Christmas Day...Santa Came!!!

On Christmas morning we made Reese stay upstairs long enough to make coffee, get the camera and wake up Mimi and Bob. It was maybe 10 minutes...she thought it was like a week!:)
Here's what Santa brought



He ate the cookies and milk she left out for him:)




Reese got a ton of stuff...seriously way to much from her grandparents. Some of the favorites were this dress up outfit and guitar...


This microphone is a HUGE hit


Along with this umbrella which for some reason she made us use as a prop in a bunch of pictures:)



We spent almost all day and all weekend doing shows with either the microphone or the guitar..





after she perfected her skills she was able to multitask them both...


Seriously I have got to get this girl into some music lessons...she LOVES to sing and perform!

We hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve-waiting for Santa!

We woke up on Christmas Eve with lots of cooking and stuff to get done for the big day. First off Reese and I made a pie and decorated some cookies for Santa!


Mimi and Bob got into town and we mostly cooked and played all day until it was time for church. We posed for a few pictures before heading out to church.




After church we came home had dinner, put cookies out for Santa, reighndeer food on the porch and went to bed in anticipation of Santa!!:)))

First Ever Family Movie Night

Last Friday after my first full week of work we decided we needed something fun to do as a family. I thought we would try a movie night after I heard that Reese's friend Landry participates in her family's movie night. Reese has never sat still long enough to watch even half a movie but we thought we would give it a try...



Daddy had the idea to bring home this projector from work to make it really cool! So they prepared the playroom so we could watch it on the wall..




Reese had been to the library with Nanny and she picked a Barbie movie. It was kinda cute and we made it through about half of it before she started doing this:))



We had pizza for dinner and popcorn mixed with M&M's. Even though we didn't finish the movie it was a special treat and we all had fun!

The 12 Days of Christmas!

Our neighborhood does a lot of fun things around the Holidays. This year we got to experience a new one for us. The 12 Days of Christmas Stocking. On the 12th day of Christmas we got a stocking hung on our porch with a note that said to leave the stocking out and wait for a surprise every night until Christmas!


Day 2:
"Christmas time is so much fun, I love to share with you and run. Tonight, two turtle doves would be nice, But the chocolate candies will have to suffice."

Can you tell she was thrilled!!!!!!!

For day one and two I did great taking pictures but keep in mind this was my second week as a working mom and I totally dropped the ball on the pictures. Sad. So not another single picture but I did save the notes!

Day 3:
"For this night-French Hens are traditional you see. Are you wondering "what does my Christmas friend have for me?" Alas I have to burst your bubble. but those hens were just too much trouble. So tonight, what do you get? You get the starter set!!
We got a dozen eggs!

Day 4:
The calling birds were busy they're forever on the line. It's often hard to reach them during Christmas time. Instead here are four coins to make your Christmas calls. Spread the news of love and joy. Merry Christmas to all!!
We got 4 quarters which Reese put in her piggy bank.

Day 5:
Tis the 5th night of Christmas, I'm to bring 5 golden rings. Gold is much too heavy, so I brought the closest thing.
We got 5 glazed donuts.

By this point Bob was going crazy wondering who was doing it and keep trying to catch them! Reese told him it was magic!:)

Day 6:
The geese have gone south by December, for them Christmas comes too late. This fleece will have to suffice so get to laying!

P.S. We know you've been sneaking. You've been caught peeking! Don't spoil our fun..if you catch us we're done!!
We got a penguin holding a fleece blanket!

Day 7:
The swimming swans have flown south with the geese. Here's a yummy Christmas cake. Won't you all have a piece?
We got a cute little bitty cake..which Reese loved!

Day 8:
The 8th day of Christmas and I'm as busy as can be. Eight maids a milking nowhere do I see. So here's your chance to diversify, eight straws and some milk for you to try.
We got a gallon of milk and 8 straws!

Day 9:
Nine ladies dancing this night I was to bring but they spent the night before dancing for the king. Tonight they all are resting complaining of sore feet. They send their hugs and kisses-sweet enough to eat!
We got Hershey's "hugs" and kisses! Yummy

Day 10:
Tis the 10th day of Christmas and Lords a leaping I should bring. Instead lets read a book about our lord and king.
We got a children's Christmas book.

Day 11:
I simply can't believe my little game is almost though. I've had such a good time bringing Christmas to you. As you known 11 pipers piping this is not. It's chocolate for Christmas morn to serve piping hot. There's only one more night to go ...what? and who? aren't you curious to know???
We got a box of hot chocolate.

Day 12:
On Christmas Day our doorbell rang and it was some of our favorite neighbors Emma's family. We kinda thought it was them but weren't sure. It was a lot of fun..Thanks Quislings!

