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Christmas in July

These fun little gifts arrived in the mail in July! Yes I placed an order for Christmas presents that early. A friend of a friend is starting her own business so great to support that and I love having one thing done. (This obviously could not be posted until I give the bracelets but visit Charming Impressions' Facebook page or website to check out other creations once I do.)

Adorn-ments

Our selection of Christmas tree ornaments has grown significantly this year. Some of the crafts have fared better than others but all have been wonderful. Here are just a few of her creations:

Baking Cousins

Uncle Tom invited us over to what I believe should be the start of a Holiday tradition, (not just Christmas but any of them), bake & decorate cookies. The little girls had fun participating in every single step from cutting the dough to eating the final product. I think more sprinkles ended up on the table then these gingerbread men/dogs/snowmen, etc but who cares!

   

Preschool Christmas

Addie's Preschool Christmas Party was today and was not sure what to expect. I thought it would be a song then I would head back into the office to finish up a few things before picking her up at the normal time. I was grossly mistaken! There were crafts, a performance, lunch, dessert and play time! (They made an other ornament for our tree & food for Santa's reindeer so they are sure to find our house Christmas Eve night. Next was songs on the stage with hand motions and bells. Then is was time for pizza & decorating sugar cookies before the free-for-all of running around the Teen Activity Center while the parents chatted.) Needless to say I got nothing done at work today but it was a lot of fun!

This crew is really becoming tight friends and it is such a blessing to know my precious child is so loved by the other families. I know these kids will all end up at different elementary schools sooner then I would like to think about so am enjoying these moments while I can. {Addie told me on the way to school today that "Riley & Lowery are my best friends."}

Don't they look so big?!

The Goofball & The Saint

I hope I am not losing my willing poser, (Addie that is), because her new thing is to make funny faces for the camera and then see what she looked like. Don't worry though, her Teva-torture time certainly has no end in sight. Just 2 more reasons/examples of why I lovingly refer to her as rotten!

There is a fine line between tacky and festive

She still won't even hear of speaking to Santa but a blow-up inflatable?! Any kind, anywhere! She has me wanting to check them out after Christmas this year when all decorations are marked down. {Oh no!}

L to R: Cheese with the bear | Hugs for Santa | High five-ing the Snowman

The Bears!

Tonight we finally took this year's trip to take Addie to see Leonard Bearstein Symphony Orchestra or as they are simply refereed to, The Bears. I have heard it refereed to as one of the most annoying Christmas traditions but if you have a child it is a MUST on the holiday to-do list. It is a free, 45 minute show that runs 7 times a day during the week and hourly on the weekend. You'd think with so many show times it would be easy to catch a show but it is located uptown which always takes a bit more time, plus we wanted to coordinate so that daddy could join us. We decided on the 6 o'clock show and to grab dinner right afterwards so we arrived at Founder's Hall bathed and in Christmas jammies, (her new favorite pair). She was so excited but also waited very patiently for the big show to begin.















I believe it is the exact same show every year but we just enjoy watching her. To add to that I was taking pictures of her taking pictures of the bears. Ha! Our budding photographer was very focused. {I need to upload some of her shots to showcase.}















When the show was done, she didn't want to leave. She would say "just one more song". Cute except I could not make it do anymore songs if wanted to, that was the final show for the night. After realizing there wouldn't be much time for dinner we decided to walked to Panera. The motivation to leave the bears was the offer to get a bagel {yippee!}, only the find Panera closed AT SEVEN {oh no, we had just missed it}! What to do? Wave down the manager, point to Addie & mouth thru the glass if we could please buy just one bagel! I don't believe she really wanted to let us in, but you can't turn down these faces. --->



The selection was small but gambled with a pumpkin one and headed out to the lobby of the office building. She immediately "didn't like it" but we let her sit on top on a coffee-type table where she happily ate her promised bagel. Not sure what mom & dad were going to now do for dinner but we averted potential disaster & had a good laugh!  ;-)

Finding Joy

It has finally decided to feel like winter this week and a cold rain was not helping me be very perky today. However, this little one's reaction to the rain sure made me smile.

I am trying to unload the car of groceries as quickly as possible and keep asking her to stop trying to come outside. It is hard to tell her one thing though while I am doing to complete opposite so gave in and put on her rain coat. She was so excited to be walking around in the rain and not be getting wet! I forget how amazing things are to kids. Addie, thanks for sharing that joyful moment with me!

Date with Daddy

Jim has some 2012 vacation time he was going to lose if he didn't use so we picked a couple afternoons for him to join Addie & I for whatever was going on. Today, we met him for lunch at Chick-fil-A, headed over to Monkey Joe's, then it was music class and dinner out! Our toddler was a happy girl - primo company and nonstop entertainment but it wore daddy out. :-)

Budding Ballerina

Today Addie had her Christmas Dance Recital - all the little girls did great and The Booth Playhouse was the perfect place for it. Maybe it was the smaller venue, her veteran status or that our little girl is growing up {sigh} but she did AWESOME! The change in her from last time was so neat to see. Yes going from doing nothing to every single step was a major stride but seeing her enjoy herself was the absolute best! One thing that was the same was that tongue was sticking out of the side of her mouth just like before. :-)