Christmas 2013

We've had a busy but very fun week! Christmas was really special this year with our girls, who were excited and bright eyed about every gift they were given. This year Santa assembled some things and had them out in the open which was super fun! We are so glad Grammie and pa were here for the night and that Aunt MJ arrived to join in the fun just as Stella was waking Claire.  Watching the girls exchange gifts they picked out for one another was such a sweet and special moment!   We were      lucky to be able to stay home this year so we just relaxed and enjoyed the day. We played candy lane  about 6 times and watched Monsters University. The girls also raced around the house on their new scooter (which is now in the basement...) and played tea party. We rounded out the week with a sleepover at Grammie and pa's with the Hooley's!  It was definitely a special holiday season at the Todd's house!

Gemini: Ice Storm 2013

An ice storm has hit our region so we haven't left the house in two days!  It's been nice to relax and have some family time.  Yesterday we made a rice krispie choo-choo train and the girls had such a fun time decorating it with candy and eating it too!  Today Stella started to learn how to find and circle words on a word-search worksheet from a coloring book.  She's doing such a great job identifying letters and this was a great way for her to practice!  Fortunately we have not lost power.  Mommy's good friend Stacy messaged that her husband Aaron has traveled all the way from Maine to Potsdam for storm duty because so many people are without power.  We hope his work is finished quickly so he can return home to be with his family for Christmas!  We are looking forward to it at our house - Stella has been counting down the days and we are all excited!

Christmas Tree, Santa & Snow!

This week we decorated our Christmas tree and Stella thought it was so much fun.  Her excitement continued as we opened each box of decorations.  This weekend we went to a basketball game to watch Daddy's game and afterward the snow started to fall.  It snowed and snowed!  On Sunday afternoon we spent some time with Grammie and Pa.  The girls had fun playing games with them after a fun-filled adventure to Morley for a sled ride with Santa.  Both girls enjoyed playing in the snow waiting for their turn.  Claire really loved singing carols along the way.  We finished out the weekend making some homemade wrapping paper for some gifts for cousins.

Snuggles and Travels

We've taken a few weeks off from the blog because life has just gotten in the way!  Our evenings largely consist of snuggles on the couch before bed and lately once we are settled in not much else is accomplished!





We were fortunate to have the chance to travel to Ohio over the Thanksgiving holiday to be with the Hooley's.  The girls had such a fun time playing with their cousins!  We also stayed in Erie on the way home for the night and had some fun splashing around in the hotel pool.  Claire thought that was 'awesome' and told us so!

Relaxing with the girls on
Thanksgiving Break

In November we also spent an afternoon at an enrichment program sponsored by the North Country Children's Museum.  Claire had such a fun time playing with homemade dough and playing circle games with the other kids.  She's not shy and jumped right in!  Stella liked making foot prints on paper with paint!  (Fortunately she hasn't asked to do this at home!)










With Christmas just around the corner we put on matching dresses and went to the Canton VFW to see Santa for a few minutes.  Santa gave Stella a Dora board game and she thought it was really neat he knew she loved Dora!  She asks to play the game every day too so he really did a super job picking a gift for her!

Stella and I ready for the Christmas Cantata at Church

Then & Now

In honor of World Prematurity Day and in memory of Trey we thought we'd share a then and now picture of Stella.

Picture above snuggling with Trey in January 2010.  At a few weeks old she was not strong enough to eat on her own yet and needed a a little bit more time in the NICU.

At left learning how to ride a big kid bike this fall.  She's come so far and we are so grateful for her health!

Below playing parade (they pretend to watch...) with Claire-Bear!

Zzzzz's

We've had some sleepy girls lately, but then again, we've been sleepy too. We're happy to have an extra day at home this week thanks to our veteran's!  Today Claire slept until 10am and if she wants to sleep in tomorrow too that will be fine by us!  Last weekend we took a day trip to Ottawa to visit Ikea.  It was a tough trip with the girls but we managed to make it back with a new king size bed that's just perfect for all of us!  The girls sleep in their own beds for most of the night but when they do end up with us we'll have plenty of room now!

Stella has taken a liking to band-aids and will tell us she needs one - we usually go along with it.  She's also had a bit of a cough lately so we've had her take a breathing treatment.   Fortunately she doesn't seem to be getting worse.

