Christmas Eve Day

Christmas Eve Day is one of Claire's favourite, and most dreaded, days of the year.  Everyone is so excited, and having so much fun!

But keeping them busy all day is no small feat!  Kipling is leaving a trail of toys behind her as she moves from one activity to the next....

Cairo is happy with the usually forbidden treat of Cheesies, some paper, scissors, and glue. But oh, what a mess! LOL

Edith is...perhaps not the best role model.... ;)

 

Samara is perfectly happy and cooperative today though, and not making a mess at all.  No, all she wants is for Clarie to read her a story.

And then another story....

And also this other story....

Emily has the dollhouse out, and she can play for hours with that!  It is just that she is a bit excited about going skating this afternoon, and not very good at telling time just yet.  So she has to, occasionally, ask Claire how much longer....

Flake has "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" on the record player.  To be honest, I think she just likes the wahoo-dooray song, since she has been playing it all morning!

But let's be honest, who is going to look at that happy little face and complain? LOL

I hope you are all having an equally joyfully chaotic (or peaceful, if that's your preference) Christmas Eve Day.  :)  Just one more sleep!

ETA, 2:38:  The tracking on the Fairyland package says "Out for Delivery."  The temptation to sit down in the lobby of my apartment building and watch for the mail truck.....  LOL

Nursery In Progress

Kipling and Cairo, just so you know, really object to their room being called "the nursery" anymore.  LOL  Claire has cleared out their room, and they have all moved into Emily's room while she works on theirs.

Sebastian was able to get a friend of his to make some bunk beds, and Claire is painting up an old crib for Samara.  But the part they were most excited about was the news that they were getting a wardrobe!

The second it arrived and they got the okay to check it out, all three ran into the room:



But Kipling had some bad news to break to the others:



There is no doorway to Narnia in there.



Cairo had to double-check, just in case Kipling missed it.

No Narnia.

Just a closet.

Claire is going to have some serious explaining to do!  (And suddenly their previous excitement about the new closet will make SO much more sense to her.... LOL)

Little Drummer Boy...err...Girls!

Sometimes you just have to make your own fun!  Gathering up anything that can be used as a drum (or a shaker, for Flake), and marching around singing and drumming to "The Little Drummer Boy" seemed like a good idea to Emily and the rest!



With enthusiastic clanging!!



And Shaking!



And Banging!



And some waving around of a star!



 Claire wants to know what exactly they are up to.



Kipling thinks that is a bit of a silly question....  ;)

I'll be home for Christmas...if only in my dreams....

 For the first time in her life, Claire's brother Sebastian will be away at Christmas time. He had tickets to come home, but there is a missing baby dragon, and he was needed for the search. Claire understands, and even agrees with the decision. She's really glad for Skype, though!

The little ones find the whole Skype thing a little intimidating at first, but they quickly get used to it once they see Sebastian on the screen. The Pukifee have made him a picture for Christmas.

Emily made him something out of Lego. It has a diving board and a desk and chair in the same room, which she seems to feel he'd appreciate. :)

Sebastian can even continue the tradition of reading a chapter of "The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus" to everyone each night. They love it, though Samara never makes it through the whole chapter, and they get a little worried when the Awgwas come into the picture!

Even though he'll call again tomorrow, it is still a little sad to say goodbye....

~~~~

...I now feel guilty for selling Sebastian (MNF Ruth)...LOL  Poor Claire!!  And everyone!

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas....

Yesterday was my last day of work till January 2nd.  That is a truly awesome thing.  I try to take at least a week off at Christmas every year, because I think the best Christmas present you can get is time to do the things you love!  Whether that is baking with my sister's kids, or setting up some doll pictures. :)  You can see that Flake wasn't being much help though, she was just trying to get into the presents I think!  Pixies!  Can't keep them out of anything!

The residents of Forest Hills are once again getting ready for Christmas, as you can see!  Emily has organized Samara and Kipling to help her make a new garland for the tree.

Edith is very helpful, as always! I hope Kipling has a good grip on that string!

Where's Cairo in all this?

Decorating the tree Properly, of course!  She knows just the right spot for the big yellow star ornament.

All Your Chairs Are Belong To Us

Not dead.  One of my beloved nephews passed on some sort of virus, and it's been circulating through the family.  Oy vey.  We really have to reconsider teaching kids to share, you know?  LOL  Three weeks later and a course of antibiotics, and I'm still coughing!

I got my order from Brennil (Her Delicate Strength) last night, and I'm so thrilled with the items.  It took me a long time to pare down my wish list for Claire to match my budget, but now she has a blouse, dress pants, a Spring/Fall Coat, and a winter coat!

You can see her modeling her new Business Casual look here (very useful for meeting with Donors, you know!):



But what's going on in the background there?

Not Even Easter Is Boring

Emily showed the Pukifee how to "hop like bunnies" yesterday, and they have been largely hopping since!

Samara seems to have decided to teach Bunny how to Hop as well:

I don't think Bunny "gets" it.



But Edith obviously thinks the endeavor is quite interesting!

But then apparently a Bear broke into the place, and snuck up to say "RAWR" very loudly...



Fortunately Edith is not indimidated by bears in any way. ;)



Happy Easter, everyone! :)

Passing the time on December 23rd...

They have come up with a plan, and are looking for a specific record, with one particular song:



Emily carefully starts the record:



The cheerful tune of "Rocking Around The Christmas Tree" is heard. Just what they were waiting for!









LOL Few things are more amusing than Little Kid Dancing!

 I wanted to add two more pictures onto the end of this, but sadly Claire's body is still not here. It might arrive tonight though! :D

Movie Night

The Princess Bride is one of Claire's favourite movies.  So when a film version arrived in the latest donation box, she dug out the ancient projector, attached a sheet to the bookcase, and they all settled down for a Movie Night!



Claire thinks the movie is about Wesley and Buttercup, and the power of true love....



Everyone else thinks the movie was about Inigo.  This is the sight that Claire came back to after putting away the movie: Five in a line brandishing toy swords, and three of them yelling, in synch  "Hello!  My name is Inigo Montoya!  You kill my father!  Prepare to die!"

...this was not the sort of lesson she thought they'd get from watching the movie.  ;)

And I'd say she's got about zero chance of getting this lot to bed anytime soon!