Dec 19, 2017 | Holidays, Uncategorized, What's going on |
I’ve been too busy packing, organizing, list making, crying and house hunting to blog much lately. Not to mention that my phone, computer and car all died within a 24 hour time period. I’ve been busy doing adult things which is much less enjoyable than I anticipated when I was 12. I have seventy Christmas things I want to do before we leave and I’m determined to do it all. It’s very important to me that we have as normal a Christmas as possible, even with all the crazy.
We went to a Christmas party at the library and saw our fourth Santa of the year. Sesame is normally very observant but she hasn’t noticed they all look different and that two of them were less than stellar. She told me she brought her sled and reindeer but she had to leave them in the car “to charge.” There was craft making, cookie eating and face painting. Annabelle loves any event with face painting so she was thrilled to become a mini Rudolph.
For the last three years we’ve visited the Christmas Cottage. It’s so charming I want to live there all December.
We went with our Christmas jammies this year, partly because they’re cute and partly because they didn’t require ironing. She told him she wants a marble track and cars. She previously told me she wants luggage so evidently she has multiple lists.
I didn’t think we’d get to do our North Pole breakfast but we squeezed it in. I used my fancy dollar store china plates and found some fuzzy decorations to use as snowballs. We had bacon and pancakes in the shape of snowflakes, gingerbread men and stockings. When AB first saw it she said, “Wow, Mommy! It’s perfect!” A few minutes later she walked through and said, “It doesn’t really look like the North Pole in here.” Such a temperamental audience.
The weather cooperated nicely.
After breakfast we went to Seneca Falls, the inspiration for the town of Bedford Falls from It’s a Wonderful Life which is only my favorite Christmas movie of all time. Had I been born several decades earlier I would have had a poster of Jimmy Stewart up on my wall and dreamed of marrying him. Although to be honest I don’t see why I can’t have a poster him on my current bedroom wall. Surely Christopher wouldn’t mind.
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| “George Bailey, I’ll love you til the day I die.” |
By sheer coincidence, earlier in the week we saw the actress who plays Zuzu in the movie at a children’s museum. I drilled it into AB’s head that she played the little girl in the Christmas movie I watch every year. I assumed it was falling on deaf ears but when we were in the Bedford Falls museum she yelled out, “That lady is from your favorite show, Mama!” My job here is done. I have raised her well.
God smiled upon us and sent us multiple feet of snow. The females of the family could not be more thrilled. The male of the family is not as enthusiastic.
The very short trip from the top of the hill to the bottom gives her the thrill of a lifetime.
Nov 30, 2017 | Holidays, Uncategorized |
Sometimes I wonder if the saying “a rolling stone gathers no moss” was written in reference to us and our inability to stay home and not live out of suitcases. Our most recent trip found us visiting Dollywood in our former home state of Tennessee. Christopher’s parents were so kind to plan a family trip there for a few days last week. We did so many things that it would take several thousand words and 148 pictures to recap so I’ll stick to some highlights.
Except for the occasion fussing Annabelle is almost always a good flyer. She did even better than normal this trip. She did all four flights without watching any shows on the ipad. She colored, looked at books and took naps. She read the plane safety manual on each flight. It’s important to be prepared in the event of an emergency water landing.
On Thanksgiving morning we went to an exotic bird sanctuary. I’ve never seen so many beautiful birds in one place. We got to hold and feed several of them. Once AB got over her fear of holding them she loved it. I saw a sign that said some of their birds are for sale. I would have taken one in a heartbeat but I knew that at $2,995 Christopher would say it was too expensive of a souvenir.
Annabelle was a little hesitant about the rides at first but how quickly that changed when she got on the Lucky Ducky ride with the fearless Sadie and Emory. She wore the Lucky Ducky, Piggy Parade and Busy Bees rides over and over. She wasn’t a fan of the elephant ride that went in the air but there’s always next year. She was perfectly happy with all the kiddie rides.
