Everyday Moments

Life...unedited. 

These random iPhone photos are dark, blurry, and untouched,

but they capture everyday moments from the last couple weeks.

Hadley: "Mommy, take my picture:"

Tal and Hadley took an afternoon nap:

Savannah finished her second chapter book!
It took her 8 days to read 119 pages:

A couple weeks ago, I finished our Christmas shopping. Last Monday, I took the day off from school and spent 3.5 hours wrapping all of our presents. Tal and I prefer to have a simple and meaningful Christmas that is clutter-free and budget-friendly. Generally, we enjoy giving the following kinds of gifts:

• gifts that are consumable
• gifts that can be worn, read, or listened to
• gifts that encourage creativity or imaginative play
• gifts that are personalized or homemade

We'll be giving the gifts below to our family in Salter Path:

Tal and I spent $125 each on the girls. They each will get 8-9 presents from us. I wrapped Savannah's presents in mermaid paper and Hadley's presents in princess paper. The girls love seeing their presents under our Christmas tree!

Hadley hugged Tal when he got home from work:

On Thursday night, Uncle Benny spent the night at our house. We enjoyed eating dinner with him at a pizza place in our neighborhood:

Hadley and Savannah liked dancing on the stage at the pizza place:

This weekend Tal and Benny traveled to Asheville, NC to see the Christmas Jam concert...

...and Biltmore Estate:

They ended up in a Winter Wonderland:

On Friday, I took Hadley to the pediatrician to get an antibiotic for her infection. Once Hadley figured out how to climb on the exam table, she practiced climbing on and off the table repeatedly:

While Tal was in Asheville, the girls and I went to Chick-fil-a for dinner...

...and ice cream for dessert:

On Friday night, we turned on our fireplace for the first time this season. I loved watching "A Chef's Life" with the fire and Christmas lights:

The girls sat on the kitchen floor and painted:

This weekend, I cooked our meals for the week, including smothered chicken and rice:

Ritz Casserole

(Recipe here)

Lasagna

On Saturday afternoon, the girls and I had a lunch playdate at McDonald's with our friends Amanda and Tyson:

We used a coupon from Grandma Judy to get free ice cream at McDonald's:

(For Halloween, Grandma Judy gave the girls 12 coupons for free ice cream, apples, hamburgers, and chocolate milk from McDonald's.)

On Friday and Saturday, we had some wintry weather. We had steady rain, sleet, and snow for two days, but thankfully no accumulation on the ground:

After Hadley woke up from her nap on Saturday afternoon, the girls and I went to a grocery store in our neighborhood:

We picked up the ingredients for three treats to make at home that evening. Hadley wanted brownies. Savannah wanted chocolate chip cookies. I wanted pretzel hugs.

When the girls and I got home from the grocery store, we made the pretzel hugs first. The girls spread square pretzels on a cookie sheet. Then, they put a Hershey's chocolate hug on top of each pretzel: 

After putting the pretzel hugs in the oven for five minutes, the girls pressed a plain M&M on top of each chocolate hug:

When the pretzel hugs were done, we made a pan of brownies. Savannah did a great job reading and following the recipe:

Eating the brownie batter

While the brownies were baking in the oven, Savannah read the directions for the cookies and put the dough on the cookie sheet: 

Savannah finished reading her third chapter book.
It took her 7 days to read the book!

Every year, Tal is excited when he gets a $100 bill as a Christmas gift from his employer:

After eating a popsicle, Hadley thought it was hilarious when she put her cold hands on my feet. I pretended to be annoyed, which made Hadley giggle even more!