for dinner. Neve was not a fan of the thunderstorms, but Ellie thought it was pretty neat. Afterwards we went to the Disney Store and the girls got to pick out a toy (and we may have picked up a couple for Grandpa to give the girls for Christmas as well--- love the Toy Story toys they had there!). Then it was time for Neve to go to bed and Ellie to go swimming. The one downfall of the trip--- Neve STRONGLY DISLIKES (because we don't say hate in our house) her pack-n-play. For the first time EVER, we ended up with a child sleeping in bed with us. The next morning the girls and I went back to the mall, while Nick went mountain biking (win-win for both of us!). I picked up some Christmas presents, and the girls and I went to the American Girl restaurant for lunch. Our lunch adventure was amazing, I highly recommend for parents of young girls that love dolls! The girls each brought their Bitty Baby and the babies got to each lunch with us (complete with little highchairs for the dolls). Both girls loved it, as did I. We will be doing that again! Then we took the shuttle back to the hotel (shopping bags, kids, stroller and diaper bag in tow) and the girls went down for a nap. By the time they woke up Nick was back from his bike ride and we were ready to head back to the mall for dinner. Ellie informed her Daddy that we needed to go back to the American Girl store because she "needed a few more things for her baby." Super cute, even if Nick thinks I set her up to say it (which I did not!). We grabbed dinner at Crave (awesome food) and made a trip back to the American Girl store. The minute Neve saw the store she had to be out of the stroller-- she loved playing with the dolls and all of their toys. Then it was back to the hotel so Neve could go to sleep and Ellie could once again go swimming. The next morning we hit up a favorite breakfast place of mine from when I was younger, The Original Pancake House. We had a great time and it was fun to take a trip with just the 4 of us. I do hope Neve sleeps a little better on the next trip though.
3. We celebrated Thanksgiving at my parent's house in Ames. I think there were 34 people total in attendance, Neve being the youngest. Neve skipped a nap, so we ended up leaving a little early with a 'not-so-happy' 1-year old.
4. The Saturday after Thanksgiving, Nick's mom and her husband joined us for our annual kumla dinner. We had lots of leftovers and were very full afterwards.
5. Last weekend we celebrated Christmas with my Dad's side of the family. It was fun to see cousins that I haven't seen in years, meet new little ones (this was the first time they had met Neve), and talk to those with additions joining the family in the near future (weddings and babies!). If I am counting/remember correctly, there were 11 kids ages 5 and under. Ellie had a good dose of 'boy', as there were only three little girls in attendance, Neve and her being two of them. Given the seven girls on my side of the family, this is very rare.
6. Our tree is up and gifts are pretty much purchased. I think we have one more to pick out and a couple left to wrap. I love not having to shop (aka deal with crowds) during the Thanksgiving-Christmas period. I also love looking at the wrapped gifts under the tree, although I did tell Nick that next year all gifts much fit into a shirt size box because they are the easiest to wrap.
7. On Saturday Ellie and I helped play hostess at the day-care's annual staff dinner. Ellie had a blast escorting her teachers to their tables at the restaurant. She acted like she owned the place! It was great to organize such an event for the people that take such good care of our kids throughout the year.
8. Neve is really into hitting. Sometimes she does it for attention, sometimes because she wants her sister to give her space, and sometimes because I don't think she understands the difference between gentle touches and not gentle touches. We are working on it.
9. I am excited for Ellie and Neve's upcoming Holiday Program at day-care. She has been singing the songs for a few weeks and keeps talking about the stage she is going to be on. We will see how Neve does, since this will be the first year she is involved and she is the youngest kid in the room (and the youngest that will be in the program). I just hope she doesn't see Nick or I in the audience.
10. Ellie and Neve love the snow. As soon as it started snowing Ellie wanted to go outside and go sledding. When Neve went outside all she wanted to do was help shovel. Lucky Nick, he has two little helpers when it comes to shoveling. Why can't they feel the same way about folding laundry?
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