Santa (Dennis)

Last year, Eric found Santa Dennis--who saved us from desperation. We (purposely) waited until the weekend before Christmas do to pictures, but when Amara caught a Roseola bug, we had to postpone. Well, all the Santa's had gone back to the North Pole, except Santa Dennis. He came to mom and dad's for a special visit--one we'll always remember with Grandma Lucy.

This year, Santa Dennis came in his usual full glory--and as Amara had learned about "Sanaa" and seen many pictures, we didn't know how she'd feel about the real guy (he is kind of larger than life, and certainly much bigger than an ornament or a card).

At first, she was happy to see him, but from a distance... We tried seeing if she was interested in sitting on his lap, but she wasn't interested at all; however, she did quickly warm up to him, and in no time was sharing toys, giving him a sucker, and high-fiving, and waving bye!

Santa brought a very special present, a wooden toy truck--that we hope she'll have for many years to come. She sat with him as she opened it and then immediately jumped down, to start playing with and sharing her toys.

Although we didn't get a traditional "posed" picture, we all really had a great time, and hopefully she'll look forward to her visit from Santa every year now.

Suzy Loo Who

One day, after a nap, Amara started waking up with a few waves/ curls. Because of the length of her hair right now, she ended up with a curl right up on top of her head!

At this particular moment, we were enjoying lemon yogurt and a HUGE winesap apple from Lynd's, that we saved from back in the fall. Dinner of champions, I know...and yes, Amara enjoys eating her yogurt with both a spoon and a fork. Lucky for us, it's thick enough that she CAN--basically, she does it "self" until she gets tired of not getting big enough bites, then lets us help her. But boy, oh boy, does she enjoy her fruits by herself!

Waiting for Santa

Mom snapped these pics at her house recently, and sweetly duped them "waiting for Santa."

The REAL story is that this window looks directly out onto mom and dad's driveway. This is pretty much the primary entrance into their house, so she's able to see anyone coming and going (as are the dogs). I THINK she picked up on the dogs always running to that window, and/or sitting in that chair, but now SHE has started going to the window too.

Last year, mom got a picture of her 2 dogs and Ily in the front bedroom, but I guess this year--Amara has replaced Smoky, either that, or she is just smaller and can get into spots he can't!

Santa Dennis is actually coming for a visit again soon, so I wonder if she'll see him coming in the window--AND what she'll think?

Little Gym Holiday Party/ Lydia's concert

We've had the Little Gym Holiday Party on our schedule since they handed out the flier back in October or November, and today it finally got here!

Amara loves to go to gym class with Miss Amber, but we hardly EVER all get to go as a family! Today we took advantage of it and all went together.

We got there JUST after it started, at 5, and it was already packed! (I guess everyone else loves gym classes too) We didn't stay long, but we did get to walk the balance beam, slide down a cool parachute slide, hang on the bars, see bubbles, and roll over the big donut-roll thing!

On the way out (to head to Lydia's concert) we even grabbed a (candy) cane for the road, which was a sweet treat ending to a fun night. We said goodbye to Miss Amber (Amara and Grandma Jackie will see her in a couple days) then headed off on the rest of our trip!

Off to see our friend Lydia sing--she is with the Columbus Children's Choir and her Holiday concert was at 6 in Whitehall! Luckily, Tammy, Julia and Justin saved us seats (THANK YOU!) and we got there JUST in time! We heard flutes, percussion, and got to see and hear lots of beautiful children sing about Christmas and stars, and they sounded just wonderful! Just like the ones you hear on the radio!

I didn't take any pictures, because I wasn't sure about posting pictures of strangers' children for the most part--but we really enjoyed the sights and sounds of the holidays there! Congrats on a great 1st concert! We look forward to many more :)

Cookie Day '09

Time for the annual Cookie Day fest at mom and dad's house. Most of the antics were 'the usual' however; this year, we had a wild-card...well, a few of them :) The obligatory bottles of wine were had and enjoyed (details to come on that, dad is still fishing them out of the recycling bin). Mom found this super-cute "cookie taster" shirt--which she WONDERFULLY captured, before Amara went down for her nap.

