Truly Sisters

When I was summoned upstairs today by tiny voices, this is what I found. Two girls pretending to be taking naps, but not doing a very good job.

Camille just couldn't keep that smile contained.

Livvy at least attempted to cover it up but announced about 5 seconds after my arrival, "Mom, we're pretending to take a nap for you!"

Camille chimed in, "I brought Momma Bear and Livvy has White Bunny! We're all resting!"

I love that they have become partners in crime. I wondered for a long time if the day would ever come....but oh, has it. And my heart sings.

When they are together, our pantry becomes an elevator that takes them to imaginary birthday parties.....they hide behind the furniture and shout, "surprise Billy Bob!" to their daddy.....they whisper secrets.

And then, they tattle on each other, which means they are truly sisters.

Olive, the other reindeer

Camille and I had a very philosophical discussion the other night.

C: Mom, go through the names of the reindeer again.

M: Well, there's Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen..

C: And Rudolph?

M: Yep, and Rudolph.

C: And Olive.

M: What?

C: Olive. Olive, the other reindeer.

M: ??????.......Ohhhh.. No, honey, the song goes "All of the other reindeer, not Olive. Like "a-l-l space o-f."

C: No, Mom, it's Olive.

Well, what do I know? With the population of the world growing and all, Santa's entitled to hire new personnel...you know, stimulate the economy. And, even magical reindeer have their limits before they experience overwork and job stress, causing unnecessary sick days and an overall deteriorating quality of health.

Good thinking, Santa.

Crunch Crunch

Crunch.

Crunch.

Crunch.

What you are hearing in your mind is not only the sound of the vast amount of winter white powder that has accumulated under our feet in Omaha, but also the sound of the sugar that has accumulated on our kitchen floor as we began our holiday cookie-baking adventures today.

It was the former that allowed the latter.

It seems that winter is upon us....in full force... as an ample amount of snow was dumped across the metro today, necessitating a full-fledged Snow Day. Camille's school was cancelled, and though the three O'Neill kids enjoyed a bit of a movie morning at K4J, Bill and I hustled home shortly after noon and capitalized on the time to make a big batch of peanunt butter chocolate star cookies, an Allison family holiday tradition. I'd like to say that the sugar is all over the floor because I have two small girls helping me to bake. Part of this is true....the girls helping me bake and all...but I do have to admit that even if they hadn't been helping me, I would still have crunchy-floor because I'm just not all that tidy when it comes to baking. And by the way, have you ever wondered why, no matter how much you sweep after baking, sugar manages to surface itself and keep the floor crunchy for weeks after the mentioned baking has ceased?

Anyway, I digress...Will you look at those cutie patootie bakers in aprons hand made by Aunt Carol for Christmas last year? They are spoiled to the point that they can even bake in style.

As the winds swirl about, cancelling out the effect of any shoveling done outside today, we look forward to snow day #2 tomorrow. Wonder what we'll do??

Crunch.

Crunch.

Crunch.

That's me. Traipsing across the kitchen floor to grab a glass of ice cold milk. This calls for a late-night cookie snack.