fa la la la la

Olivia and Violet loved Christmas this year. It was so much fun to feel their excitement. We had our own family Christmas on Thursday, December 23rd. We had a yummy supper - stuffed pork chops, balsamic sweet potatoes & apples, cooked carrots - that we ate on fancy dishes. The girls were so excited to open presents that they could hardly contain themselves. They took turns opening gifts and waited very patiently while sister opened. Olivia was pretty excited with each gift and held most of them over her head proudly after opening. Violet enjoyed watching Olivia open and often had to be reminded when it was her turn. Olivia on the other hand would say "It's Violet's turn, then my turn again" after opening each gift. Their favorite gifts had to do with coloring (of course). After they were done with presents, we let them open one thing. Violet opened her princess coloring lap desk and Olivia opened her Magna Doodle.

Christmas Eve morning, when the girls got up, I said that I heard some reindeer hooves on the roof during the night, so what would that mean? They yelled “SANTA!” and went running downstairs. They found a half-eaten cookie, an empty glass of milk, and stockings and presents from Santa. Olivia dove into her stocking and then ripped open her presents while Violet mainly sat and watched. Olivia was done opening everything while Violet had barely started. Their favorite stocking item was a sticker book. One of the most simple things! After Violet finally finished, we loaded into the truck and drove up to my parent’s farm. We let them pick something to bring with. Olivia picked her new sticker book while Violet picked her sticker book, stuffed Grinch, stuffed teddy bear and her blanket. Can you tell who will be the pack rat?

We arrived at my parent’s around noon. The girls were very excited to see their cousins Maya, Alex, Evan, Owen and Emma. They barely got in the door before running off to play. We squeezed in lunch and a nap before heading to church at 4:00. My sister Terri and her family met us at church, so our family was complete and all together. After church, we headed back to the farm for a delicious supper. It is tradition in our family to read the Christmas story before eating. Typically, my sister Terri reads the story, but this year she passed the tradition on to my 7-year-old niece Maya. Maya did a wonderful job reading the story (despite seven other kids having trouble sitting and listening) and it was bittersweet to see the tradition continue with the next generation. The six oldest cousins sat at a table together, so we had our first official separate “kids table.” Our family has grown so large that we can no longer fit into my parent’s big dining room so the kids table was set up in the living room. Thankfully, they were still within eyeshot because we heard a lot of giggling and goofing around, and at one point little Owen had climbed up onto the table to grab some food, but we made it through.

After supper, the kids rehearsed and performed their rendition of “Jingle Bells.” This involved shaking pom poms wildly and singing at the top of their lungs. Little Owen wanted to be involved so badly that he walked up to his older brother and yanked one of the pom poms right out of his hand, then proceeded to shake his little body and wave the pom pom along with the other kids. Then of course, we proceeded with the best part of the night: opening presents. The kids opened their presents from Granny & Grandpa one at a time and then we just let them go. It was a bit chaotic! There was wrapping paper, boxes and gifts flying everywhere. But oh, did they have fun! The girls received a toddler sized Ariel doll and Belle doll from Granny & Grandpa, complete with extra clothes and a hair brush. They were very excited!

It was so enjoyable to watch all of the cousins play together. Olivia and Violet are finally old enough to go off and play with their cousins without us around. There were a few wild moments – all of the kids running around the house, chasing each other and screaming; jumping on the mattress that Granny put on the floor – but overall they were very good and played together nicely. We all stayed overnight and spent time together on Christmas Day morning. Daddy took the girls outside and pushed them on the swing. He also convinced them to go sledding down the driveway. They each went down a few times before deciding that it was cold and they wanted to go back inside. The rest of the day was pretty relaxing!

