Today Elise and go will go to the Win-Bins and have a relaxing day, eating and putting together puzzles and watching the girls unwrap gifts gradually. I'm not sure they could take opening them all at once!
They stayed here yesterday while Emily and Ryan went to the Issaquah Costco, which is no place for children OR adults on Christmas Eve or any time. They were allowed to open one gift to bring over here, and it was a couple from Grandma and Grandpa Bindert - who know these girls very well.
Graysen got an Elsa Lego set. She couldn't wait to take it out and get started. She took the instructions, which she called her map, and started organizing.
She's like her dad and is going to love things like this. I ended up holding the map for her, and letting her see what she needed and finding it. A few times when I couldn't find the piece, she would immediately go to it.
Katherine's gift was a Paw Patrol book and figures set with a play mat. She was so thrilled over it and set them up for an adventure.
She really wanted Graysen to pay with her, but Graysen was concentrating on the Legos, so she brought some of her pups to visit Elsa. They did pretty well playing together, but then Layla decided she was feeling left out. Those little pieces are hard to resist for a kitty.
I worked for what seemed like hours on this treehouse for the girls. I was excited at how well made it was, all wood and no plastic. All the pieces were there and all the screws were accounted for. The pieces were not numbered, though, and there was a subtle difference in each piece that was impossible to figure out from the diagram. I probably did each step at least twice, and I'm still not sure that door handle is supposed to hit the banister rail.
There's a slide and a swing and a swinging ladder that leads to the trapdoor.
When I finally finished it, it seemed just right. The drop-down wall snapped back in with a satisfying click instead of dropping down immediately. It just took a little tightening and settling of one piece. The door doesn't stay closed well, so I'll see if Ryan can put a little magnet on it.
The girls spent a few hours here yesterday afternoon, and I hid it well in the sewing room. They'll open the rest of it tomorrow night - 3 little dolls, like this Muddy Puddle one.
They're about the size of Barbies, but they are dressed like little girls and do little girl things - like playing and exploring and drawing - instead of grownup things like Barbies do.
They're getting a camping set and canoe and life vests as well as a dog and cat and all their equipment as well as some extra outfits.
The only thing Graysen asked Santa for this year is a Barbie Camper, so maybe Barbie will let these girls use it.
We went to a Crafternoon Thursday hosted by a Rooster Valley friend, Isabella, and her mom Tanya. It was a welcome activity for a rainy afternoon. Emily was in pain with some muscle problems in her back, so I took them.
Katherine and Graysen were both shy at first because there were some girls they didn't know, but another old best friend was there, Brooklyn with her mom Carrie.
Isabella, Brooklyn, and Graysen were together for a couple of years at Rooster Valley and became friends, but this year they go to 3 different kindergartens and haven't seen each other since last spring.
Isabella is the cutest, giggliest little girl, but she has a thing for scissors. I think she had recently cut up the living room curtains - twice - and that morning had given herself this haircut.
Once when they all trooped upstairs, one mother asked Tanya, "Do you know where all your scissors are?" It did get pretty quiet at times, and we were all glad to see them come back with their hair intact.
Tanya is very brave and very optimistic. She had a long table set up with paints and brushes, ornaments, glue, stickers - everything these girls get excited about. Look at Katherine sitting there like one of the big girls!
As I mentioned on Facebook, Katherine refused to use any color except black. When you ask what her favorite color is - and even when you don't ask - her answer is, "My favorite color is purple and pink and sparkly and all the colors of the rainbow." I'm not sure what prompted this gloomy stocking.
I pointed out the holly and the cuff and showed her more paints, but she was having none of it. It remained black! I did show her now to do white dots, and she was fascinated with that and decorated it a little.
Graysen used a very un-Christmas-y baby blue with dots and stripes on the back, but did a great job, and they were very pleased with them.
This is what things looked like early on.
The highlight of the party for Katherine was the appearance of this beautiful black cat. They immediately bonded and kissed and hugged several times.
The whole thing exhausted me, just seeing all that energy and listening to the mothers discuss potty-training and sleeping and skiing lessons and time-outs. I could sit back and relax and know that my duties ended right after the party, and I could take a long nap.
This is about all I could take of the eating and drinking part, and this was before the hot chocolate got spilled and cookies were crumbled all over the floor.
Wrapping gifts is now an adventure instead of just a chore.
Katherine and I stayed at their house today so Elise could have a morning to herself and I thought I would help Emily out a little bit with laundry and stuff. It was a fun day, and I just walked around the house taking pictures.
I'll see what I managed to capture.
This bear has been mistaken for a pig before. He was in Graysen's nursery for awhile.
This is such a good picture of the family at Ryan's work party Sunday afternoon. Katherine was there but not happy about it. Graysen was across the room, standing behind me. Correction: That was last year at the same party. Katherine said Graysen was not in the picture because she was "taking care of herself," as far away as possible.
Puzzling is on hold for lack of time lately, but maybe we'll have a little more time to work on it.
Graysen has an unusual fear of Santa Claus, and it all started here.
And got worse.
This set started out many years ago when I saw these advertised at Arby's in Meridian. I went and got as many as I could, and then Emily found some for sale last year to complete the set.
I was thrilled to see a pot of wassail on the stove this morning and had a cup - maybe two.
This is harder than it looks, especially with a cold and runny nose you have to keep wiping.
I get to sleep late tomorrow, and that's great to know, even if I will probably be up at 5:30.
