Day Three Hundred and Forty Five and Counting...

Today was a special day for the girls!  We went to the kids' Christmas party at Jeremy's work... and a very special someone was there to visit!

There were lots of fun things for the girls to do, and a special gift for each of them from Santa!

And Santa was extra special this year!

Day Three Hundred and Forty Four and Counting...

Again today, we had some special guests join us for breakfast...

This is Grace's monkey Frank...

And Olivia's Hank (the striped one, of course!).

The girls' monkeys got their names shortly after Livie was born.  When we brought Olivia home from the hospital, Grace kept asking what her name was, or who she was.  I made a game of it, and said that her name was Hank.  And then I would introduce Grace to Olivia, saying that her name was Frank.  Thus, Hank and Frank were born.  And we just passed the names onto to their monkeys.

Day Three Hundred and Forty Three and Counting...

Having Grace start junior kindergarten has been a blessing in so many ways.  She has already changed so much in such a short span of time.
And while the academic aspects are wonderful, and her growing independence encouraging, there is one aspect that I am particularly moved by:

The girls miss each other so much when Grace is at school... and they have moments like these, where they are just happy to be in the same space, and close together.

It is wonderful.

Day Three Hundred and Forty Two and Counting...

Olivia was very much all about Daddy tonight... and it was adorable!

He had her in stitches!  It was wonderful to hear the two of them laughing together!

Meanwhile, Grace was hard at work!

She told me that she was working hard at her hard work!

Day Three Hundred and Forty One and Counting...

Snow.  Snow.  And more snow!

That top left photo?  My amazing neighbour, rescuing us from another two feet worth of new and drifting snow!  He saw me and the girls out with the shovel and took pity on us!

SO THANKFUL!

In the bottom left, you can see the height of the drift in the driveway... that is the drift that my neighbour saved us from!

And one more:

The snow at our side door!  I can't believe I dug my way through that...!

Day Three Hundred and Forty and Counting...

Our first snow day!  Wow.

And while the temperature allowed for some serious time playing in the snow, did we really need that much to play in?

The snow drift at my kitchen window...

The growing snow drift off the corner of my house!

And while it was frosty outside, the girls were happily playing (now dry and warm)!

Day Three Hundred and Thirty Nine and Counting...

Holy snow, Batman! 

The girls were in their glory!