On Sunday morning, December 26th, we went over to the Suchy farm. Olivia and Violet were very excited to see their other cousins. They were able to play for awhile, and Grandpa even let them fix his hair. We had a very delicious meal at noon, and then the girls went down for a nap. It is tradition to open presents one person at a time, so other people took turns opening their gifts while the girls were napping. By the time the girls woke up, we had only them and Chelsey left, so it worked out perfectly! Their favorite gift from Grandpa and Grandma was a little stuffed Olivia the pig (a cartoon they love). It was the first gift they opened, and they had to have Olivia by their side while they opened the rest. Toward the end of gift opening, Grandpa was not feeling so well, so we unfortunately didn’t have time to continue the tradition of putting our personalized ornaments on Grandma’s tree. Jill ended up bringing Grandpa into the ER, and found out that he had bacterial pneumonia. We felt bad for him that he had to deal with that on Christmas! We thought maybe the live minnow he swallowed earlier in the day had something to do with him not feeling well… (long story)…

We stayed overnight at the Suchy farm, and then Terri and Aaron gave me a ride home the next day. Jamie left on an ice fishing trip up to northern Minnesota with Joey, Luke and Nicholas. The girls stayed with Grandma, Grandpa and Chelsey until Jamie got back today. So I had a few days to myself at home to unpack, do laundry, run some errands, and scrapbook! It was very nice to have some down time after a busy weekend. However, I was very glad to welcome the girls back home tonight. I missed them!

All in all, we had a very enjoyable Christmas weekend. The girls are at such a great age – it was the simple things about Christmas that made them happy. They enjoyed seeing our Christmas lights on every night, visiting Santa, decorating the tree, baking cookies and just being with family. Sometimes I get caught up in the excitement of presents and other stuff, but to see the girls enjoy simple things and be able to tell us who was born on Christmas (“Baby Jesus”) puts things in perspective.

Happy New Year!

The first gifts from us that the girls wanted to open:

Violet found her stocking from Santa:
Olivia also found her stocking from Santa:Family picture, Thronson Christmas:

This is the best we could do to get a picture of all eight Thronson cousins:
Olivia & Violet:
Violet:

Olivia:
Kids' table:

Thronson cousins singing "Jingle Bells:"


Violet, Emma, Owen, Maya, Olivia & Evan:

Evan, Grandpa, Violet, Olivia, Granny, Maya, Owen & Emma:

Olivia sledding with Daddy:

Violet sledding with Daddy:

Cousin Chelsey & Violet, Cousin Nicholas & Olivia:

Violet & Olivia, Suchy Christmas:

Nicholas, Olivia, Great Grandpa, Great Grandma, Violet, Chelsey & Claire:

it's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

The girls participated in their first Christmas program last Thursday night. The church that their daycare is affiliated with had a children's program that featured the daycare preschool class, and the school classes kindergarten through fifth grade. The girls had to memorize a recitation, which they said with the entire preschool class, and then they sang a song. The entire service was about different names for Jesus and the girls' part was about the name Savior. They did a very nice job and sat pretty well during the service. They also looked very beautiful in their Christmas dresses!

Saturday morning, we went to Macy's in downtown Minneapolis to see the Santaland display. The theme was "A Day in the Life of an Elf," and the girls loved it. We ended up walking through it twice. There was a long walkway with several rooms decorated with different parts of an elf's daily life. There was a bedroom with a whole bunch of elves sleeping, a dining room, school, laundry room, mail room, and bakery. There was also the decorating of Santa's tree, Reindeer Flight School, and the reindeer barn. Olivia's favorite part was the elf that sat up and down in bed, and Violet's favorite part was the Reindeer Flight School which showed reindeer flying through the air while being tied to balloons. At the end, we visited with Santa. Both girls were hesitant when we first walked in the room, but Jamie sat Olivia on a stool by Santa and she warmed up to him right away. She told him that she wants the Toy Story movie for Christmas. I put Violet on Santa's other side, and she warmed up quickly as well. She told him that she wants an Ariel doll for Christmas. Santa talked to them for several minutes, and told them that the reason he wears bells is so the reindeer can hear him coming. The girls both cried when we walked out of the room because they did not want to leave Santa! They wanted to talk to him longer.

