Zoo with Cousins

While my cousin and her two little ones were still in town for Christmas, we took the opportunity to see them one more time and headed to the Zoo!  It happen to be really cold that day, rare for around here right now, so we bundled the kiddos up and headed out for some zoo fun.

William and Callie didn’t stop running then entire time we were there, which equaled to great naps that afternoon!

She sat for a quick second, but was back at it in no time!

Our favorite spot was of course the giraffes, we LOVE feeding them!

This one particular giraffe was being very friendly so we took the opportunity to get our picture with it.  I love the progression on the photos, so fun!

We weren’t quite ready to leave so climbing on the lions at the exit extended our visit/play time!

When we get the chance to play like this with them it makes me sad that we don’t live in the same city.  Were hoping they’ll move here soon, but until then it gives me a great excuse to head to Clemson!

Making our Christmas Ornaments

One of my favorite things to do with the girls during Christmas time is making our ornaments at the Mad Platter.  These are special treats for our house and the grandparents, and any excuse to paint something Callie loves. 

We let them pick out two colors (versions of red and green) to paint, however, Callie stuck with the red and made sure all her pieces were covered

I’m loving that our tree is filling up with all their sweet creations from each year!

Their first savings account

Right before Christmas I took the girls down to the bank to set up their very own savings account, with their very own money.  Callie was very excited about this, and I guess Chloe was too- just excited to be going somewhere!

Our banker, Mikey, got us all set up

Callie brought her piggy bank so she could count her change in the coin machine.  One rule in our house is that you save 10% (savings account), give 10% (church), then you are allowed to spend the rest on what you’d like.  In this case, Callie wanted to buy daddy’s Christmas present, a pair of brown shoes and a watch.  Its amazing what $20 bucks can get you when you own a clothing store ;)

I was glad  both girls enjoyed the experience of putting money in the bank and saving, just hope this will continue for a long time to come!

For Stevie

Sunday night we lit a candle in memory of Stevie. My cousin Andrea emailed all of us (The Rowlands) earlier in the week and shared with us a group called The Compasionate Friends. It's a national self-help support organization for families grieving the death of a child. In response to the need for grieving families to have one special day during the difficult holidays to remember, honor and reflect on the lives of children who have passed away at any age from any cause, 15 years ago they created the Worldwide Candle Lighting. It is usually held the second Sunday of each December, but since we just learned of this after the fact, she chose the third Sunday. At 7pm we all lit a candle to honor Stevie. We all still think of him daily, still ake for his parents, still know that he's better where he is now even though it's hard. So, for Stevie we remember and well never forget.

Our Tree

I love that our tree is filling up with all the girls' handmade decorations!

Santa

Last Friday we headed out to the Lights At the Zoo. I love going with the girls, seeing their faces with all the decorations is priceless. While we were there we came across Santa! I didn't know he would be there and since we didn't get to see him at PJ's this was perfect. Callie was so excited to finally get a meeting with St. Nick. We discussed what she would say- "Two Teddy bears, one for me and one for my sister." This is what she has wanted now for a while from him and I really have no idea why. So, it was our turn to see him, Chloe starts screaming (which I knew she would) and Callie walks up, gets in his lap, and puts her hands up to her face because she is so shy! I could see where they talked for a bit but no idea what was actually said. After her time was up she ran to us all excited and said she did tell Santa about the Teddy bears. Santa has it easy this year with our crowd, not sure about in the future, but I think he'll take it for now. :)

PJ’s with Santa

One of our favorite things to kick of the Holiday season is to go to PJ’s with Santa.  We went again this year with high expectations, however, left not knowing if we’ll go back next year.  I’m not a big crowd person, especially with the girls, and this place was crowded.  Also, having little curious hands with expensive merchandise in arms length stresses me out!  I digress…  We walked in and immediately hit up the little gym booth.  The girls loved it!

It took some coaxing to get them out the Little Gym area, so balloons were just that thing!

Love this silly girl!

We walked in to see Santa, however, the line was an 1 1/2hrs LONG! Yikes…. So we settled on Cocky instead, which as you can tell Callie didn’t mind one bit!

We did some arts and crafts

and cookies with a book. 

Then headed home.  Might just take Callie next year, might be a little more manageable… might.