Look who we happened upon! Normally AB is shy around characters but she was still riding the high from the Piggy Parade. She marched right up to him and gave a huge smile. (I’m sorry this is turning into the Annabelle show. I don’t see that changing anytime soon since I do nothing but hang out with her.)
I’ve never visited Dollywood at any other time but I’m here to say Christmas is The Time to go. The lights and decorations were beautiful. It was so festive.
We went to two lovely Christmas shows. They were a combination of fun and Christmas spirit and we all loved them.
Santa appeared the day after Thanksgiving. I’ve never seen a better Santa. He looked the part, had a beautiful suit and was so kind. He asked all the children if they knew about Baby Jesus and made sure they all knew the holiday isn’t only about Santa. We saw him again the next night and since there were no other children in line Sesame got to talk to him as much as she wanted. They talked about her friends, how reindeer fly (he said God makes them fly) and her nativity toy. She talked and talked. He asked her about the smocked nativity on her dress and she chose that moment to clam up. Everything in me was hoping (and audibly hinting) she’d give an eloquent answer and make him think I’m a good mom. All she did was stick her fingers in her mouth and mumble something about Paw Patrol. It was a humbling moment for me.
Annabelle loves all her cousins but she especially enjoyed spending time with Emmy. They’re so close in age and I love that they’re becoming little buddies.
Since we were there at Thanksgiving it’s only right to mention a few things we’re thankful for. Christopher is thankful for his health, I’m thankful for a good nights rest and good cheddar cheese and AB is thankful for her light up shoes. Judging by what she told Santa I’d say she’s also thankful for Paw Patrol.
Nov 2, 2017 | Holidays |
Our jungle trunk or treat was a success. We had a discussion about whether is was jungle or safari themed, but either way it was full of animals and plants.
I went with the lion onesie which turned out to be a solid choice. There were so many people there someone would have punctured my inflatable elephant back. We could have also done The Wizard of Oz but I didn’t think of that in time.
Annabelle could not have had a better night. She loved handing out the candy and said “Hi! Happy hawoween! Here ya go!” all night. Multiple people thought she was a cat but she corrected every single one. “No! I’m a tiger. A TIGER.” She was the cutest tiger I ever did see.
Oct 30, 2017 | Holidays, What's going on |
Back in January I said I was going to blog more frequently. I’ve only blogged twice in the last eight days so it’s safe to say that goal is not being achieved.
On Thursday I took Annabelle to the shoe store. I rarely buy clothes for her when she’s with me because it’s so much easier to do it alone. Beyond her Minnie Mouse rain boots and wanting to wear dresses she hasn’t voiced much of an opinion about clothes. Picking out her clothes myself is a train I intended to ride as far as the track will take me. I mentioned she would need new sneakers soon and she said she wanted light up shoes. She was very specific about which kind of light up shoes so we went together. She wanted light up shoes with characters on the side. I found a Frozen pair in her size but she didn’t want Frozen characters. Is her Frozen obsession coming to an end? Has the earth started to rotate in the opposite direction? Next we tried on Paw Patrol shoes and she liked them but said she “didn’t like them enough so let’s look at the other shoe store.” After the third pair (lights but no characters) didn’t meet her approval we went to Target. There we found a pair that her friend at school has and she fell in love with them. They do not have any characters on the side. The fact that we could have bought non-character shoes at the first store and called it a day is not lost on me.
That might be the most boring paragraph I have ever written in my life but it does have a point. The point is I went to Target. I seldom go to Target but I found myself there twice in one day. While perusing the shoe and pullup aisles I came across a lion costume. I haven’t yet nailed down what I’ll be for halloween but a lion is within the right theme. That is how I found myself trying a lion onesie costume in the Target dressing room. If you thought I was going to try it on in the middle of the pajama/lingerie section for all to see you haven’t been around here long enough.