We got started with the traditional 1st batch of Chocolate Chip around 1. Mom and I started on the new recipe, PBR wheels (I'm calling them), when Darlene and Ann came--whom I quickly put to work on more PBRs and the turtles. They brought thumbprints with Nutella, and Oatmeal Raisin. YUM!

Carolyn came and dug right in on her AMAZING chocolate krinkles, snowballs, s'mores (did we make the tea cakes?)...and I lost track. OH, and she brought the most AMAZING cookie she did earlier in the morning with a cake mix, I think devil's food--I HAVE to get that recipe :) and the the snowman ready-mades, an Amara favorite! Man, those s'mores...MAYBE better than "real" smores! Bethany jumped right in too--I think she had to ice her arms down from all that mixing and ball-rolling, I know I would...lucky for her she's buff--haha! She and Carolyn as a team were a blur.

DK and Beth came bearing wine (always a crowd favorite). One of these years I'm going to get an apron on these ladies yet, but for now, the beverages will suffice...thanks DK & B!

Kristin and Cindy came too--Cindy brought the cutest ornaments, shaped like cookies in the letters "e, m, and a" (already on our tree)--she ALWAYS finds the best ornaments for cookie day--these REALLY look like cookies too! They worked on those pretzel/ kiss/ M&M bite things, and mixed it up with some peppermint ones that looked WONDERFUL! (oh, we sent Eric to the store right about then, to get pretzels--of ALL things to forget! Thanks E xoxo

Dawn and Casey were machines. They are officially the newly dubbed "team Buckeye" henceforth. (nephew approved!) They cranked out the snickerdoodles, AND the iced the sugar cookies, in amongst the buckeyes!

Danielle and Jeremy came with newest cookie man, Calum, who was a total angel--and I think enjoyed all the sights and smells!

Sheri helped me with the bark, then she quickly moved on to the butterscotch/ PB haystacks with Amanda, while Eric (arm twisted I'm sure) watched baby Mikayla (only 10 1/2 weeks and too little to stir--we'll catch her next year!)

And last, but NEVER least, Kortney brought the balls. Well, she didn't BRING the balls, but she, and Amanda, and Sheri, and I think a few other hands, made the "traditional" oreo balls, and she mixed it up with trying the Golden Oreo balls too this year, why not, right? I love those things--so tasty...and i LOVE that Kortney comes not only prepared with ingredients, but her own latex gloves. Only Kort. love her ;)

Thanks all for a wonderful Cookie Day '09! Special mentions to Jaren and thank you for the adorable ice cream truck :) and Mal, we hope to see you next year too, Eric is officially in charge of the toddler room!

Sharing

We've been trying to reinforce the concept of sharing, here at home lately. Even though Amara really doesn't have to share (toys especially) here at home, she DOES have to share at many of her classes, so we're trying to make a conscious effort where we can.

This morning, Amara decided she wanted to sit in the chair, and to have Ily sit with her, as she ate crackers in front of Ily. I must say, Ily is patient as a SAINT in this department, largely, I'd guess because she knows that in 90 seconds, Amara will move on to something else, and she'll get the "ok" from dad, to "have at the crumbs."

I think we've been telling Amara SO much to share, that she thought nothing of sharing with Ily as they sat together. Despite the cartoonish picture, that I think should have a starburst with the word "POW" on it, Amara was VERY gentle feeding Ily, dad just happened to capture a squint, and I thought it was hilarious.

The two of them sat there together, and polished off 1/2 a bag of animal crackers. As expected, Amara wanted down, and Ily was left to clean up the crumbs, but in the end, I'm pretty sure they were both happy with the arrangement.

Snowing!

This time of year around our house, pretty much the only thing for certain is that it will be stacked floor to ceiling with boxes from Amazon, cooking stores, game stores, and now toy stores.

By chance, one of these deliveries happened to pack with those bio-gradable packing peanuts, vs. the ever-popular air bags, brown paper, etc. I contemplated giving her the box of peanuts, but figured, what the heck, so here you go, kiddo!

I sat the box down in front of her and let her pick a few out, then dig her hands in them. Once I knew she was "ok" with the concept, we started throwing a few of them, and before we knew it--we were REALLY throwing them. I packed them all in the box and dumped them from the sky as I said "snowing!" and Amara repeated "snowing!" and so it began...

