Merry Christmas!!

WOW!! Christmas is spectacular!! Last night I got to have a slumber party with mommy because daddy was working... The first thing I asked when I woke up was "where is Sparkle" (our resident Elf for the last month)? Mommy reminded me that Sparkle had gone home because Santa came while I was sleeping.  After that she had a hard time containing me (she said we had to wait for daddy to get home from work before we could go downstairs). I immediately asked "where are my cookies" (cuz that is all I ever told mommy and daddy I wanted Santa to bring)... But then I said "where is my fire truck and my bus"? Mommy panicked a bit because she had never heard me say that before and she secretly hoped that what Santa had brought would be okay!! 

Daddy finally got home and when we went downstairs we found trails of magic snow with Santa's footprints in it!! He had left me a teeter-totter (that I can ride on all by myself), a new high chair for my babies, a big box of chocolate chip cookies, and a whole stocking full of fun stuff!! I was super excited about the cookies and the goggles that I found in my stocking! Well, to be honest, I was excited about EVERYTHING!!

We spent the whole morning opening gifts with Nonna and Nonno... Every time I would open something new I would get a bit distracted and want to play which was just fine with mommy. She spent the morning crawling around on the floor with me doing puzzles, reading books, and playing on my teeter-totter. We had a blast!  One of my favorite gifts was my Elsa doll. When I opened her up I squealed really loud, held her up in front of me and said "Oh Elsa, I wanted you so bad! I love you!!" Then I gave her a big, big hug!!  I also reminded everyone that day that it was Jesus' birthday... and I sang to him lots so he would feel super special. 

Later in the afternoon my Uncle Frankie, Miss Rachael, and Grandma Ronnie came over and the whole thing started again. You could definitely tell that I am the only niece/grandchild right now!! I was spoiled rotten!! 

Santa's magic snow:

My first look:

Opening my box of cookies:

I love you Elsa!

Christmas Eve Gift!!

Today was Christmas Eve... The night before Jesus' birthday and the night before Santa is coming!! Mommy and Nonna spent the day busy in the kitchen making soups and home made rolls for tomorrow so that they could relax. Mommy decided not to do a big Christmas dinner because she would rather spend the day playing with me... I think that's a great idea!! 

Sparkle leaves tonight when Santa comes so she made sure that her last trick was really funny... She toilet papered our Chrismtas tree!! Silly Sparkle! 

This afternoon we met Miss Heather, Jace, and Baby Bella for a Christmas Eve service. Jace and I really liked it when they played all of the music and we danced in the aisle. It was a bit hard for us to sit still during the talking part so our mommies ended up taking us out to the foyer. Just too much excitement!  

My Christmas Program and a big birthday for mommy!!

The Christmas festivities continue this week and so does the excitement. I had a big Christmas program at my school and we all sang lots of Christmas songs and told the story of little baby Jesus.  I got to wear a pretty dress and I felt just like a princess... Or a ballerina... I couldn't decide! 

Right after the program we changed our clothes, loaded up the car and headed to the mountains for my mommies annual birthday weekend. We had a big birthday dinner for her the night of her actual birthday and I helped Nonna make a really yummy cake! Lots of people came to help us celebrate that night. For the weekend it was just mommy, daddy, and I... Some much needed time for us.  Friday night daddy had his Christmas party and mommy and I got to have a girls night alone. We made popcorn, watched the movie Frozen, and drank hot cocoa!  Unfortunately, we had planned on spending the weekend in the snow, and there was just a bit when we got up there that first night, but by Saturday afternoon it had all melted because it was raining so hard.  We did get out of the house long enough on Saturday to build a family of snowmen (even though they were a little bit dirty) but other than that we had to stay inside for most of the weekend because if the rain. We still had lots of fun playing games and doing puzzles. 

Checking out the cabin we rented:

Eating snow with Doodie:

Girls night with mommy:

Daddy, mommy, and baby:

Countdown to Christmas

Christmas is getting closer and closer and we are staying so busy trying to get ready in time. My Nonna and Nonno are here to stay with us so the house is full! Five people, four dogs, and two cats... Plus all of the Christmas decorations!! It's like a circus around here!

We have been staying busy finishing the home made gifts mommy has made for everyone, baking, and playing. On Monday mommy, Nonna, Nonno, and I all went shopping for the day.  Mommy got the last of her shopping done and I got to go and see Santa. I was pretty sure that I was going to give him a big hug when I met him, but when I did I just stood at his feet and stared!! I wasn't really interested in sitting on his lap but I did tell him that I wanted cookies for Christmas. I stood and stared at him for a very long time with my mouth just hanging open... I even had people watching me from in the mall because I was just so cute. After a long day shopping I sacked out pretty hard in the car on the way home.  I did wake up enough to help Nonna and mommy wrap Christmas presents though! 

I got to spend Tuesday with my daddy and Nonno and today with my mommy and Nonna. I helped my Nonna bake cookies and after my quiet time Jace, Baby Bella, and Miss Heather came over.  Jace and I watched some of the movie Frozen together, we did some crafts (fingerprint ornaments that my mommy painted to look like snow men), and we decorated cookies. After dinner Jace and I exchanged gifts... We got each other the same thing... Pogo sticks that squeak when you bounce on them! We had a lot of fun bouncing around the house on them! 

Tomorrow I have a Christmas party at school and my Nonna is going to go with me! We get to wear our pajamas! I picked out a special pair that have Santa all over them!! I am really excited! 

Getting ready to go shopping:

Helping Nonna wrap:

Watching Frozen:

My hand print ornament:

Christmas fun

Christmas is getting closer and closer and I am so excited! This week we had a special visitor show up from the North Pole... An Elf that I named "Sparkle"! She comes to stay at our house to watch and make sure that I am being a good girl. Then she flys to the North Pole every night to report to Santa. Sometimes when she comes back to our house she does silly things like the other day when I found her having a tea party with my babies! Silly Sparkle! 

This weekend we had a very special day when we went up to the woods to get a Christmas tree. We went with a bunch of daddy's friends from work and went way, way up in the forest. Jace, Baby Bella, Mr. Marc and Miss Heather were there so I was really happy. I also met a new friend Cami... We had a really great time playing all day and I helped her family pick a really pretty tree. I got to go on my first ride on a four wheeler with daddy and mommy picked us out the best tree ever! 

A new visitor: 

Silly Sparkle having a tea party with my babies!

Our day Christmas Tree Hunting:

I love Baby Bella!

Christmas is coming!!

A few days after Thanksgiving the City of Medford had a special tree lighting down town and we got to go. Pica and Grammie were still here and daddy had his fire engine there for people to see. I even ran into my best buddy Jace while we were there!! 

They had a candy cane hunt for all of the kiddos... I must have picked up at least 50 candy canes! Mommy only let me eat one though and I shared one with daddy. We got to watch a Charlie Brown Christmas special on a big outdoor screen and then Santa came! I was so excited to see him and really wanted to give him a big hug but, the line was so long that we didn't want to wait. I did get to say hello to him when he walked by and he gave me a "high-5"!! Mommy promised to take me to visit him another time... 

Candy Cane Hunt:

My first look at Santa:

A high five from Santa:

Happy Thanksgiving!!

This week is Thanksgiving! Daddy is coming home from his big annual elk hunting trip AND my Pica and Grammie are coming to visit! I am super excited for the big "party". To get ready for everyone coming I helped mommy around the house. She took a couple of breaks from her house cleaning to play and draw with me. I asked her to draw pictures of all of our animals... Mommy is quite the artist!! 

When we were all done cleaning I helped mommy put her make up on so she was ready for the party. I thought she looked really pretty that I decided daddy needed some make up too!! 

Thanksgiving was a really busy week. Daddy worked Thanksgiving day but mommy, Pica, Grammie, and I all went to the fire station and the boys made us dinner. The following night mommy cooked a turkey and all the fixins' to go with it.  She was so busy that she forgot to take pictures but we had a really nice day. I didn't want to take a nap because I was having so much fun so by the time dinner rolled around I was pretty sleepy. I sat on mommy's lap for a few minutes but then just wanted to snuggle on the couch for some quiet time.  

Mommy's artwork:

Mommy's all ready for the party:

So is daddy! 

Fall projects and Fun

With fall comes hunting season and daddy always goes on a long hunting trip with Uncle Frankie, Mr. Ryan, and Mr. Todd. Unfortunately he didn't bring a deer home with him this year so he had to hunt more once he got home. On the very last day of hunting season he walked up the big hill in front of our house and got a big buck in about 10 minutes!! I thought it was pretty neat and even offered to help him wrap it up when it was time. I really liked making hamburger. 

Then this week, while mommy was painting a project I got to paint some ornaments that I will get to give away as Christmas presents. Mommy has lots of projects going for Christmas and she says its just around the corner. I am really excited for Santa to be back! 

This next week mommy has to work every day because her boss is out of town and daddy had to work on Sunday... So, we decided to spend Saturday together as a family just relaxing and having fun. We did have to run a few errands but we went to a really cool used book store and I got a couple of puzzles. Then, on the way home we stopped by a new park on the river that daddy wanted to see. They had a big play structure to climb on with a fire pole to slide down. I was scared at first but mommy suggested that I ride in daddy's arms. Once I did that, I realized it wasn't so scary and before long I was going down all by myself!! I even stood at the bottom to catch daddy in case he was scared! 

Daddy's helper:

Making gifts:

Catching daddy: 

Happy Halloween

Things have been a bit hectic around here... I have been really sick, so has daddy, and Nonna and Nonno were here for a while (they got sick and had to leave to go home), so mommy has been going crazy. Halloween was a few weeks a go and I got to dress up like Cat in the Hat!! I looked absolutely adorable! My Nonna, Nonno, and Daddy took me trick or treating in Jacksonville (mommy was out of town) and I got LOTS of candy. I also had a Harvest Party at my school and everyone dressed up. There were a lot of princesses (Elsa and Anna from the movie Frozen were really popular) and superheroes and we all went on a parade around the school in our costumes. 

A special visitor, fun play time, and my first field trip

A few weeks ago my mommy brought home a very special visitor. The "clinic cat" Kit was really sick and needed some extra love and affection. Mommy knew that I was the girl for the job! I made sure I took really good care of her... In fact, I pretty much never left her side. I made special care to bring her into my room so she could watch me while I played, I spent lots of time reading her books, and just giving her love. Unfortunately our cat Beatle was not very happy that she was here so mommy had to take her back. She is better now though and back to her normal self but I still wish mommy would bring her back. 

I also got to go to a new place this week and have some special play time with my good friend Jace. Our mommies took us to a local gym where they have some fun free time called "kinder gym". We got to run around in the gymnastics area and play on all the equipment.  When they said it was time for us to leave our mommies knew we still had lots of energy left so they let us play next door where they have a huge maze of tubes to crawl in. My mommy even got in and crawled around with us.  After we were worn out we went back to Jaces house for a nap. When we woke up Miss Heather put on the movie "Toy Story" and made us a big bowl of popcorn! We are the whole thing! 

To top off the week I got to go on my first real field trip with my class! We rode the bus like big kids to Seven Oaks Farms to visit the pumpkin patch and my mommy met us there! We got to take a hay ride out to the big pumpkin patch where my class mates and I got to pick out our very own pumpkins! When we were done they let us feed carrots to the goats! I thought hat was really fun too. 

Miss Kit-Cat... Mommies clinic kitty:

Kinder gym fun:

Field trip: