It's funny how time seems to speed up as the holidays come closer. So much to do, yet not much time to squeeze it all in! I have a running list of holiday to-dos on my desk, and I'm happy to see that we're down to just a few items left unchecked.
I've managed to finish up 99% of the Christmas shopping, and only have two more easy gifts to pick up. Today I need to take care of the Christmas cards so I can mail them out tomorrow, and perhaps I'll even get a chance to start wrapping gifts. This year I decided not to wait until the end when there is a mountain of gifts to wrap, and I am running low on patience for details. I gave up on bows years ago. Slap on some paper, and call 'er good!
Ava's school had Candy Cane Days this week which is one of the student council's fundraisers benefiting Toys for Tots. She was quite excited to pick out candy canes to munch on while in school. Last year she brought some home for us, but apparently, we didn't make the cut this year!
Yesterday, we had a wonderful day with my family. My mom, Ava and I went to see the Disney on Ice show in St. Paul...it was all about the Disney princesses, and it was a full house! Ava's at the point where she's differentiating real life from make-believe, and she reassured me that even though the Evil Queen, and Mother Gothel are mean in the show, the girls who portray them are not. It was very important to her that I know that the actresses are not bad people. It was an interesting side discussion that we had as there were sparkles and ice shavings flying around below us.
The show was fantastic...I'm glad we were able to squeeze this in before Ava gets too big to attend this type of event. Goofy, Mickey, Minnie, and Donald were the MCs, and Ava thought G would've really liked that part. Such a good big sister!
Just a few short hours after that, we headed to Burnsville Center to see Santa. We've generally had to wait in line for over an hour, but it was only about a 15 minute wait yesterday. G wasn't thrilled about sitting on Santa's lap, but he got over it pretty quickly. And then we all just stood there. Finally Santa asked, "Who's taking the pictures?"
Perhaps the reason the Santa line was so short was because their camera was broken! Santa then informed the elves that they needed to be telling the people in line that info. Regardless, we were able to take a few quick, FREE pics with Santa and then we went on our merry way.
Ava was a little panicked, not knowing what to tell Santa that she wanted for Christmas. Initially it was Shopkins, then it was a mannequin (she picked out a specific one at the mall...ummm), then it was bed sheets (not sure where that came from) and then it was "nothing." She did end up going with Shopkins, which is good...not sure how a mannequin would fit in her stocking!
We headed over to Lucky's 13 for dinner and had a wonderful time eating, drinking, and feeding our youngest child lemons. He has eaten them before, without any issue, but he got one yesterday that must have been super sour because his reaction was priceless! We even ran into our old neighbors as we were leaving, so we had a chance to wish them a Merry Christmas in person. What a nice surprise!
Today, Ava's heading over to Grandma Deb and Grandpa Whitey's house to help with Christmas-y type things. She's really looking forward to spending time with them today...hopefully there is baking involved! (Perhaps that would be the perfect time for me to wrap gifts, without the observant, older child lurking around the house...!)
The weather isn't very winter like right now...Scott just walked by and said "It should be snowing right now, not raining." And even Ava commented that we probably won't have snow for Christmas. I'm not holding my breath that it'll stay warm for much longer...winter is coming!
I've managed to finish up 99% of the Christmas shopping, and only have two more easy gifts to pick up. Today I need to take care of the Christmas cards so I can mail them out tomorrow, and perhaps I'll even get a chance to start wrapping gifts. This year I decided not to wait until the end when there is a mountain of gifts to wrap, and I am running low on patience for details. I gave up on bows years ago. Slap on some paper, and call 'er good!
Ava's school had Candy Cane Days this week which is one of the student council's fundraisers benefiting Toys for Tots. She was quite excited to pick out candy canes to munch on while in school. Last year she brought some home for us, but apparently, we didn't make the cut this year!
Yesterday, we had a wonderful day with my family. My mom, Ava and I went to see the Disney on Ice show in St. Paul...it was all about the Disney princesses, and it was a full house! Ava's at the point where she's differentiating real life from make-believe, and she reassured me that even though the Evil Queen, and Mother Gothel are mean in the show, the girls who portray them are not. It was very important to her that I know that the actresses are not bad people. It was an interesting side discussion that we had as there were sparkles and ice shavings flying around below us.
The show was fantastic...I'm glad we were able to squeeze this in before Ava gets too big to attend this type of event. Goofy, Mickey, Minnie, and Donald were the MCs, and Ava thought G would've really liked that part. Such a good big sister!
Ava and Grandma Karen
A tight hug from Mom!
Tiana's song! (The Princess and the Frog)
The Evil Queen and the Mirror (Snow White)
Cinderella and her mice
Rapunzel's Tower (Tangled)
Flynn and Rapunzel flying through the air on her hair - very fun!
A gathering of all of the top princesses: Belle, Ariel, Aurora, Jasmine, Mulan, Tiana, Cinderella, Snow White, and Rapunzel...only Pocahontas was missing (or she was there and I just didn't see her!)
Fueling up after the show...
Perhaps the reason the Santa line was so short was because their camera was broken! Santa then informed the elves that they needed to be telling the people in line that info. Regardless, we were able to take a few quick, FREE pics with Santa and then we went on our merry way.
Grandma Karen and the kiddos, waiting patiently in line
The Big Guy!
Ava was a little panicked, not knowing what to tell Santa that she wanted for Christmas. Initially it was Shopkins, then it was a mannequin (she picked out a specific one at the mall...ummm), then it was bed sheets (not sure where that came from) and then it was "nothing." She did end up going with Shopkins, which is good...not sure how a mannequin would fit in her stocking!
We headed over to Lucky's 13 for dinner and had a wonderful time eating, drinking, and feeding our youngest child lemons. He has eaten them before, without any issue, but he got one yesterday that must have been super sour because his reaction was priceless! We even ran into our old neighbors as we were leaving, so we had a chance to wish them a Merry Christmas in person. What a nice surprise!
G looks so tiny!
Grandpa Doug encouraging G after his lemon tasting
Today, Ava's heading over to Grandma Deb and Grandpa Whitey's house to help with Christmas-y type things. She's really looking forward to spending time with them today...hopefully there is baking involved! (Perhaps that would be the perfect time for me to wrap gifts, without the observant, older child lurking around the house...!)
The weather isn't very winter like right now...Scott just walked by and said "It should be snowing right now, not raining." And even Ava commented that we probably won't have snow for Christmas. I'm not holding my breath that it'll stay warm for much longer...winter is coming!
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