Saturday, January 3, 2009

Christmas Sleepovers

Athena had a wonderful idea for Christmas this year. We have exchanged gifts for the past five years. We have done movies for the family, craft activities, games, etc. We have never wanted it to cost a lot, but know how the girls enjoy 'gifting' to their friends. This year, Athena's idea was to give a gift of time to the girls. The idea of a Spa Sleepover at Nelson's (home of a wonderful - huge - whirlpool tub) and a Cooking/Craft Sleepover at the Sokoloski's.
Last night was the Sokoloski home sleepover. It was a wonderful huge success and hopefully a new tradition has begun.

I must admit that I really felt like I 'cheated' on the girls. They were having so much fun downstairs in the newly remodeled playroom, I almost forgot about the cooking obligation.

Divide and conquer was my plan of attack.
I invited Kylee and Grace up for round one. It wasn't exactly baking...


They did the entire tray by themselves. Not without complaints however,



Grace said, "Mom, this is a pain in the neck job."
Kylee responded with, "Yeah, it's giving us a headache."



Next was Kyndra's turn.
I really, really, really know I was cheating here... but it was almost 8:30 before we even got started.... excuses, excuses.
I let her do as much as was safely possible.
I KNOW THIS ISN'T BAKING. :-)
She felt proud and enjoyed herself anyway.




Next came bed time, there were no tears to be had, which is always a bit of a surprise to me. Both girls have had sleepovers before, but I always hold my breath a little when the time comes.



I promised all the girls pancakes in the morning. I did not cheat on this part. I made the sourdough batter the night before. Grace, aka, my alarm clock, woke me up at precisely 6 am.
When I was making breakfast Kyndra and Reagan were playing with a bracelet they had found.
Kyndra asked Reagan, "Is this bracelet a locket?"
To which Reagan replied, "Yes, it is where I will lock up my mom and dad so I won't miss them."

I love these girls...all five of them.

5 comments:

Nelson's Nest said...

Tears!!! Thank you for this wonderful post. What a blessing that our paths have crossed and come to the point where time with each other is the best thing we can give our children.

Lindsay said...

LOVE this!! Are boys invited? {kidding ... sort of}

And your idea of "cooking" looks like how any smart mama at 8:30 would do cooking ... I want one of those pretzel things YUM!

Way to go Anne - and Athena!! :)

Stacy B said...

Good for you guys! This is an awesome idea. Sounds like a great tradition to me!

Cristy said...

You are making many great memories for the girls that they will remember for a life time, as I still remember my sleepovers and baking times with my aunt when I was that age, fun times!!!

anymommy said...

I absolutely adore traditions like these. So wonderful. And um, that is totally baking. That's about as close to baking as I get!