Christmas Morning

So while we don't do Barbie or archaic Princess stories in our house and usually opt for hand crafted wooden toys, we went for it this year. We got the girls little Princess dresses for dress up. And Stella has pretty much had hers on for forty eight hours straight. (No, honey, it actually can't go in the shower.) And what's hilarious is that they have no idea they're wearing Cinderella dresses. Stella calls hers the ballerina fairy dress, and Phoebe just likes to rub her velvet arms saying "Phoebe soft!"

Of course, Princesses can build rockin' wooden slides and mazes with new wooden toys. (I must rave about my longtime favorite toy company  - check it out!)

My favorite moment of the morning came when Phoebe opened her gift from Stella - a quilt Stella designed all by herself. While Mama did the bulk of the sewing (Stella helped guide the fabric for some of the blocks), Stella suggested the original idea, drew a beautifully modern design and picked out colors and fabrics she thought Phoebe would like. She calls it their Sisters Quilt, and we've already enjoyed countless stories and snuggles under it. Thank you, Stella, for you thoughtfulness and creative spark!

And I do believe Santa was quite pleased with the girls' gingerbread and milk. A very Merry Christmas indeed.

(And for those of you book-obsessed like me, I have a great list of fabulously empowered princess stories for those of us modern girls.)