Frozen, Legos, and Icky Sickies

Well, it's been quite a week!  Last Sunday Sophie came down with a stomach bug that kept her home for half of school on Monday.  Tuesday she was fine most of the day but had a rough evening, which led to her staying home again on Wednesday.  Charles stayed with her both days due to my schedule at school that involved an 8th grade field trip to EMES and the Greek awards show with the 7th graders on Wednesday.  Sophie was happy to be able to return to school Thursday and even drink milk, as evidenced by this picture she wanted me to take as proof:

Notice her "Happy Birthday" sticker she's wearing.  Thursday she celebrated her half birthday with her classmates.  She took in white chocolate covered pretzels and a book to read.  Dad was supposed to read the book on Monday and then again on Wednesday, but the icky sickies led to numerous reschedulings.

While Sophie hung out with Dad on Wednesday she dove into his big box of architectural legos, which led to both girls playing with legos the rest of the week.  Here they are with their dad on Saturday morning:

They've also been very into singing and acting out the songs from Frozen.  We managed to capture a couple of them on video this weekend:





And finally, a shot from this morning, just to show the wide range of electronic devices they now have: iPods, headphones, Kindle, speakers for iPod, and Chromebook -- all being used at the same time!

As I type this, Charles is taking a nap in an attempt to get over the cold that both he and I have been fighting this week.  I had a two hour nap yesterday, followed by some time with the Yalla ladies for dinner out at Taste of Thai.  This evening's festivities will wrap up with me hosting book club for a dinner of chicken chili and cornbread.  Here's hoping this week is healthier than the last!

36th Birthday and Other Assorted Items

This is how cold it was Tuesday morning.  We had a few cold, cold days with windchill values around -20 degrees Farenheit.  That's cold, folks!  Hopefully the frozen streak will mean fewer pesky bugs in the garden this year.

Speaking of frozen, we celebrated my birthday on Friday evening.  Officially I turned 36 on Thursday, but we had a busy evening at church, not to mention that it was a school night.  So Friday we ate a delicious Mediterranean meal at Xenia and then rushed to catch the 5:15 showing of Disney's Frozen.

Turns out the movie didn't actually start until 6:45, so we went to Barnes & Noble to hang out for a bit.  Hannah picked out a new calendar for the year (castles), and Sophie found the book version of Frozen for reading.  This movie was fantastic with great music and a unique storyline about two sisters and their relationship, especially after the death of their parents.  I highly recommend it!

Saturday the temperature was a balmy 53 degrees, so the girls took the gingerbread house outside to knock it to pieces.  Charles and I had insisted that this be done outside (to keep from making a mess inside), and Saturday was finally warm enough to do the job.  Here they are just getting started:

I think they're going at it with forks.  I don't know what the end result looked like because I was out for a run to enjoy the mild weather.

Today is also pretty warm and the sun is shining, so I'm hoping for a run later this afternoon also.  In the meantime we'll keep taking care of Miss Sophie who has not been able to keep anything in her stomach so far today.

2013 Photo Book

Here is the photo book that we created to document our year:

Click here to view this photo book larger

Shutterfly photo books offer a wide range of artful designs and embellishments to choose from.

Florida vs Virginia

Two photos, both taken on Friday, January 3rd:

Can you guess which is which?

Hendricks Christmas 2013

The annual Hendricks Family Christmas-on-New-Years was earlier this week in Roanoke.  We arrived around 9am to find Granny home and Papa at the gym.  Chris and the boys hadn't arrived yet either, so we settled in and then Charles took Granny for a ride in our new Prius.

The kids opening gifts

Once they returned everyone else had arrived.  Granny had grab bags for the kids, so they did that before we opened the rest of the gifts.  They got bags, notebooks, pens/pencils, and assorted items.  Then we opened other gifts.  Granny was proud of herself (and I'm proud of her too!) for not overdoing it this year.  It's nice to see the girls appreciating what they received rather than forgetting about half of it because they got so much.

Adults opening gifts

The girls and I received Target gift cards from Granny and Papa, so after a long lunch at a pub place we went shopping with Granny.  On this trip I got a new and faster wireless router for the house, and the girls picked out toys.  Hannah selected a Heart 2 Heart girl from Afghanistan, and Sophie chose a pink lockbox and a Barbie doll with a dog that eats and poops, which I find quite gross.  We also went to Belk so Charles could spend his gift money on some new shoes.