When we got home from Macy's, the girls helped me make peanut butter cup cookies. They helped me mix the dough, but they kept messing with all of the ingredients, so I found the perfect job for them. They unwrapped three bags of Reese's peanut butter cups, and thought it was awesome! They did a super job and were very helpful. Plus, then I didn't have to do it! :) We enjoyed listening to Christmas music as we baked.

On Sunday, Terri & William came over for a visit. We cracked up at the girls as they walked around our house "caroling." We would tell them the song we wanted to hear, and then they would "find" it in the book they were holding and walk around upstairs & downstairs singing that song. It was pretty funny!

We also finished our gift wrapping and starting packing for Christmas weekend. We had a very enjoyable weekend before Christmas! The girls are VERY excited for Christmas and have been asking us every day when it will be here!

Ready for our Christmas program:

Violet, Santa & Olivia:

Unwrapping peanut butter cups for cookies:

practice makes perfect

The girls are participating in a children's Christmas program tomorrow night at the church their daycare is affiliated with. I heard them practicing their lines in the bathtub tonight, which I thought was pretty cute:

snowed in

Last Friday night, we went downtown for the Holidazzle Parade. This parade runs down Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis, and consists of floats decorated with bright Christmas lights. The parade had a fairytale theme this year, so the girls thoroughly enjoyed it. After every float, Violet would look at us anxiously and say "Is there another one?" Their favorite parts were the Pinocchio float, the crocodile from the Peter Pan float, the wicked witch from the Wizard of Oz float, the string of people dressed like Christmas lights, and of course Santa at the end. The air was chilly, but overall the temperature wasn't too bad, and the girls did not want to go home when it was over.

We're glad we went to the parade when we did because we had a huge snowstorm later that night. When we woke up Saturday morning, we had about a foot of snow on the ground with more still coming. We ended up not leaving our house again until Monday morning. Almost all metro events (including the parade) were cancelled on Saturday, Sunday and even into Monday. It was the most snow we've had at one time since the Halloween blizzard of 1991. We thought we would go stir crazy being in the house all weekend, but actually the girls were really good and we all survived just fine. They actually went off and played by themselves for awhile. They were playing by themselves upstairs, then they would come running downstairs and say "We just need to grab a few things," and run back upstairs. We could hear them rustling around, and when Jamie checked on them he found them carrying all of their toys into the bathroom and putting them into the bathtub. Oh well, no harm done! We tried to come up with some new things for them to do, so Jamie built them a fort over our dining room table. He even made flags for them to put around the entrance to their fort. They thought it was pretty neat, and played in there for quite awhile. It was actually a pretty low-key and relaxing weekend!

All bundled up for the Holidazzle Parade:

Two girls, one chair:

Our driveway after the snowstorm:
Daddy helped the girls build this fort:

Oh Christmas Tree

Last Saturday, we bought our Christmas tree. Daddy picked it out, Violet approved it, and Olivia was more interested in stomping around in the snow in her boots than looking at trees. We decorated our tree later that today. The girls wanted to help, so Daddy & I put on the lights and then the girls hung some ornaments. Daddy put hangers on the ornaments for them, and the girls hung the ornaments on the tree all by themselves. They lasted for about 15 minutes, and then they both announced "I'm done." They did a great job, but we chuckled because all of their ornaments were in one spot at the bottom of the tree. Daddy and I spread out the ornaments and finished the decorating. When we were done, Olivia said, "When Santa comes, he will think our tree is beautiful and then he will stay overnight." Enough said!