We finished up another gymnastics class this weekend.  Claire didn't really want to participate this week but Stella loved her class and was happy to get her certificate at the end!

Rhyming Word Fun

This has been a quiet week compared to our last few months and the weekend was really nice since we enjoyed more snuggle time at home than usual.  The girls had a sleepover with the Britton girls on Saturday night.  The mom's and dad's went to a Halloween party so we missed out on the fun - thank you to our sitters for looking after the girls through all of the excitement!  We also made jack-o-lanterns and continue to look forward to trick or treating on Halloween night.  Stella has asked mommy to dress up as a witch with her.  Claire can't exactly say this so when we ask her what mommy will be for Halloween it often comes out more like a 5-letter word completely on accident which is so funny!  Claire-Bear is dressing up as a pretty princess which she says as 'pretty dress!'.  We know what she means!  It should be a fun night this year because Stella knows what to expect and tells us she's looking forward to it!  We'll post pics next week!

Walking with our girls!

This weekend we participated in our community-wide Crop Hunger Walk.  This is the second year we've walked in support of ending world hunger.  Thank you Aunt MJ and Logan for doing this with us, and thank you to our sponsors too!   We figure it's never too early for the girls to start learning about sharing what you have and helping others!
 

My Cousin Haley taught me this!

Playing with Mommy's glasses while
we wait for Stella to finish her gymnastics class.

This week we've also tried to sneak in some playtime outside in the evenings before dinner.  We also went to gymnastics class - Claire is still having trouble staying at her groups station and taking turns but is making some progress.  We were also fortunate to see some family from out of town at a birthday party for Laila, Randy's cousins little girl who like Claire just turned 2.  The girls had such a fun time playing with all the kids

I can carry this ball AND twirl my ribbon while saying "look at me!"

Finally some pictures

A fun crew!

We have a lot of special times to catch up on! We hope you enjoy all of the pictures we've gathered over the past several weeks:

The Bobsled ride at Santa Claus Land!

A few weekends ago we visited North Pole, NY  with Grammie and Pa to see Santa.  This attraction is absolutely perfect for little people and our girls had so much fun!

The icy cold North Pole

Stella making her own wooden toy car in Santa's Toy Shop

The girls dancing with some of the park characters

Stella with Grammie on the Train

The Perrin's visited from Hawaii and the Schuchhardt's visited from Ohio last weekend. The Parker's joined in all of the fun and the kids all had a super fun time.  We also had visits from Maddy and Kalub.  Our girls love to play with other children so the more the merrier!

Grammie planned an 'old-school' halloween party just like from our childhood.  The grown-ups helped the kiddos get excited by dressing up too.  The kids experienced a doughnut on a string eating contest and also tried to bob for apples.  It was great fun!

The girls were our little Princesses for the day!  Claire remembers dressing up for this party so now when ever we ask her what she's going to be for halloween she says (or rather shouts) "pretty dress"!
 

Double-fisting apples!

Skye taking a bite with Stella and Haley

Sleepy kitty!  Jordan loved dressing up so much
he didn't want to take off his costume!

While everyone was here we  visited Fobare's Fruits.  We've mentioned in a previous post how simply awesome this place is.  Everyone loved it!

Skye and Claire

The Perrin's

Claire on the tire playground

Barefoot and loving life!

 

 

Our happy girl really hurt her finger last weekend when
she pinched it between a folding chair.  She's a trooper though!
The Dora band-aids help us keep it covered (sometimes...)

 

 

We also celebrated Claire's 2nd birthday with a Monster themed party.  It was so fun being able to enjoy our special girls day with cousins!

Aunt MJ made this fun cake.  Claire was so excited
about Monster Mike!

Birthday favors and decorations!

Claire was super excited about here green monster cake!

This weekend Caroline, Caleb, and Esme came for a visit.  The girls had so much fun playing together.  On Sunday we climbed Pinnacle Mountain in Santa Clara.  This smaller mountain is a perfect hike for children and it was an absolutely gorgeous day to enjoy the Adirondacks!

Beautiful view from the summit.  (And holding on to our busy body Claire-Bear ReAlLy close!)