My baby is 5.

Okay, I realize Alette is not a 'baby' but I'm sentimental and getting all misty eyed at the thought of her growing up. Five seems like a milestone-maybe because it implies 'school-age' and a clear distinction from the toddler years. This morning Alette stated 'I don't really feel too much different, I've only been 5 since I've been awake so I need to get used to it.'
Today was all about Alette. She got a new crown at breakfast (as every princess should), did not have to do school and but instead got to go to the Please Touch Museum with Andy. After a short rest, Grandma and Grandma Terry (and Pop-pop later) came over for dinner and festivities. Alette made it easy for me this year-she wanted Kraft dinner and an ice-cream cake.


Yummy ice-cream cake. The day before her birthday Alette was quite upset that I hadn't made her a reindeer shaped ice-cream cake. I'm not sure where she got that idea from. I was on the verge of getting annoyed with her ingratitude but Andy saved the day by stating that I had made a cake in the shape of a reindeer egg, which is round of course.


Modelling some of her princess finery.



Basically the night consisted of Alette and Abria convincing the grandmas to read story after story, then play-act, play-act, and ...play-act. On the morning after her birthday Alette was cuddled up in our bed and asked to come downstairs with me when I got ready to go running. (she claimed she was hungry). So we went downstairs, I made her toast-which she kind of looked at, then stated that really she was just bored in bed and wanted to do her new puzzle.
Today her and Abria have played princess for most of the day-there was a short break in the action when friends came over to decorate cookies. Then the boys took over and tried to use the tiaras as missiles. Ahhh, the world of boys...I cannot even imagine.

Our Gingerbread House

First thing in the morning (ie. 7am), Alette is hard at work decorating.


The beginning stage.


I feel victorious! This year the walls remained standing, the roof did not cave in, and the candies did not slide off. The secret? some crazy icing recipe I found on the internet that hardens to a cement-like consistency after a few minutes. I love it! The girls had a blast eating candies and even putting a few on the house. We originally had the house displayed on the coffee table, which proved to be too much of a temptation for Abria as she was constantly trying to lick the candies.

First Snow

I want to sing 'Dashing Through the Snow' when I see this picture, except it is such an embarrassingly small amount of snow. However, combine a dusting of snow with freezing cold temperatures all week and it amounts to a BIG deal here in South Jersey. We were supposed to go carolling on Thursday night but half way to our destination called it off because of the crazy traffic. Unfortunately the girls had been cooped inside all week (combination of the flu and weather) so it was a huge disappointment and lead to lots of tears. They were slightly appeased by the promise of a neighborhood walk and hot chocolate when we got home. The snow is mostly gone-so little that it just kind of blew away. Nonetheless, the girls had a great time this morning running up and down our sidewalk. I'm such a grinch-if this is all we see for snow this year, I will be very happy!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Christmas Lunch with Santa (and Pop-pop and Grandma Terry).


Alette initially did not want to sit on Santa's lap, but changed her mind once she saw all the other children getting candy canes (her favorite treat). Once she was up there, she kept talking and talking and talking....


My favorite part of the tree is the angel Alette made last year.



The tree has sat unadorned for about a week...we finally got around to putting up the decorations last Saturday. True to form, all the decorations are concentrated in a 3 foot square at the front of the tree. I thought about redistributing them after the girls were in bed but truthfully, I just don't care enough about how it looks.

One positive note to an otherwise crummy day.

Mondays are always hard. Mondays after a holiday are even more difficult. Alette had a difficult time getting back into the swing of homeschool and I am afraid I wasn't too patient either. We had temper tantrums, time-outs, and generally sour moods all around. However, since it was nice out, I was determined to go for a walk with the girls. The letter this week is 'D', so we walked to Dunkin' Donuts and got a donut. I think it was a first for both of them. By the time we got home both girls were covered in icing from ear to ear. Maybe it was the fresh air, more likely it was the sugar, but we were all feeling better once we got home.