Pencil Pals

More treats CJ made at school.

Tolerance

Big B was pretty tolerant of today's photo shoot. CJ used a sand rake as her camera and set up some toys with Big B on the new bed.

Making Progress

CJ did great roller skating today. The place was fairly crowded with the holiday break, but we had plenty of room. She fell a few times, but we had her skates looser and she was going a bit faster. She even went back for more after her milk and cookies break.

The Best for Last

These were CJ's presents for Mama and Daddy. Her school had taken a special visit to a glass shop. She made Daddy a coaster with a picture of a house on it. Mama got a spice jar filled with cinnamon that has a yellow sun on it. Thanks, sweetie.

Stone House, Route 2

We showed CJ a new route to the stone house today. Luckily we missed most of the rain, just got a little sprinkle. We even found a tree that had been decorated for the holidays. She wanted to go back the old way, which added a little neighborhood walk to the end, but it worked out fine. We ended up hanging out in the car for a bit at the end as we waited with a runner who had been locked out of his car. Little B was so tired from the hike, she didn't even care that he was with us, she just curled up and went to sleep.

Favorites

Here she is with the new mitten hand warmer. And do you remember that hat? She wore it every day, year-round a couple of years ago.

Holiday Cards and Art

Christmas Highs and Lows

CJ had a great holiday and sends Merry Christmas wishes to everyone. She loves all of her gifts, but the one favorite seems to be this mitten hand warmer that she found in her stocking. She's learning how to use the microwave to heat it up and has been doing so all day.

The one thing that might not have been on a list of favorites today was the Cootie game Santa left. It's supposed to be for preschoolers, but the rules are pretty tough - you have to roll a one or a two on the dice before you can get your head and body and play. Mama and Daddy had their bugs mostly built before CJ was so lucky.

Good thing the bugs are so cute!

Sharing Pups

Little B looked comfortable on the new bed:

But really preferred hunting the cookies that had been moved to a bookshelf:

(she stared at that spot all day)

So, Big B decided to take advantage of a new cozy bed.

Pacing Herself

CJ woke up and came into Mama and Daddy's room this morning without even checking under the tree. Then she wanted to watch a couple of tv shows before she even thought about gifts (or breakfast).

When we finally made it out to the living room, CJ first went to work on Little B's humonous present. We put together the new bed and Little B gave it a test.

CJ finally got to work on her presents. She seems more excited about the ballerina watch she had requested, then she did about last night's basketball.

One Gift

CJ was able to open one gift tonight before we put out cookies and milk for Santa. She didn't seem too excited that the dogs had gotten her a basketball, but it did have pink on it so not all is bad.

Peacock Lane Photo Shoot

For the second year in a row, we hit Peacock Lane on Christmas Eve. It was cold, but dry and fairly crowded. This year CJ was more excited about taking a picture of the lights than looking at them. She brought her own camera and wanted to stop and take picture after picture at each house. This was often challenging as we were on a small sidewalk with traffic going both directions. She did her best.

Nature Treasure

CJ found this little nature treasure on a dog walk today. We think it must be a japanese or chinese lantern with skeletonized leaves.

The Other Puppies

This year we once again made a trip to the humane society to visit the other puppies (and kitties, etc.), who aren't as lucky as ours to have a home. Daddy joined us and we left them with a nice bag full of goodies from their wish list.

Organizing

It used to be that CJ spent a lot of time with the Christmas tree organizing the decorations. This year is a little different. She finally got interested in the presents and once she counted the ones for her (fourteen!), she started to move them around and organized hers into a pile all ready for opening.

Cookies

CJ organizing the kisses (and hugs) for our almond butter blossoms:

Big B was so into the smell of chocolate, he even put two feet into the kitchen

(this is very rare!):

Halfway There

A boring day of errands with Mama, but we ended her half-birthday with a Saint Cupcake and a song. She ran off to get the hats before picture taking.

Visiting The Old Man

On our way home from The Nutcracker, we picked Daddy up at work and went to drop the letter off for Santa. We walked through the mall, but there was no line for Santa, so that was too easy. We decided to hit Santaland. The line was pretty short and moving quickly - until we got to the front and Santa decided to take a 10-15 minute break. Oh well, it gave us a few minutes to look around and take a few pictures of our own before he returned for photos.

Nutcracker Tea

We enjoyed an "abridged, family-friendly adaptation" of The Nutcracker today with friends. It was followed by cookies and cider. CJ can't wait to go back.

Morning Activities

CJ got a bath and tried on her new fancy dress:

She dictated her Santa letter to Mama and then blacklined it:

Here is the final result:

Requests are for

a ballerina watch,

a backpack,

a princess and unicorn playmobil castle,

hand warmers,

Bingo,

and a cheetah mask.

Christmas Ships

We saw a few white flakes as we headed out the door, but we bundled up and made it down to the waterfront in time to see the boats all decorated with their lights. Some even had music. CJ wanted to go down to the dock so she didn't have to look through the railing. Not a bad show and the weather turned out to be mostly dry.

Gingerbread Casa

Fancy Loot

We went to a Fancy Nancy party at a local bookstore. You should have seen how fancy some of the little girls were! CJ enjoyed hearing two newer stories and then she scored this Fancy Nancy loot!

Back to the Stone House

We got the girls out for a hike up to the stone house. The rain even held off for us.