The Starons (most of them anyway) Trim the Tree

Some pre-oliday fun.  Our little elves were pretty enthusiastic about the decorating.....especially Miss Audrey!

BabyBee really enjoyed hanging out in the tree box.

Mom remembered why Christmas is so super fun, warm, yummy holiday beverages that make the house smell delicious.

Audrey had her special "Super-Decorator" star under her Christmas jammies!

The ladies bonded while daddy wrestled with the lights and mommy just made a zillion photos....driving daddy crazy of course.

Addie J is telling her new 2010 ornament from Daddy how much she loves it!  (Toy Story is HUGE in our house this year!)

More chilling.  Don't these girls do ANY work???

OK, now we're talking.  Everyone took their turn placing the angel on top of the tree....

with Daddy's help of course.

first Addie J

Then Birdie

and last was livvie lou.

this is actually the finished product.

Baby really enjoyed hanging in the box during our

tree trimming experience.

outfit change for Bee.

Addie was not too interested in the tree but read all the 

holiday books that had been stored away for the year.

Certainly our #1 little elf, Audrey was putting ornaments on the

tree faster than we could unpack them!

Sweet girl.  sweet bokeh.

She studied each one before finding the perfect spot (and then each day after

she would find it a new spot!)

Some ornaments turned your vision red.

  

When Audrey is near red it just makes her eyes 

even more gorgeous.

Daddy surprised her with a Tiana ornament for 2010.  This 

is a tradition from when his Grandfather brought one to his 

mom (Paula) every holiday season.

Baby started getting out of her box and into the fun.  She mostly likes to take

ornaments OFF the tree!

Audrey used Addie's bride costume (custom-made

by Aunt Ellen) as a White Christmas outfit.  She's been caught

singing carols almost every day since. Santa Baby seems to be the big fave.

And Baby opening up her Daddy ornament 2010.  You never saw a dad so excited to share

the holiday with his family.  The tree has to be fluffed just right, the lights have to cover every branch, and he'll go out in 19 degree weather just to hang the red bows on the house that his daughter asked of him.  Every Christmas I see what a great dad this guy is-and how much it means to him that the 

girls have lovely holiday memories.  Nice work, Santa!

Love, Mrs Claus

Next up

Portraits around the Christmas Tree

Finally worked on a few portraits of our own.  The ladies are very excited for the holiday to only be "2 chocolates away" (that would be the Advent calendar they are referring to!)

Next up, Elf of a Shelf gets torched....oh the drama.

The Gingerbread Incident & other winter fun

Our sweet friend "Chicago Ella" came to visit for her first sleepover party!  We attempted to put together a gingerbread house.....but those plans quickly went south when too many little hands got into the project.

Somehow....it didn't come out quite like the photo on the box.....take special notice that our version is complete with hangaburgers and hotdogs adorning the roof!

I think the girls worked a little too hard, which caused a Gingerbread Incident!  Luckily, we were able to "glue" it back together with more frosting.  Eating some of the heavy candy off the roof helped too!

A Whole new meaning to stocking stuffer.

The big surprise today was that our Elf on A Shelf (Charlotte) showed up in a skirt today!  Fashionista Elf!

The big snow storm turned out to just be a super strong cold snap with a few flurries.  I caught my Birdie hanging out on her fave perch checking out her new snow-dusted neighborhood.

And bribed by fruit snacks, they actually took a decent shot together.

Next up, tree trimming party!