I can do it myself...

Rease is becoming a very independant young lady. She likes to pick out her own clothes and get dressed herself. Once in a while I step in and help her make a decision that looks right but most days this is what we get...

The collared shirt on backwards and tucked in with gray stretch pants hiked up. I can't argue with this one.

Haircuts

I've been really hoping that my girls would decide to get their hair cut for a long time now. It is so hard to take care of with it being so long and straggly and both of them are constantly fighting me when it's time to brush hair in the mornings. But I wanted them to make the decision about their own hair and though I wanted to take the scissors to it while they were sleeping many times, I held on until they both decided they wanted to cut their hair. So just before Christmas they both came to me and said, "we want to get our haircut mommy!" Gladly. Here are our before and afters:

Rhen in all her cuteness. Her hair is thinner than Rease's so wasn't quite as hard to keep up with. The problem with Rhen is that she gets food, syrup, yogurt, suckers or whatever else is around in her hair. So there is always a sticky, yucky mess to comb out. I was happy to get that all under control with a nice haircut.

Plus it was time to even it all up and get it to one length.Rhen chose the stylish pink car to sit in while getting her hair done.

Aww - the wonderful after "do"

Super cute hair girlfriend!

Rease was very excited about getting her hair cut. She obviously had much more to lose than Rhen, but she was ready for it.

Look at that crazy long hair!

When we got to the shop we asked about donating Rease's hair and if she had enough to do it. Turns out you need 10 inches or more and Rease had plenty to spare even after they took the ten inches.

10 inches was just above those cute little braids.

Holding up her hair that she was about to donate. She was very proud that some special girl would get her hair and be able to use it. She thought that was pretty cool.

After. What a change!

With her hair cut I think she looks much older. It is a darling haircut for her!

It was a day of change at our house but it's a nice change! You two girls look so cute with your new haircuts!

Live Nativity

Last night Caleb, Hayley and I took the kids to the Live Nativity in Alpine. It was a very cold night but we had a great time and the kids loved seeing the story of Baby Jesus in real life.

I have to admit, I wasn't really prepared for the cold. Luckily Caleb grabbed hats for the kids at the last second so they could stay warm. And yes, Liev has a pink and brown hat on - it didn't seem to bother him! Hayley and I left straight from work and I still had my scrubs on. I found out they are not the warmest set of clothes that I have. By the end of the night I was pretty much frozen.

We rode in a horse trailer to get up to the nativity. The kids thought that was very fun.

Baby Liev was the warmest one of the bunch. He was wrapped in this blanket and held the whole time. Best seat in the house buddy!

There were real camels and they were very cool to see. We also saw sheep, donkeys, swans and goats. Roman soldiers were keeping the peace.

But what we really wanted to see was Baby Jesus. He was in this stable with the big star pointing the way.

Overall it was a great night and a fun experience for the kids. Next year - dress warmer!

Sleepy

Yesterday we were at Costco and Liev was obviously super tired.

Out. Just like that.

O Christmas Tree

For the last couple of years we have had a real Christmas tree. It's actually been fun to go pick out a tree every year (just at a tree lot, nothing fancy) and the kids have fun choosing their favorite. We went the day after Thanksgiving this year to the lot just in Draper. It had a good selection of trees to choose from (though we did find out it was a little expensive!)

Rhen chose this big, round tree as her favorite one.
Rease like this skinny one.

Liev was just happy to be there with dad.

We settled on a tall skinny tree this year and the tree man went to work getting it all trimmed and ready for us.

We got it home and it was the perfect height for the front room - just about 2 inches from the ceiling. This is the finished product after the girls helped us decorate!

Merry Christmas to all!

Letters to Santa

The girls wrote letters to Santa this year with help from Aunt Hayley.

Rhen asked for a new baby doll.

And Rease wrote this all herself - see if you can understand what she asked for.

(A dress up box)

We mailed them off to the North Pole so we'll see if Santa thinks the girls have been nice or naughty this year!