Posing on the red ball outside Target

Once we returned to the house Chris and the boys had already left for home to take care of the dogs.  We showed off our shopping to Papa, and then the girls played with their new things while Granny and I got set up for a simple supper of sandwiches.

It was a good day, but I realized while preparing for this post that Charles didn't take any pictures of Papa.  Here's one just for fun that also happens to match one of his Christmas presents.

What?? This doesn't look like Papa?

Lazy Holidays

This Christmas break has been like no other that I've had for quite a long time.  We've had nowhere in particular to go or be, and therefore there's been all kinds of time to just relax, unwind, and rejuvenate. (Of course, Charles is busier than ever, so this isn't necessarily a break time for him.)

So I've been able to do a lot of reading, and it's been glorious.  Since I worked all summer, this time to relax has been especially sweet.

As you might imagine, the girls don't necessarily sit still for as long.  They've also done some reading but quite a bit of playing too.  The past two days the playing has been as a band called "The Girls."

They use their new Chromebook to play oldies and motown classics on Pandora while drumming along on their various percussion instruments.  Sophie's favorite is "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," while Hannah prefers "The Lion Sleeps Tonight."  Don't be jealous, but I received a free pass good for 20 performances.

I attended a concert at 1pm this afternoon, so this ticket now reads "19 concert pass."  The songs they're playing are classics of American rock'n'roll, and I love that they're learning to know and love them!

  

Hope you are finding some time to rest and relax in this holiday season also.

Christmas Day 2013

This has been the year of the Santa hat for Sophie. She even wears it to bed.

 
As you might expect, Christmas morning began early, not too long after 6am.  First we had to check the cookies that were left out for Santa on Christmas Eve.

A photo, a note, 4 cookies, peanut butter pie, milk, and a banana for good measure

Sophie's smaller note says, among other things, "I hope you get me what I want"

Santa couldn't quite eat it all, but he did eat his banana!

We opened stockings and found cards, needed items like toothpaste and deodorant, books, winter attire, fancy flashlights, and lots of candy.

Hannah with her stocking loot

Sophie showing off her Carmex lip medicine

They both got warm winter hoodies that can be worn multiple ways

Dad got his usual chocolate covered cherries, of course

After opening stockings we wanted to eat breakfast before diving in to the gifts under the tree.  Some of us felt that it took too long for the homemade cinnamon buns to bake.  While waiting some slept and some bounced off the walls.  I'll let you figure out which was which.

Oops, I might have given it away!

Next we opened our other gifts.  Charles got some new boots, a work light for his basement construction projects, and information on getting a back-up key for his new Prius.  The Prius is his primary gift for this year.  Randa got a new water heater (several weeks ago), some very comfy pajamas with skulls on them, a movie, and some fuzzy socks from the girls.  Hannah got some good winter gloves, and Sophie got some cooking items that she had been wanting.  They both got fuzzy socks they had been wanting, but the most exciting gifts are pictured below.

Mini American Girl dolls: Marie Grace and Rebecca

A Chromebook to share

They got the Chromebook because they've been asking more and more frequently to use mom's computer for schoolwork.  They use Chromebooks at school, so we thought that would be a good affordable option.  They also got another desk so that they can each have their own space to work at.  Then we spent a good portion of the rest of the day rearranging the library to accommodate the desks as well as Randa's new sewing table.  See the results below:

I like the new arrangement a lot

Sophie invited Grandma and Grandpa for a Christmas Party from 1-3pm.  So they came down after lunch to see the new gifts, read Christmas stories, and play some games.  After that they went to close up the cabin while we had a Christmas dinner of Shake-n-Bake chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, and rolls.

One of the highlights of this Christmas, for me, was feeling like everything was "just right." We didn't have so many gifts that it felt overwhelming, and the girls are actually able to play with and appreciate the gifts they received.  Since Christmas they've been busy making clothes and pillows and blankets for their new dolls, and the Chromebook has been a big hit as well (which they actually haven't fought over too much so far).  They've also had fun arranging their new desk spaces and feeling quite grown up in the process.

Hope your Christmas has been as merry and joyous as ours!

All lit up on Christmas morning