It Finally Happened

Well, it finally happened. Caroline cut off some of her hair with scissors. She's cut a few holes in her PJs and has used scissors (or "zizzers" as she calls them) to cut paper, but never this. What's funny, or not so funny, is that we don't know where on her head the hair was cut. Also, I keep finding strands of hair in certain places. When we asked her if she cut her hair, she proudly said "yes!". Then she said "It's broken." when we showed her the hair that she cut off.

Skype, anyone?

For Christmas, my brother got us and my parents a Webcam so that we can "Skype" each other. I know, sounds violent. For those who don't know, Skype allows you to call another person who is set up to "Skype" and you can have a video call via your computer. Best of all, it's free! (unless you want extras).

The picture above is Caroline seeing both Grandmas on the computer screen in another room with another computer set up to Skype. Mom and Dad brought their laptop so that my brother could set us up.

Side note: This is really the first year Caroline realized that she has two Grandmas, since the last time they were visiting at the same time was last Christmas. During this Christmas visit, she went around saying "there's my 'nother Grandma". I think it was exciting for her. Even more exciting was seeing and hearing them on the computer screen! Now we hope we can get Grandma Ollie to Skype too one of these days!

Favorite Pictures

My brother took some great pictures of the kids. Here are just a few.

Merry Christmas!

Just before the Christmas Feast. We had a full table with special guests: Mom & Dad, Dallas, Richard, and Ollie. Mark and Richard made most of the meal. Thanks guys! Mom fixed yummy apple pie, pecan pie and pumpkin dessert. Caroline missed out on the meal -- she was taking her nap. (This was a good thing for us all...)

Family picture from later in the evening.

Christmas Eve

Peder and his friends at church before the Christmas Eve service.

The kids provided pre-service music which was special. Peder sang Silent Night in German (yes, in German) with the two friends sitting on either side of him. They learned it at school. They were great! Next year they need to sing it in Norwegian too!

Gingerbread House Part II

Peder wanted me to add this picture with the caption below:

Mmmm, this frosting tastes great!! What's for dessert??

Gingerbread House

Peder enjoyed making a gingerbread house this afternoon. He REALLY liked the icing. These kits are great! I assembled the house with the enclosed icing (held like glue) and Peder chose all the decorations. Caroline was taking a nap, so he enjoyed the activity alone.

Christmas Card Making

Peder had the idea that this year he wanted to make 3-D pop-out Christmas cards for ALL his classmates at school as well as his teacher and his principal. Mark thought it was a great idea but I had memories from last year when we (meaning ME) made about 4 cards and it was PAINFUL. I felt like a Scrooge so we proceeded. I collected the materials (Peder had very specific ideas about decorating the cards) and Mark did much of the preparation of the 3-D pop-out stuff. It was a huge success and I realized that Peder, in one year, has really gotten much more patient about putting together a project. Also, Peder's writing skills have really improved and he really whipped out those greetings. The girls in his class got reindeer cards and the boys got the blue snowman cards. His teacher and principal got red Santa cards. He was so proud. Guess we'll be doing it again next year! Here's a link to the book for anyone interested: The Christmas Book (by Jane Bull)

Nummy

Caroline got to enjoy some homemade cookies that I got from my school. The PTA members bake cookies and the teachers and staff bring home a sampling of the delicious cookies. It's a wonderful treat! I, of course, chose some cookies that I thought Peder and Caroline would enjoy. Caroline said, "It's mines.....nummy". I guess that's all the needs to be said about that!

School is out....yippee! Two weeks to enjoy!

Going Out

Caroline will wear anything outside of the house. She particularly loves wearing her ballerina tutu from Halloween (with ballet shoes). Her second fav is rubber garden boots. I guess she can get away with it at this age. I'm sure we'll be making even more comments about what she's wearing in years to come.

Here's a picture I took before we left for a friend's house to play one evening.

Our Shepherd and Our Sheep

Well, more Christmas productions for the Johnson kids. This morning was our church's Children's Christmas program. Peder was a shepherd again this year. This is great to him since he gets to carry a staff (we shepherd mom's gave strict instructions about not using the shepherd's staff as a weapon). Caroline was a sheep this year for the first time. She was pretty cute, but the term "wandering sheep" came to mind a lot during rehearsals or possibly Handel's Messiah "All we like sheep have gone astray...". I wouldn't have agreed to have her in the program at all since she's only 2 1/2 and it's a lot of work for me to corral her. But we were short on stable animals and needed her. Ha!