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| I think the socks are the perfect touch. |
Listen. I’m not proud of how I look in either of these pictures but I need you to know exactly what I’m dealing with in the costume department. I have 18 hours before I have to be wearing a costume at trunk or treat so I need to decide on something asap. This Halloween business it too much. I need to go back to not acknowledging the day even exists.
In other Halloween news, why do preschool moms go all out for every holiday? When I brought AB to MDO today I went by countless parents with highly decorated cookies, fruit wrapped in dough to look like mummies and containers of playdough with pipe cleaner spider legs glued on top. You know what I brought to the party? Apple cider. I signed up to bring apple slices for tomorrow’s party and am feeling the pressure to cut them out with a cookie cutter in the shape of a pumpkin. I love a good celebration but it never occurred to me that I needed to bring personalized gifts for everyone in the class on Halloween. I save my classroom creativity for Christmas and Valentines.
My costume is not be finalized but Annabelle will be wearing her tiger costume to MDO tomorrow. The glue might still be wet from the final gluing tonight but she’ll be rocking her fancy light up sneakers.
Jul 6, 2017 | Holidays |
One of my big goals of motherhood is to pass on my love of all things holiday to Annabelle. I must be succeeding because for days she would ask if it was almost “America day and parade day.” She could not wait for me to get out the box of patriotic decorations and set up her own “America party.” Why use one flag when you can use 12 of varying sizes? Leaving the tags on the little containers really added to the charm of the party.
We went to the same parade as last year. It’s not great as far as parades go but Sesame thinks it’s great. She doesn’t know parades are supposed to have floats and not be 85% firetrucks and politicians. All she cares about is getting candy and seeing firemen.
Oh, the firemen! She kept asking when the parade would start so she could see them. She jumped up and down with joy when they went by. She lost her little mind when one gave her candy. Much like her mother she appreciates a man in uniform.
Our plan for the day was to have our friends over for a cookout after the parade. Unfortunately they had a death in the family so they had to cancel. Instead we hung out in the front yard while Christopher grilled and AB and I played with water balloons and water guns. We baked cookies and guaranteed that we’ll never appear on The Great British Bakeoff or any Food Network shows. It looks like a toddler made them. Oh wait. ONE DID.
We planned on seeing fireworks but stayed home when I read they didn’t start until 9:30 and we’re apparently very old and also have a child who insists on waking up early. She does not believe in the freedom to sleep in until 8 o’clock.
Jun 16, 2017 | Holidays |
All last week in Texas I planned how we’d celebrate Father’s Day. I hadn’t seen many advertisements for Father’s Day gifts but I thought maybe it was just because the only places I frequent are playgrounds and the library, neither of which are Hallmark level holiday spots. I asked Christopher if it was last Sunday (the 11th) and he said “I don’t know. Maybe. Sure.” Based on that concrete answer I continued on with my planning.
It wasn’t until Saturday afternoon when I was in line at Lowe’s that I saw a sign saying Father’s Day is the 18th. I didn’t believe it so I consulted the internet. The internet agreed that it was the 18th not the 11th. I had two thoughts: 1) How dare the rest of the world not be operating according to my schedule! 2. For once I was ahead of the game!
We continued on with fake Father’s Day anyway because we have company coming this weekend and it made sense to stick to the original plan. It was the lowest of low key days. Christopher doesn’t appreciate fancy straws like he should (party pooper) so I didn’t bother buying any specially themed ones. Annabelle did wrap her gift in a girly glittery bag so at least we had a little sparkle.
Annabelle is obsessed with rocks and always brings them home. They end up in the car, all over the driveway and mixed in the toys. I decided it would be a very Father’s Dayish thing for Christopher to make her a rock/fairy garden in the Hundred Acre Woods. Dumbo came along to inspect but not help. He never pulls his weight around here.
Sesame gave Christopher a little bear figurine she picked out at a rest stop on the way to Massachusetts. It was the second figurine we’ve gotten there so we’re really keeping them in business. Another gift was this set of matching socks. I think they should wear them on her wedding day (if I ever let her leave the house).
