countdown to Christmas.

This time of year really is magical when you have kids (or I guess when you're a kid at heart like me). 

We were all excited to see that our elf, Charlie, had joined us from the North Pole after our Thanksgiving visit to Michigan. We missed his presence during the year! We enjoy seeing where he chooses to sit in the house each day after having visited with Santa at night to let him know if we're on the "naughty" or "nice" list. 

Today, Charlie is on the mantle.
He got the Little People sleigh and reindeer out and is sitting in the sleigh! 

The kids had a nice visit with Santa over the weekend.
They were sure to let him know what is on their wish lists this year.  Of course, they also wrote letters as they must cover all bases to ensure that their wishes are heard and checked twice! 

Cassidy participated in her preschool's holiday music program this week.
Here, she is decked out in her Christmas dress before the show with big bro proudly standing at her side.

A pic during the show. Cassie is standing right next to her good friend, Grace. 

Larger group picture of the combined 4-year-old classes.
What an adorable concert! 

Cassidy made this wonderful wreath at school.
She thought it was a perfect picture frame!

As always, the kids are very excited for Santa's arrival. The countdown calendar tells us that it's just 7 days from today! With each passing day in December, we've tried to do something to get into the holiday spirit and to truly understand what Christmas is all about.  Of course, we can learn the latter simply by watching A Charlie Brown Christmas. Listen to Linus. He knows what's up.

Some of the things we've enjoyed so far this month:
- lots of cookie baking (and sharing...and eating)
- decorating the house inside and out
- looking for and talking to our elf, Charlie, each and every day
- opening a note in mom's homemade Advent calendar
- shopping for and donating gifts for kids our age who are in need
- watching and re-watching Christmas specials on tv
- reading Christmas stories
- shopping for and wrapping gifts for our loved ones, friends, and teachers (Oh what fun online shopping is.     When packages are delivered to the porch, it's like having Christmas every day!)
- listening to Christmas music (Twelve Days of Christmas by The Muppets anyone?)
- drinking hot chocolate
- prepping and mailing Christmas cards (Cassidy helped seal the envelopes this year. Her tongue said          "Blech!")
- trying to enjoy the cold walk to the mailbox each day to see if we received any Christmas cards
- driving around to look at Christmas lights

We hope you are enjoying the days leading up to Christmas as much as we are this year. We, personally, can't wait to get to Michigan to spend time with our families and friends there. We hope that you are surrounded by loved ones in the coming weeks as well.  

Ho! Ho! Ho!

dancing queen.

Cassidy began a weekly ballet/tap class in October. She's in for the long haul as this class runs from October through May, with a recital Mother's Day weekend.

Parents had the opportunity to sit in on class this week to observe. It was thoroughly enjoyable to witness my timid little girl voluntarily participate in class. Cass is a rule-follower and likes to know what is expected of her. This classroom setting seems well-suited to her personality. It works for Cassie and I'm thrilled for her.

After spending the first half of class clickety-clacking with their tap shoes on, the girls changed into their ballet shoes and began an adorably creative series of stretches. 

Look at that smile. I just love to witness the freedom. 

Free dancing with rainbow ribbons. This is a popular part of class!

Sassy Cassie. 

birthday q's: 5-year-old Cassidy

A look at Cassidy's annual birthday interview...

1. What is your favorite color? Pink! Why? Because I like it a lot.   

2. What do you like to eat? Macaroni & cheese. I also like Airheads.

3. What foods do you dislike? Sloppy joes, meat that is hard to chew. I’m kind of 
picky about the dinners that mom makes.

4. What is your favorite toy? Little blankie, stuffed animals, Lego Friends, princesses, kitchen stuff.  

5. What is your favorite book? Little Miss and Mr. books (Mr. Rush), Pinkalicious, Gerald & Piggie books. I like all kinds of books.   

6. What is your favorite tv show/movie? Peg + Cat, Doc McStuffins, The Cat in the Hat Knows A lot About That. I also really like An Elf’s Story (Christmas special) because Charlie is in it!

7. Who is your best friend? Kiarri and Grace. They are in my preschool class.

8. What are your favorite things to do? Play with Lincoln and Little Blankie, and my family. I also like to play with stuffed animals. I like to take dance class (ballet and tap). And I like to go to school! And I like to listen and dance to music!

9. What are your least favorite things to do? I do not like to be teased by my brother or my dad. I don’t like to be alone very much. I do not like being in big groups of people because I get kind of nervous. I do not like having my hair brushed because it’s snarly and it hurts!

10. What is your favorite thing to wear? Dresses with leggings.

11. Who is the most important person in your life? Lincoln and Mom and Dad and my whole family. Why? Because you’re my family and you take of me.  

12. What would be the best thing someone could give to you? I’d like to have an Easy Bake Oven and my own elf who could live with me all year long.

13. What is your day like? (When do you get up? What do you do all day? When do you go to sleep?)  I get up around 7/7:30 (right about the time Mom takes Lincoln to the bus stop). I usually watch a little tv and then have breakfast (usually Rice Krispies and a lemon yogurt). On M/W/F I go to preschool in the morning. On Tuesday morning, I have dance class. On Thursday, mom and I usually run errands. We have lunch around noon and then I play or I help mom with chores around the house. We have dinner around 5:30/6:00 and then play some more.  Shower around 7:30, books at 8:00 and night-night by 8:30.

14. What do you want to be when you grow up? A teacher. 

five.

Little sister celebrated her 5th birthday on the 15th of December. Five. Wow. I think we may have done it in five separate celebrations, too. Lucky girl!