Violet & Olivia decorating the tree:

Violet & Olivia admiring their work (does it look a little front heavy?):

Violet in front of our finished tree:

I would also like to share a picture of Jamie's play-doh masterpiece. He started with the tree, and then the girls kept telling him he needed to add things (Santa, then Rudolph, then the sleigh, then presents...) I think they were pretty impressed when he was done!

three

Olivia and Violet turned three this past Monday, November 29th. Daddy and I surprised them by picking them up early from daycare. We showed up right after their nap, and they came running to us yelling "Mommy! Daddy! I'm so excited!" We got in the car and told them we were taking them to a surprise place. They said they didn't want to know where we were going so we kept it a surprise. We ended up at the Mall of America where the girls enjoyed riding on the escalator. We walked into Nickelodeon Universe and the girls were excited because they immediately saw Dora. They both received a free unlimited ride wristband for their birthday, and then we went on our first ride: the merry-go-round. Olivia loved every minute of it, and talked throughout the whole ride about all of the other animals she wanted to sit on. Violet cried throughout most of the ride, and after we got off she announced "I'm done." However, she did come around and continued to ride on rides, even though she was much more hesitant. Her favorite ride was Azul, a blue train that drove around a track. Olivia loved all of the rides, and even started going on some of them by herself. She would exit a ride, then immediately want to go on it again. Her favorite though was the merry-go-round. She loved every minute of it.

We took a break from riding to eat supper with my sister Terri and her family. They even bought the girls ice cream as a birthday treat. When we got home, the girls opened a few birthday presents. All in all, I think they had a pretty fun birthday!

The girls are both pretty excited about being three years old. They think they are so grown up! It is so much fun to see how much they have changed, and how their personalities are different. Olivia is our social butterfly who loves to talk. Sometimes we can't get her mouth to stop moving! She is super goofy and loves to make us laugh. Violet is more independent, and will play by herself. She is so focused and detail oriented, and loves to play with toys that she can sort and organize. She also loves to color very precisely. They sure love each other though, and we love them more than anything! We have certainly had some parenting challenges this past year, but we look forward to the joys and challenges of age three.

Birthday girls Violet & Olivia:

Violet & Olivia at Nickelodeon Universe:

Mommy & Violet riding Swiper's Sweeper cars:

Olivia & Daddy on the merry-go-round:

Olivia & Violet riding Azul the train:

Olivia showing how old she is:

Violet showing how old she is:

give thanks

We had an extremely fun Thanksgiving weekend. My parents stayed at our house from Wednesday through Friday. On Wednesday night, my mom and I took the girls to their first movie in the theater. We saw the new Disney movie "Tangled," which is about Rapunzel. I warned my mom that the experience might be a complete disaster since the girls had never been inside a movie theater before, but we thought we would try it. Olivia loved it and wore her emotions on her sleeve throughout the whole movie. She would grin ear-to-ear, then cackle loudly at the funny parts, then bury her head in my shoulder during the semi-scary parts, then tear up at the sad parts. At the end, she said her favorite part was the silly guy (the comic relief character during the movie). Violet liked it too, but she wasn't as patient. During the second preview (yes....preview), she announced "I want to go home." I pulled her into my lap and she managed to make it through the movie, although she got a little fidgety at the end. She was content with munching on popcorn; I think she devoured over half the bag. At the end, she said she liked the movie and her favorite part was the bad guys. We had a fun time, and overall the girls were very good.

On Thanksgiving Day, my sister Terri and her family came over for a visit. We had a very relaxing day, and enjoyed spending time with them and my parents. We ate our big meal on Thursday evening. My mom was a huge help and spent hours with me in the kitchen. Jamie's cousin and his family came over as well, and we had a great time. The girls sat at a kid's table, which I called the "princess table," so they were excited. They even wanted to change into their princess costumes. Violet loved the cranberries again this year, and I think Olivia's favorite food was Grandpa's pumpkin dessert. I asked the girls what they were thankful for this year, and Violet said the color blue so Olivia followed by saying the color orange. I don't think they quite understood the question! However, I thoroughly enjoyed Thanksgiving Day and am very thankful for all of the blessings in my life.

