The Festivities

What a year...

Other than the snot that runneth over this was by far our easiest, most mellow, most fun Christmas yet.  We started off at my mom's for Christmas Eve.  Good food, good company, and the thrill of knowing Santa was en route.

Every time I see these two I wonder why we don't get together more often. They slip right into the role of BFFs seamlessly. Ryder and Maddie share a love of trains.

Opening the loot from Nonna.  These two girls got their own baking sets.  The cutest baking sheets, muffin tins, rolling pins, etc from Sur La Table.  I tried to convince my mom that the stuff should stay at Island Dr so they could bake there.  No dice.

Allie has been obsessed with wearing this little bunny hat.

After staying just a tad too long (read: late...past bedtimes) we headed home and waited for Santa.  And boy did he arrive.

Uncle Chris, Aunt Sophia, Aunt Sonja, Aunt Jamie, Pofo, Nonna, Zaide, Baba, and Zach showed up to watch the present opening.

Unfortunately for Jamie, Chris arrived before her so she got a nice view...even more hilarious was as he was mooning her Baba and Zaide rolled up.

Allie has apparently been taking notes from her dad:

The girls totally lucked out this year.  Barns, medical kits, artsy stuff, iPad, you name it.  They cashed in.

But the real reason Sonja, Jamie, and Zach were all here was the big reveal of their gift.  (sam couldn't/wouldn't wake up)

THE LADIES

After present opening and hanging with the chickens for as long as possible we went to go and gorge ourselves on more food at my mom's.  Everything was relaxed and perfect.  Allie enjoyed her favorite past time of putting on shoes.

And then home to play with the hens.  For five hours.  I kid you not.  Maddie stayed in the coop for five hours.  Allie played upstairs with her new barn from Pofo while Kip and I dismantled the tree.  After noticing that things were a little too quiet I went to check on Allie.  She had crawled into bed and was taking a nap.  Who do you belong to child???

And for the grand finale.  Monday we headed up to the Davis' cabin for Zaide and Baba Christmas.  It's so nice to not have to rush around on Christmas day.  And plus, who doesn't like a whole extra day of Christmas?

By far my most favorite Christmas gift.  Zaide and Baba worked with the girls on making this beautiful garden art.  It's residing in the plant in my room right now and makes me smile when I look at it.

After the present opening Maddie wanted to show off her skillz to Zaide so we headed up to the magic carpet at Snoqualmie.  This girl rocked it.  She wanted steeper and deeper.

Hadley was a little hesitant at first but warmed up to the idea.  She took a few "runs"

I mean, literally, she ran down the hill.

And that's it.  Merry Christmas and thank you to everyone who made this year so special.

Winner, Winner*

Aunt Sonja, Aunt Jamie, Uncle Sam, and Zach all worked together to put together a very special gift for these two girls.

Everyone always asks what to get the girls.  I never know.  I do know they have a TON of toys so I'm always in favor of experiences.  I do know I said specifically do not get me any animals, Kip will kill me.  Little did I know that Kip had given his blessing and the Internet searches were going for coop plans.  So, being totally unaware of the project I decided to "remodel" our upper yard.  Kip kept suggesting I wait until after Christmas so that he could help me.  I said, "No, no. It's okay.  I don't mind."  And he was like, "No really. I want to help."  I didn't listen.  Upper yard done.  4 yards of gravel, 4 yards of topsoil.  All thoughts of chickens living up there DASHED.  Whoops. 

I was finally let in on the secret after I went to pick up Nonna to go and watch the girls ride the ponies.  There was definitely construction going on.  And it definitely looked like a coop or bunny hutch.  My mom and Kip played it cool and said that Zach was building something for Sonja.  I mostly believed them but was starting to wonder.  When we returned Sonja started jumping around like a crazy person trying to maneuver her 92 pound body to block a 6' coop.  It didn't work. 

Christmas Eve I got to go with Sonja and Zach to pick our ladies.  After much consideration we went with four Buff Orpingtons.  They're the Labrador of the chicken breeds.  Totally docile and excellent egg layers.  They still grossed me out though.  Part of Kip's deal to my siblings was that he would have nothing to do with the chickens.  I would be their caretaker.  (Thanks for the opt-out clause) 

So here goes our journey into the world of chickens:

As soon as we got the chickens home I immediately began to worry about their demise.  I checked up on them a million times, wondered if I should bring a blanket out, panicked that rats or raccoons were going to eat them, you name it...I was thinking it.  When I went to do one final check on them they were all cuddled together on the grass.  I didn't know what to do.  I thought they were supposed to sleep on their roosting bars.  Hello Google? Inept Chicken Farmer. What do I do? Really? Pick them up and put them on the bars? Okay... I didn't want to set Kip off and ask for help so I crawled into the coop, touched one bird and my heart sunk.  It was cold.  And dead.  But then, HEY THERE, no you're not! 

Maddie is IN LOVE.  That's an understatement.  She's literally spent about 5 hours in the coop with them today.  I don't know if I need to worry about rats/raccoons or more of a "Lenny" type death.  Just kidding.  I think the love is mutual.  She's learned how to hold them, herd them to pick them up, and dump out all of their food so they can hunt for it.

The only breaks she's taken from holding the chickens is to run in breathlessly to give us updates. It is quite possibly the cutest thing ever. 

So thank you everyone for pulling this off.  It means so much to me.  And Kip, thank you for always having a soft spot for my crazy dreams. 

*I don't think these are ever going to be for dinner.  Names soon!

p.s. and for the record Kip seems to be in love too.  He's already making plans for them.

We did it!

We finally made it back to The Bravern to ride ponies.  Allie hopped right on.  And then burst into tears after about 3 laps.  I think she got a little overwhelmed.  But as I type this she's said "there's the ponies mom" about 6000 times.  She says she loved it.

Maddie on the other hand, panicked.  And then my heart sunk.  Because we were going to have to talk about Love for another two years.  And I knew she really, really wanted to go.

So we watched Allie

And after a short pep talk, and a deal that allowed Mama to lift her onto the horse we were off.

And she was SO happy.

And so was I.

Allie shook off the tears with a quick ride on Rudolph.  And then fell in the one and only puddle within a 100 mile radius.

Trying to wear 'em out

Maddie's on Christmas break which means we're spending a lot of time running around outside trying to burn off energy.  It's been cold, but dry (fortunately).

Cougan/Davis Christmas Dinner

Another fun year at the Cougan/Davis Christmas Dinner.  We played a hilarious game that I am definitely going to have to steal.  Everybody had a famous person's name taped to their back and had to guess who they were by only asking yes or no questions.  I was the big loser but let me tell you Lil Wayne is not easy!

 

2009

2010

Our Week

Both girls love to hang out by the Christmas tree.  Maddie is definitely in to redecorating it.  Allie just likes to follow Maddie around. 

I love to follow them around when they play together.

Allie will I am sure at some point come down with mono.  She loves to give kisses.

Maddie made a gingerbread train at school.  Her teacher said she was very methodical about adding her candy pieces.  I laughed.  Mrs. Hestad insisted that Maddie carefully dipped each piece in the frosting and placed it just so on her train.

She was SO proud of it.

And couldn't wait for Kip to get home to tell him about it.  So we called him.

Allie was a little too busy eating her 100th bowl of cereal of the day to pay much attention.  Thank god I got pictures though because someone named Rudder jumped on the table and ate the whole thing.

Yesterday our friend Kathi came to visit.  She did a small craft with Maddie and brought over some beautiful handmade ornaments made completely out of sugar.

They're hung high on the tree.  Hopefully Rudder-proof.