Here's the Diehl

Snow? Not in these parts. We live in the South. Or so it has seemed for a few years now. Personally, i think we're due ourselves a big whopper of a snowstorm. One in which schools are still open, but the government is closed so that Brian and I can go to the movies. We miss the movies. But we miss snow too. It snowed for an hour or two a few days during Julia's holiday break. She was gonna catch snowflakes on her tongue one way or another! Schuy got bundled up to go outside, but we kinda lost her in her new snowsuit. Where'd she go? I think she may still be lost in there.

Once again, I fail to take photos of pretty much anything except Julia. We always take her photo just as she comes down the stairs...it's fun to compare the photos year to year. The facial expression is always the same though. And I tried to document the exciting moment when she opened the one gift she had been asking for for weeks. The ultimate. The incredible. The awesome Buzz Lightyear. Who is actually much more awesome when he does not have batteries inside. \ Schuyler didn't seem all that excited about much of anything. She did, however, rest easy against her new and very own baby blankie. After presents and breakfast we jumped in our sleigh and headed to Nana's house. Santa visited there too! And boy did we eat. Between 6 parents, two teens, 1 preschooler and one baby we ate lasagna, shrimp, scallops, tenderloin, salad, cookies, more shrimp, cheese, crackers, and some strange salami and cabbage or radish things that Uncle Mike made....f...

They're multiplying! The little girls! They are multiplying! The Diehl clan has gone from two grandkids to four this year...and they are all girls. It's pinkalicious! Julia and Lila had an incredible time playing...and not sleeping. It drove us mommy and daddy's straight into Dee Dee and Pop Pop's hot tub for some late night relaxation. But it was worth it to see these girls have so much fun together. Clara and Schuyler laid on their backs on the floor and chatted to each other while the big girls ran around playing hide and seek and eating pretty much every cracker in sight. They were showered with amazing presents from grandparents and aunts and uncles alike. It was great to see Kathy and Dave and Kevin and Taylore. (We are hoping our cousin Taylore will head to our area for college so we can see her and her family more often and bribe her with home cooking.) Somehow I didn't take any photos of the family, including ourselves. All the lens time went to the tots. I...

After all the time and effort Julia and I put into our handmade Cookies for Santa plate (which I didn't photograph), it seemed only fitting to spend Christmas Eve decorating some cookies for the man. Jules has become an expert in the kitchen and can handle a bottle of sprinkles and frosting like a true pastry chef. These were the best looking cookies in town....except for the mouse cookies Aunt Karen made. Schuyler tried to help from her Bumbo seat, but couldn't quite reach anything. It makes me imagine how different next year will be. Oh, they grow so fast!

Nothing like croissants and eggs for breakfast at our favorite cafe to start the break off right!

One of my favorite mom blogs had information on this today. Julia and I thought it was a great idea. Make the children of Sandy Hook school have a little easier time coming back to their new school by decorating the halls and walls with paper snowflakes. Jules and I got out our scissors and cut a pile of snowflakes and sent them in the mail. What a great idea to help makes kids find their smiles.

Each year, Abracadabra preschool puts on a holiday show at the adjacent church. They perform their own little rendition of The First Christmas. Last year, if you may recall, Julia was a star. This year, she played the part of a tree. She even led the line of trees and donkeys down the aisle this time (last year she had to be dragged into the church with stage fright). Of course, it helped that her best friend Gabe was close behind her. He was also a tree. Other classmates were donkeys. The oldest kids, the Genies, played Joseph and Mary, the innkeepers, and other characters. As we walked out of the church this year, a very nice woman said she has been watching that performance for 17 years now and it is just as sweet each year to see the little children give life to the characters they play. It was a wonderful service with a nice quiet remembrance for the Newtown families and a strong message that we should all hug our babies just a bit tighter. Amen to that.

Rockin' out to Katy Perry is ok. But does she look really old and mature doing this? She'll be locking her door, talking on the phone to boys (which she pretends to do now), and wearing frosty pink lip gloss (hopefully a modern interpretation) before we know it. Look out world!

As firm believers in teaching kids things like how to save and being kind to others, Brian tries very hard to teach Schuyler that you can learn how to retire rich by reading every finance magazine on the planet. And wearing a sweatshirt that reads "I love spreadsheets" does not mean that you are nerdy, it simply means that you like working with numbers and organizing information in a certain way. Hee hee.

Our Elf on the Shelf has been causing mischief! Each night she flies back to Santa to report on good and bad behaviors. Washing hands? Good. Picking nose? Bad. And then each morning she is back and hiding somewhere new in the house. It makes getting up and dressed just a bit easier, not to mention going to sleep. Because, duh, Elf Kailyn can't fly to Santa's until everyone is asleep. Sometimes Elf Kailyn does funny things like slurping up colored sugar and hanging upside down. If you're looking for creative ways to use the elf...check Pinterest. There are some hilarious ones! 

Here we go. We're back. With lots of space to spare. What has been going on? Well. Let's go back a bit in time and see. We spend a Saturday picking out the perfect tree with our good friends, The Kerrs. It was Jamie's birthday and we had a good time with all the kiddos climbing the hill to find a grand ole tree. Brian and Marc, aka "the men", got dirty cutting them down and, I think, got their best workout by tying the trees down to the trucks. Which meant the girls and tots had some quality tailgating, complete with birthday whoopie pies. I will leave out the part of the story where we had to go to an alternate farm this year...and it was NOT a farm...rather a small field, with one or two trees in it. I should have realized it wasn't legit when the website described the farm merchandise as "attic treasures". Isn't that code for "crap we're trying to get rid of"? Why, yes, it was. Snickers Gap is the place to go, so we headed there...

Where have we been? You've been wondering, I know. As you pop open our page to see what the kiddos are up to. Why hasn't anything been updated? Well, I'll tell you. One reason is because I'm seriously stuck in Christmas mode and photos aren't getting further than onto the camera. At least I'm taking some, I suppose. Alas, in about 10 days it will all be done...Christmas that is. Can't believe that. Isn't it only September 21? Feels like it. The main reason for the giant lull in the blog? Well, blogger.com just informed me that I'm out of storage space. I KNOW, right? What do you mean, out of space? Well, apparently 3.5 years of material, including photos and videos is about all that fits in my one gigabyte allowance. So, I have a few options. First, I can pay for more storage space. I don't like paying for anything, especially things that aren't food and clothes and toys...like rinse aid for the dishwasher. Who wants to spend money on that ...

We packed it up and headed to PA for a night with Dee Dee and Pop Pop. It was a nice and relaxing visit with them. Julia loved to kick the ball outside and run in the basement. Keep in mind, the basement is larger than our entire home here in Va. So it was some good exercise for Jules. Schuyler was a great sleeper and enjoyed chatting it up with her grandparents. There was a little bit of crying in the car ride home, but we just hooked up Julia to the earphones and she was all set.