Let's attempt to catch up before the new year.....to do that we go back in time about 2/12 weeks. (sorry about weird formatting, not sure what is happening, but I give up trying to fix it!)

Sunday December 13 was the feast of St Lucia. Chris had taken the girls to the Public Museum a week or so before that, and found a special exhibit on the Christmas traditions of other countries. In Sweeden, the feast of St Lucia is celebrated by having the oldest daughter wake the rest of the family with cookies. Maggie thought this was a fabulous idea, and so, (with a LITTLE help from Daddy) she brought us cookies and water to our beds that morning. It was a special treat.

Friday, the 18^th was CHRISTMAS CONCERT DAY! Katherine’s was in the morning, Maggie’s in the afternoon. It was quite an exciting day. I won’t bore you with pictures (that didn’t really turn out anyway) the links to the videos are here...Maggie and Katherine

That night, after concerts, Chris and I found the girls playing on the stairs. They took many of their “guys” and lined them up on “risers” so they could conduct their own concert. It was so sweet and cute. We’ve since had multiple other concerts, always WITH risers (apparently it’s not a legitimate concert unless you use risers) using either the stairs or the various stepstools in the house. It might be Maggie and Katherine giving the concert, or “Little People” and “Pet Shop” characters – but it’s always amusing.

And Abby has not been forgotten in this craziness. She turned 8 months on the 21st- so big! She is such a treat. She’s so easy-going and happy. We are so lucky. Her latest accomplishment is “talking” I have some video that I will try to post soon, but obviously she doesn’t TALK, but if she hears you clear your throat, she does the same, over and over again. Sometimes she’ll respond to other noises, but she seems to enjoy the throat clearing the most. She sits up all by herself, and will sit and play for long stretches of time. She still doesn’t like to spend too much time on her belly, She prefers to sit on her bottom and throw herself forward to reach things, scooting along as needed.She's also trying more "big kid" food. Here she enjoys a graham cracker.
Up next....The Christmas report......