We put the peanuts in the box now, and she dumps them on her OWN head. I got another delivery with some more peanuts (which was lucky, because the first ones were getting quite compressed, and were losing their aerodynamic capabilities), and added them to the lot too.

This game has been going on at least a week or so--the peanuts are in a box under the tree--so we dig them out, play "snowing," then pick them up and repeat :) I'm not sure how long this game will continue, but it is pretty funny--I have to say. That box started out pretty sturdy-like, but since the "snowing," has come "sitting in the box, pushing the box, and other variations, so I don't know long the original box will take all the attention!

...and yes, that is a fork AND a toothbrush you see in her hand. 2 things she will NOT let go of, and quite common these days!

O Christmas Tree (and beads)

We managed to snap a shot of this crazy tree over Thanksgiving dinner, so I thought I'd tell a little story about him.

Mom got this tree out of the basement. It's beena favorite of the nephews over the years, so she was excited to see it work. It's one of those that has a sensor and it starts singing/ moving when you walk close to it--movement activated.

The first time she saw it move/ sing, I guess she just stood there in awe of it, but kept her distance. Now, that she knows what is going on with it, she wants it on, but won't ever get close to it, unless you show her that it is truly off. Funny.

We decided to get the tree up the weekend after Thanksgiving this year. It was really nice having the long weekend of us all being home together, so we took advantage of the time, did some shopping, and then decorating.

She has been enjoying exploring the tree--and playing peek with dad behind the tree. She picked up on the fact that the 'needles' do come off, and stick to EVERYTHING right away too! (Seems like no matter how much you sweep, you find them somewhere). She likes coming down and turning it on, as well as watching dad work on the lights etc. outside too (from the warmth of Ily's bed by the front window).

We have opted for the "kid friendly" tree this year, vs. the "off limits" tree--so we thought beads might be a nice addition to the soft ornaments.

We took Amara to Michael's and let her pick out the beads she liked (gold, and simple) and we got 4 strands. I'm pretty sure it was the fact that they were all bunched up together and made noise and banged together, but whatever it was, she loved them! She played with them in the store, in the car, then continued when we got home.

Funny enough, now that they are on the tree, she doesn't pay them much attention; however, she does pick off an ornament or 2 each night and carry it around, ring the bell, or play with the dog, snowman, etc. in one of her playhouse sets.

End of the pumpkins

Call me traditional, but I just had to get rid of the pumpkins, before getting out the Christmas tree.

Mind you, they aren't rotten, in fact, I think they might actually be drying out from the inside if that is possible, because they were getting really light--weird....

...anyway--These were some of the ones we got from dad's patch, and they have been great! We opted for painting in lieu of carving this year, and it turned out great! These guys were one of Amara's favorite toys for the better part of the last 2 months.

I kind of hated getting rid of them, but it'll make them all the more special when we get to do it next year, right? Well, I couldn't let them go without preserving their memories, so here we are! (also, not that many of them are a tad 'banged up' and missing paint. 2 months of rolling them down the stairs, throwing them, etc. will do that to a pumpkin ;))

(not photographed, because he was hiding in Amara's room was another tiny pumpkin 'man' with blue eyes and braces)

Fall frolicking

Amara's favorite things: Max, Smoky, and leaves. Perfect!

Mom and dad's is blessed/cursed with enough tress and leaves to share with about half of Grove City, but she got to share playing this year with her dog friends and cousins.

It's funny--these dogs collectively have over 100 pounds on her, and she could care less when they completely mow her over! She giggles and gets right back up and ready for the next one.

She's also really into hugging dogs--and she gets right up on top of them and then lays her head down on them. To my surprise, they don't care, much less move an inch. They just let her lay her head on them and she says "awwwww" and then pats them, gets up, and goes on her merry way.

Taking advantage of the warm weather, Kalvin got out the 4-wheeler, and I think she enjoys just being with Kalvin, more than the ride itself. I hope we get some nice snow this year and she has some sledding partners!

I think the craziest part of this whole day of being outside and enjoying the leaves, is that they were doing it in shirt-sleeves, with no coats! Crazy for mid-November in Ohio!