Ephiany

This year we started a new tradition in our family. At Christmas, the kids had to choose either one of their own gifts or a family gift to save to open until Ephiany; also known as Little Christmas because that is when the Wise men came to visit Mary and Joseph and brought them gifts. The kids chose a family gift, and so they placed it on the piano and waited patiently. Finally, the day came to open it! They received a camera for all of them to use, since they like to use mine all they time. Since then, they have taken lots of pictures!

Year 2011 comes to an end

As 2011 comes to an end, we have a lot to be thankful for. We are blessed with wonderful family and friends. We look forward to another blessed year! It is amazing how fast the kids have grown over the year! I am excited to see how they will continue to grow this year, 2012!

Final Touches

Stacy got to the house later that afternoon, which seemed like forever for the girls! After they put their dresses on, she did the final touch on their hair. Somehow Emma missed her picture being taken! They all felt like Princess as we left for Tim and Kristen's house. From there, I have yet to see some pictures! I know they all had a great time. They sort of have a routine of what they do at the party: paint nails, put on make-up, dance, make a craft, eat a snack and end the night with a princess movie. They are already talking about whose turn it is to host the next party!

Prepping for the Princess Party

The girls cousins have started a Princess Party tradition that started a couple of years ago with Dorothy, Emma and Josie. It has since turned into the traveling party with more Princess attending: Elly, Brielle, Karley, Willa and Tessa. It was time for Tim and Kristen to host the party this time. So over Christmas break, the girls had their party at Tim and Kristen's house. My girls were so excited. They were ready to go after they woke up that morning. To make the day go a little faster, we had Dorothy come down and put curlers in their hair. Later, Stacy would come to drop off Elly and she was going to do the final touches!

Pillow play

This day the kids decided to find all the pillows they could in the house and put them on our bed! Then you can guess what came next... jumping on the pillows! I heard a lot of laughter and, "Watch this!" Tessa and Emma joined them also but I missed them by the time I got the camera out!

Christmas gifts hightlights

The kids must have been good this year because they received a handful of presents! Below are a couple of their highlights!

Emma got clothes for her American Girl doll Kaya.

Josie got the American Girl doll Josephina.

Connor got some hockey sticks which have seen much use downstairs and with his sisters!

The kids received a new kitchen set that was already set up for them in the toy room! All of them have been having a great time playing, baking and cooking. Below is Karley putting her Apple pie into the oven!

Princess caps

This year for Christmas Brielle, Emma, Josie, Willa and Karley all received Princess caps from one of their Godparents, (Willa from her parents!) They have had some lots of fun playing with them!

Berning Grandchildren

Here is a picture of the all the grandchildren on the Berning side. This is taken on Christmas Eve afternoon before listening to my dad reads the Nativity story to the family and we all take part in placing the different statues in place while Connor, Emma and Josie play songs to go along with the different scenes. The kids have found this to be a fun tradition and Connor, Emma and Josie took great pride in playing their songs. More pictures of that to come!

Aprons

For Christmas, my mom made the younger girls aprons. They were all excited about them. I remember when I was younger a neighbor lady made my sisters and I aprons which we used for a lot of different activities!

Family Christmas Photo

Twas the night before Christmas...

Christmas eve the kids made sure everything was ready for Santa: a book for him to sit down and read (Josie picked this book because of the elves in it and Mrs. Claus looks pretty), sugar cookies, a glass of milk and a note from Josie. Josie made sure the blue chair was cleared off so Santa could sit down and read! They all went to bed very well that night! After I gave Connor a good night kiss, he said, "The cookies are out, right?"

Sleeping Beauty

Karley went to take her nap the other day with her pink scarf around her neck. When I went into my room to get something, she took the scarf and made it into her hat!

Crib play

Now that Tessa is older, the kids love going into her crib with her and playing with her. It's fun for me to hear the giggling and laughing that goes on in the room!

Layers upon layers

Karley brings such laughter to our family. You never know what she is going to be up to next or what she is going to decide to wear for the next day or two! This day I brought out two new pairs of pajamas for her to start wearing. They both were p.j.'s with feet in them. She was excited about the "new" cow pajamas and the other pink ones that she put them both on! Yes, they both really just fit her! To add to her pajamas, she through a shirt on and hoodie, pink scarf and a pair of purple leggins over top of them! Yes, we do have the heat turned on in our house!! The outfit below wasn't so bad, but the day she had these pajamas on she puts long sleeve white shirt over her pajamas and a hoodie ... so needless to say... when she had to go to the bathroom, she needed a little help from me to take everything off and get her there in time!

Splashing in the Tub

Tessa has been having lots of fun splashing in the tub and loves it when her sisters take a bath with her!

Girls in their brown coats

Christmas Program

Here are Emma and Connor in their costumes for their Holy Ghost Christmas program. It was a cute program and they did a great job at it!