On Friday morning, we took the girls to their doctor for their 3-year checkup. I was a bit surprised that they are in the 90th percentile for height. Who knew! Violet was pretty goofy with their doctor; she would let him check her ears and then she would hop around the room, then come back for her next procedure. The doctor spent half his time laughing at our silly girls. Olivia let Violet go first for everything; then she would announce "I want to do it too." They both checked out just great and are happy & healthy 3-year-olds.

On Saturday, we went to St. Cloud to meet up with Jamie's family. We put together a little surprise celebration for Jamie's mom for her 60th birthday. We ate together at a restaurant, and then stayed overnight at the Holiday Inn. Gayle was very surprised and excited! The girls had a blast in the pool, and really enjoyed spending time with their cousins. The girls also opened their birthday presents from the Suchy family. They couldn't rip the paper off fast enough! They were of course totally spoiled with too many presents, and loved every minute of it.

Granny & Olivia (in her Ariel princess costume) enjoying Thanksgiving dinner:

Violet (in her Jasmine princess costume) enjoying her cranberries:

Grandpa reading to Olivia & Violet, which he did A LOT during their visit:

Olivia in the big pool with Nicholas & Chelsey:
Olivia, Grandma Suchy & Violet playing in the kiddie pool:
Violet, cousin Claire & Olivia playing in the kiddie pool:

Nicholas, Violet, Chelsey & Olivia:

Grandpa Suchy & Violet:

let it snow

Our first big snow of the winter season occurred on Saturday, November 13th. The girls were so excited when they woke up and looked out the window! They yelled "SNOW!" and couldn't wait to go outside and play in it. Luckily, the temperature wasn't too bad so we played outside for about an hour. They even built a snowman with some of the neighbor kids that were also playing outside.

boo!

We had a very fun Halloween weekend. Olivia and Violet helped Daddy carve a pumpkin on Thursday, October 28th. Well…I should say they “helped” because they were interested until they cleaned out the insides, and then they abandoned him and helped me make pumpkin bars. The girls had a party at daycare on Friday, October 29th. They wore their princess costumes; Olivia dressed as Ariel and Violet dressed as Belle. Olivia has been saying she wants to be Ariel for months. Violet bounced between Jasmine, Belle and Santa (yes, Santa Claus) before deciding on Belle. They looked very beautiful in their princess costumes!

Jamie then took the girls up to his sister's for the weekend. Auntie Jill took the girls trick or treating to Granny and Grandpa Thronson's, Grandma and Grandpa Suchy's, and Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Pomeranz's. The girls had a lot of fun and told me all about their experiences when they got home. They also came home with their first pets, two goldfish from Auntie Jill. They told them the fish were named George and Pokey. I don't know how they came up with those names, but they sure love their fish!

We took them out trick or treating the evening of Halloween, Sunday the 31st. The girls dressed as a heart, which was much easier for them to walk in than their princess dresses. We went to a few of our neighbor's houses first, and the girls weren't quite sure about ringing the doorbell, but they soon caught on and absolutely loved it. We went over to Jamie's cousin's house and went trick or treating in their neighborhood with their family. The girls had a lot of fun with their daughter Athena, who just turned five. All three girls would RUN up to a house, ring the doorbell, say "trick or treating" (yes, that was what Olivia would say), get their candy, and then RUN back to us and say "Can we go to another house?" It was pretty cute. Toward the end, Olivia and Violet started fishing around in people's candy bowls to find the color of candy wrapper they wanted. Violet would say, "I want a blue one!" Needless to say, it was a beautiful evening and the girls had a great time.

Violet cleaning out the pumpkin:

Olivia and Daddy cleaning out the pumpkin:
The finished pumpkin:
Violet (Belle) & Olivia (Ariel), ready for their daycare party:
Olivia & Violet with their first pets, two goldfish from Auntie Jill:
Violet & Olivia, ready for trick or treating: