Mug

We have been really lazy (um, I mean relaxing) the last couple of days. I ventured out of the house yesterday for the first time in 2 days.....we were having a heat wave--in the 40's. Today is no different except tonight M painted a mug. I see hot cocoa in the future!!

Christmas Day

Relaxing on the couch watching A Christmas Story....

Lights out.......

Santa's Cookies and Milk

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve at the pfours with friends....

And who else but the traveling elf gnome......you never know where the elf will show up next!!!

Santa's Elf......

And more cookies......

Afternoon at The Nutcracker

Yesterday afternoon, we met friends downtown at the Auditorium Theatre to the see The Joffrey Ballet Nutcracker. I had seen a production of The Nutcracker years ago while in Atlanta, but this was M's first time. She was so excited to see the dancers. During the first scene, I think she was expecting a little more ballet dancing, but all in all she had a great time. A couple of times she really perked up during the performance when she heard music that she dances to at her dance classes. She said her favorite part of the performance was the music!!

We knew a couple of the kids that were in the show so that made it even more exciting. They were awesome! Afterwards, their parents hosted a Magical Nutcracker party. There were several other families there whose kids were in the show so we got an impromptu private peformance by all of the kids!

Let it snow.......

Friday night the three of us along with the pfours bundled up and walked a couple of blocks to Trattoria 225 for some pizza. The pizza was good but the trip there and back was even more exciting. The kids (and big kids) had a snowball fight the entire trip back to the house. When we got home, M was soaked and exhausted! Highly recommended if your little ones are high on sugar and needs a little release.

More holiday cookies....

Santa's Card

M created her first card to Santa this year. I think he will love it!!

A Cause for Celebration

(OK, I admit this photo is a little on the freaky side. Like little girls typically are at her age (until college), M was in a silly mood.)

Today was M's first graduation....of gymnastics class that is. Check out her fancy medal. She's been taking this class since the Fall and absolutely loves it and Coach Katie. Her favorite part of class is this foam cylinder thingy that the kids go inside and roll around. She's on her "winter break" and will return to classes in January. Exciting.

And.....

we could not let this event go without celebration. We baked some biscotti using Mom Mom's recipe. M helped by cracking the eggs and stirring the liquids. Then, we put on Charlie Brown's Christmas for M so that we could finish the rest in peace :-)) Mmmm, our bellies like!!

A water filled weekend...

We left around noon on Friday and headed up to the Wisconsin Dells for the first time ever to one of the 20+ waterparks in the area. We were meeting our friends Kim and Doug along with their two kids. We stayed in the Glacier Lodge at the Wildnerness Resort. Our suite was really nice with separate bedrooms and a full kitchen.

M had her first bunk bed experience. I know this is shocking but as soon as we dragged our bags to the room, we were "ordered" to put our swimsuits on so that we could go to the waterpark. Our little fish had an absolute blast everyday and so did we.

And to add to the excitement of the weekend, M got to see Santa Claus. Before Santa could get a word out M had run up to him and said "I want pink sparkly paint for Christmas." Well, I guess the honeymoon is over!

Christmas Tree

We picked out our Christmas tree earlier this week.....

....and finally finished trimming it today with Christmas music in the background to get us in the mood for the holidays. Only one breakable ornament bit the dust. I guess not to bad :-))

Pizza Night at the Pfours

Today, we joined the Pfours for their traditional Friday night pizza. We had a blast and the pizza was excellent. Good times! Thanks for the invite, Pfours.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving weekend in MS.....