Here's what the note said..
I came to life years ago to teach children as I go. To give a gift is just as fun so next year you do the nightly run. Pick a family dear to you all, then play this game and have a ball!

I wish I would have done better with the pictures but I still wanted to post this because we loved it so much! It came every night right before bedtime and it gave Reese incentive to take her bath and get ready for bed. She was sooo excited and really so were we:). We will for sure do this next year..


T

Baking with Nanny!

Last week was a week of many changes for our household. First of all as most of you know Mommy went back to work. Yikes!! It was a terribly hard week for Mommy as I missed my Reesey P horribly but we'll save that for another post. Because it was Reese's last week at Rainbow Corner we enlisted Nanny (my mom) to come and watch her for the week. Nanny took Reese to Rainbow corner on Tuesday/Thursday. To Mygym on Wednesday and the library on Friday so lucky for Reese she kept her normal routine just minus Mommy:(

Because I was the room Mom for Reese's class at Rainbow Corner we were supposed to bring cookies to school on Thursday for the Christmas party. Thank goodness for Nanny she stepped right up. On Wednesday afternoon she and Reese went to work to make cookies for the party...



Reese was quite the little helper...look at her go! I'm pretty sure she's better at this then me:)



A self portrait of the bakers..



This one isn't from the baking but I thought it was cute:) Emma came over to play and Mom said they were playing dress up with all of Reese's socks..silly girls!

Brunch with Santa!

Last Sunday we went with the Caffrey's for our annual brunch with Santa. Reese absolutely could not wait to see Santa. She has been talking about what she was going to ask for from him for over a month. The list started out with one item..a big girl pink bike. Since then she has added a few more items so the complete list is

1.) Big girl pink bike
2.) princess umbrella (as seen at Kroger)
3.) a camera

First things first we had to visit with Frosty..


and pose for some pics....







Finally it was time to see Santa! Both Blake and Reese were STOKED to see the big guy!







Little Miss Reese had quite the little conversation with Santa...seriously they were chattin away!:)



Afterwards we asked Reese what she and Santa talked about and she said it was a secret! Ha! Funny girl..hope she behave for a few more weeks before Santa comes:))

Thanks Caffrey's for the yummy brunch!

A Christmas Program -2010

Today Reese's school held "Cookies and Carols" an event for the children to perform some Christmas songs for the parents and then share some Christmas cookies. Reese has been talking about this "program" for over a month as they have been practicing and learning the songs. Nanny and Poppy came to town for the event and let me just tell you we could just barely wait! Bob and I were so anxious to see how Reese would do especially after a few months ago she had a singing program at church and never uttered a single word of the songs until we were in the car on the way home:))

Before we left the house I tried to snap a few pictures and this is what I got from the little stinker....

needless to say I was getting a little nervous about the performance!

However we were pleasantly surprised to see her singing and having fun once we got there. They did some great songs including a favorite about a reindeer...



Jingle bells...



Ho Ho Ho who wouldn't know...pretty sure this one is Reese's favorite as I hear it being sung from the crib often:))




Sweet Reese we are so VERY proud of you! You are an awesome singer and performer and we absolutely can't wait for many many more Christmas programs!

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

St Nick Night

Bob grew up celebrating St. Nick night with his family. I don't really know much about it but Google tells me it's an old Dutch tradition. Anyhow so on Dec 5th we hang our stockings and St Nick brings some things to fill them the next day. Reese doesn't really get it yet but we still did some fun things to celebrate. In the afternoon we made some Christmas cookies. Reese thinks these are for Santa but don't worry we will make some fresh ones for him:)



St Nick stopped in at Mimi's house and he left this cute Christmas dress and candy cane lollipop for Reese:)


After dinner and bath time we hung our stockings..





The next day we went back to check and low and behold St Nick left some fun things for us:)

Disney Princesses on Ice!!

Every year on the Saturday after Thanksgiving I spend the day working on the Christmas decorations. It has become a tradition that Bob and Reese spend the day together so I can knock it all out quickly. Last year they went to see Yo Gabba Live and Reese still talks about it a year later!! This year they were unsure of what they were going to do. Bob was thinking about taking her to a movie although I didn't think that would be very successful. We had talked about Disney on Ice and the tickets were a little more then we wanted to spend..so they headed out to run some errands one of which was dropping off some stuff at Habitat for Humanity. When they pulled up there was a sign selling Disney on Ice tickets for 10 bucks..SCORE!!

Since they didn't know they were going Bob didn't take the camera so the pics are from his phone but you get the idea:)
Before the show little Miss with her popcorn and HUGE lemonade...I was like how many times did she have to go potty?! HA! Poor Daddy!


A few pics of the show...



Reese had a great time and was so excited to come home and tell me all about the show! Daddy said the show wasn't too bad:))