The Not-So-Typical Christmas...and other things

I can't believe I'm actually taking the time to blog...I have been taking fewer and fewer pictures lately for whatever reason.  That's not like me at all.  It has been a long two week vacation from school and the girls are VERY ready to get back there.  They're so bored.  They have managed to pass the time, though, with various things.

Now that Paige likes to color, she does it all the time.  She actually sat down at the little pink table and made a masterpiece the other day.

And then she got up and colored the chair.

We spent Christmas Eve with Marshall's family (at his Aunt Linda's house).  Luke's wife, Brittany, has two little dogs, and this one was Reese's favorite.  She laughed and laughed every time he came near her.  She wound up chasing him all over the house.  Usually she shies away from animals, but she loved this little doggie!

I got no pictures of Paige this night.  She was being a tired, grouchy, cranky pants who wanted to be held until she fell asleep.  Good times.

Just a few cute pictures :)

She did show interest in the tree this year.  She liked playing with the branches and even knocked off a few ornaments along the way.  I had to glue an elf back together a few times, as well as an antler, an arm and a head.

She even added her own ornament when I wasn't looking.  I just happened to find it.  I think it's adorable.

Christmas morning...our Santa stash probably looks a little odd and not what you'd expect for two little girls.  However, he brought things they really love....like a desk swivel chair for spinning and riding around the house, some colored plastic bottles for Paige because she loves to shake them and look through them, blankets and pillows, a fun blow-up chair, a pad and pencils, and balloons!  He knew how much they both love balloons.  He even brought Reese a little mirror because she loves to look at the reflections of different things.  No Barbies, no princess stuff, no frills in this house.  It's just not who they are or what they're interested in.

Paige went straight for her pad and pencils.  She likes to hold one in each hand...

And it's also fun to color write on the back.

Chopsticks?

Cool bottles to play with...

More bottles!

How do I get this balloon to stay down?

Time to go for a spin in the new chair...fun times :)

Still going.

Her big toe makes me smile ;)

Grandma Darla brought over this cute doggie bean bag chair.

Finally, Reese surfaced to check out the Christmas loot....but only to grab her little mirror and test out the bean bag.  She's watching TV in the mirror.

And the whole operation eventually moved to the couch.  My children's minds work in mysterious ways....

Pip has been doing a LOT of trampoline jumping these days...she gets some air, too!

And the desk chair is getting some use....for watching tv, pushing up and down the hallway and just random sitting.

These girls have actually been fighting over the chair, and it has been wonderful seeing them interact!  Santa knew what he was doing when he only brought one chair for them to share.

Watching TV in the mirror again....it's right in front of her, but it wouldn't be Reese-like to do things the typical way :)

The vacation continues....more TV watching from the new chair...

And more trampoline jumping amidst all the Christmas chaos...

Paige was a big help in scooping up the fallen tree needles.  She liked to sit here by the window and push them into a big pile under the tree.

What a pile of lazy couch potatoes!  Pillows, blankets and two crazy sisters actually sitting together.  Well, for them, this IS together.

I can't believe Paige wore these for a few minutes...at least long enough for me to get a picture!

Reese got this cute little dog from Grandma Darlene and Papa David...she played with it for a little bit.

Then she played "throw the paper" back and forth with Grandma...that was fun!

There's always time for love and kisses :)

Meanwhile, Pip was giving Papa David the crazy eyes....haha.

This was interesting...Paige kept pushing Reese, like she was instigating a fight.  It was quite funny to watch, considering this has never happened before.  They never seek each other out to play.  Reese just kept laughing and running away from her, like she was a little annoying puppy.  We laughed, and I took pictures...haha. I'm not condoning fighting, but any interaction with them is GOOD interaction!

A few funny Instagram pictures....we were in the car, and Paige was not happy about stopping at a red light.  As you can see, she was pitching herself a little fit.  I was getting on to her, telling her to calm down....it's just a red light, and Reese laughed and thought it was funny that her sister was getting in trouble.

And one last cute one of Miss Pickles looking adorable :)

That's it for now.  Have a great week!