We began by celebrating with the Mitchell family on Thanksgiving afternoon at Uncle Jeff & Aunt Suzy's house.

Cassidy with cousin Nicole.

 

The cousins.
(Top: Nicole, Sam, Riley
Bottom: Zoe, Cassidy, Alli, Lincoln)

We celebrated the following day with Granny and Uncle Dave. We enjoyed a Bill Knapps cake at this celebration - delish! 

Next up was a celebration at preschool where she shared fudge stripe cookies with her classmates. 

Cassie with her preschool crown, certificate, and birthday pencil! 

Forth, was an intimate family meal at Chuck E. Cheese's on Dec. 15. Grandma drove here to visit for the weekend to share in the festivities! We didn't feel like Cass was quite ready for a birthday party filled with friends as she finds crowds rather overwhelming so we opted for something smaller, with just family.

The birthday princess with her tiara.

She enjoyed a cuddle with Chuck!

Pound those sharks, Cass!

Lincoln using his football toss skills to earn some tickets. 

   

Lincoln having a go at this carnival game.

Cass and Matt playing games. 

Cass showing off a string of tickets!

The final birthday celebration occurred on her "real" birthday. It was a relaxing (and very cold) December day so we opted to stay inside all day! 

Here is Cassidy getting ready to enjoy one of her cupcakes.
She was thrilled with the pink frosting. 

Here, she opened a shirt from Grandma that is a duplicate of what she had on! Hilarious. 

Happy 5th Birthday, my sweet girl. 

Disney World!

We had a blast on our first family trip to Disney World. The weather was perfect -- sunny and 80 degrees every day. We visited the Magic Kingdom (twice) as well as Hollywood Studios.  We're saving Animal Kingdom and Epcot for our next trip.

The kids thoroughly enjoyed each of the three character meals that we had. We ate with Pooh and Friends, Disney Jr. characters, and Mickey and Friends. The character meals served as a great way for the kids to get up close with the characters. They were able to get a lot of fun autographs this way. We also met a few princesses. Rapunzel was a favorite.

It was hard for the kids to choose their favorite rides. Lincoln keeps taking about Space Mountain and the Star Wars ride and Cassidy thought Splash Mountain was a blast. She ducked for cover and didn't get wet like the rest of us. Finally, it paid off to be little! Matt & I snuck off for a short while to go on some "big kid" rides while Yia Yia and Papou took the kids to another attraction. These ended up being among our favorites--The Tower of Terror and the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster.

We all enjoyed a number of shows, too many to mention! We closed the trip with one of the newer attractions--Enchanted Tales with Belle. This was an interactive storytelling experience where the kids volunteered to participate in a shortened version of Beauty & the Beast. Cassie was cast as Chip the tea cup and Lincoln was a plate (which they eloquently refer to as "sparkling dinnerware"). They got up close and personal with Belle. It really was a special way to end the trip.

Matt, Julie, Lincoln, and Cassidy
with Cinderella's Castle in the background.

Cinderella's Castle gorgeously illuminated for the holidays. 

Goofy being his silly self with Yia Yia and Papou! 

Papou, Yia Yia, Lincoln, and Cassidy. 

Follow this link to see all of the trip pictures:  Disney World Pictures. 

When clicking the link, you can see "Highlights" or you can view all of the pictures by clicking "All Photos" when you get to the website. 

halloween 2013.

The need for umbrellas made for a trickier trick-or-treating experience this year, but we made it through and even enjoyed a few minutes umbrella-free as the rain eased up as the evening progressed. At least we didn't need winter coats!

This year, 4-year-old Cassidy chose to dress up as Disney Jr. character, Doc McStuffins. Doc is a fixer of broken toys. Adorable.

7-year-old Lincoln dressed up as one of his favorite video game characters, Super Mario. 

Here is Cassidy at her preschool party. 

Showing off her 3D pumpkin glasses.
She needs these to do one of the Halloween activity books that she received. 

Though it took Cassidy a little while to warm up to the idea of walking up to houses and asking for candy without mom or dad by her side, she got the hang of it and kept pace with her brother by the end!

Super Mario hugging his haul of candy. 

Cassie McStuffins happy with her loot.

After dumping their candy, the kids quickly began their tradition of sorting it into piles and then choosing a few pieces to eat.

Lincoln's favorites this year: Milky Way and Kit Kat,
though I'm not sure that he's met a piece of candy he doesn't like. 

Cassidy's favorites this year: Airheads and Laffy Taffy. 

Beer Man made an appearance again this year, but I have no photographic evidence! It was so wet out there that my picture taking abilities were limited. Maybe Grandma got a few pictures?

We ended Halloween night by watching It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Poor Chuck...always getting rocks in his trick-or-treat bag.

Hope you all had a spook-tastic Halloween!

jack-o-lanterns 2013.

We spent the day before Halloween turning our pumpkins into jack-o-lantern's. The kids and I worked on cleaning the pumpkins out, and then Matt went to work with the carving.

Ewwww...

Cool...

Digging in.

Up to the elbow in goop.

Scooping it out.

Insert barfing sound here.

"I love my pumpkin."

Matt started carving with a kitchen knife, but with some of the intricate details of this year's pumpkins, he decided that a trip to Walgreens was in order to see about those pumpkin carving kits. 

The tiny pumpkin carving tools proved useful. 

Super Mario for Lincoln.
Hello Kitty for Cassidy. 

Thanks, dad, for your hard work on these cool jack-o-lanterns! You rock, Beer Man.