She will most likely be a sheep (or a cow) next year. Then, since she's a girl, an angel, then a townsperson, and if she's lucky, she could be Mary one year. There is a definite hierarchy in this Christmas program. So, she better play her cards right!

Mark was in it too. He sang with the adult choir and played his violin. I asked him if anyone thought Caroline was too distracting and he said all he heard was that she was so cute and adorable. I wonder....


She found baby Jesus! Wandering and more wandering.

School Christmas Program

Peder had his school's Christmas program this evening. It was a beautiful program with all of the kids singing song after song. The kids even sang some descants and sang in several foreign languages. Even Caroline enjoyed it. Although when Peder walked in to head to the risers in the front of the church, she tried to follow "my Peder". Here is a picture of Peder with his teacher, Mrs. Tesauro. He loves her.

Advent Workshop

Making an Advent Calendar. Peder is helping me put on a grommet. He likes using a cool-looking tool called the crop-a-dile.

Interesting ornament?

This morning we went to our church's Advent Workshop. Peder helped make an Advent Calendar (well, I made most of that) and he created a few "chrismons" or ornaments to hang on the tree in the sanctuary. It's always nice to slow down the pace and think about the time leading up to Christmas. Mark especially loves Advent (and Epiphany). So, in our household, the Christmas season lasts as long as possible!

A Holiday Recital at the Galleria

Peder played for shoppers and parents at the Galleria tonight outside Nordstrom Dept. Store. The Galleria has all day music this weekend and his piano teacher had an hour of it. So, Peder got to play three pieces: The Time Machine, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, and Jingle Bells. His teacher played with him for the first piece (smart of her, since he's very shy about playing in front of people). He played by himself for the rest. He was the first to play too (again, smart on her part since he could have easily changed his mind about playing). Twelve students played in all during the hour.

We prepared him very little for this in an effort to make it sound casual, and it was. But I didn't know the set up and before we got there, I commented to him that everyone will be walking around and not listening much, so he was not to worry. When we got there, though, he was surprised that there was a good amount of seating available for those who wanted to sit and listen during the recital. All the people who sat were parents and family of the players, so it was a supportive crowd.

The bottom picture is of him looking out at the audience after he was finished. He was supposed to take a bow, but I think he was just glad it was over. We were so proud of him!! He got a hot pretzel after the performance was over.

Terrible Twos?

Caroline is now 2 years and 8 months and we're wondering if the Terrible Twos are hitting. She had the worst tantrum ever yesterday evening. Nothing would please her. Even Peder tried to reason with her (unsuccessful). We even called the lady who watches her during the day (amazing lady, we all love her) to see if she'd forgotten to mention anything about the day. Nothing. Finally, we just decided it was bedtime even though it was only 6:00 p.m. It took both me and Mark to tear off her clothes and struggle to put on her PJs. She said she wanted to watch Barney (Imagination Island -- her FAVORITE). So, Peder retreated to another room (too much Barney for him) and Caroline watched the tape two times. This picture is her after watching Barney. She put her diaper changing pad in the kitchen with a pillow and her Nina quilt. I guess she thought she'd sleep in the kitchen. All is well and Barney is her hero. Maybe Barney is my hero, too.

Caroline, it's a good thing you're so darn cute. You've been quite a handful lately.

Lighting of the Square

Last night we went to the Georgetown, Texas Lighting of the Square. It was big fun for Peder. Not so much for Caroline until the end. She got nervous as it got darker outside. She's not much for crowded, noisy areas. But what's interesting is that she's a risk-taker and very outgoing in every other aspect of her little life. I had to hold her almost the entire time we listened to the Christmas singers and while waiting for the lights to come on. After the lights came on and the people dispersed, she came out of her shell and walked around. We went inside the courthouse where "country" Santa sat for pictures with the kids. The picture below is the closest she wanted to get to Santa. That was fine with me since I didn't want to stand in line.

When we drove home we looked for deer around Grandma and Grandpa's neighborhood. We saw several and Caroline called them doggies or "goggies". Peder called them doggies with sticks for ears so Caroline started calling them "goggies with sticks on ears". We get live entertainment everyday living with these two kids.