More Silly Jack!

Jack continued to surprise Arabella and Max with his silly antics!

School Christmas Activities

The week before Christmas was a busy one for Arabella at school. It seemed as if they had something planned every day. I love how the excitement to Christmas break builds each day. That is one of the things I remember most about school and I like being able to re-experience it with Arabella. It brings back such fun memories.

One day was "Polar Express" day. They were allowed to wear their pj's and had a special showing of the movie in the library. I think parts of the movie are scary, but it is one of Arabella's favorites. After the movie, they went back to the classroom and had a hot cocoa party. She was so excited to tell me all about it after school. She even received a bell like in the movie - she shook it for me and said "Mommy, can you hear it?" and when I told her "yes", she exclaimed, "You believe!". Yes, my beautiful girl, I do believe and I always will.

I coordinated Arabella's creative class gift for her teachers. We had each child draw a picture of the gift they would give the teacher. We then had it made into a book. It came out adorable and the teachers loved it.

The week ended with her class party. They decorated gingerbread cookies, made a craft and had a book swap. The room was chaotic but I wouldn't expect anything less. The kids all had a blast and I am happy that I was able to attend.

And to finish the day, Grammie, Uncle Mike, Auntie Lori, Max and I had lunch with Arabella at school. She loved it and was so excited to have us all there with her.

Santa's Visit

For a small town, ours sure does a lot. The volunteer fire department coordinated with Santa so that he could do a drive through of every neighborhood in our town. I had to keep Arabella and Max up later than I would have liked, but the expression on both of their faces when they saw him on the fire truck was priceless. He even spoke to the children through the speaker on the truck. It was great! I loved seeing the magic and wonder in Arabella and Max. That is truly what Christmas is all about.

The Nutcracker

A few years ago in Montreal, I started a new Christmas tradition with Arabella. Each year, she and I go see The Nutcracker. And we both love it. Instead of fighting with traffic, we decided to take the light rail into Charlotte. It was perfect, we got off the train just a few blocks from the theater. I love to see her excitement when we are waiting for the performance to start. It was fun to see how this theater interpreted the performance versus in Montreal. Arabella and I agreed that we liked the performance in Montreal better. We had a fun afternoon of "girl time". I love being able to continue on this tradition with her no matter where we live.

After the show, she and I attended a reception where she was able to meet cast members and have her picture taken with Clara and the Prince. She was so excited to meet them. She even received a poster with the cast autographs. It was well worth the extra $10 we paid to attend.

Pre-Christmas Fun

We have had a busy month and once again, I am busy playing blog catch-up! But that is what happens when you are having a ton of fun and the month of December becomes busy. Saturday, December 14th was a busy, blur of a day! But we had fun and that is what matters. One tradition that we started this year with Arabella, was the turkey wishbone. We cleaned and dried the one from our Thanksgiving turkey and then Arabella and Jay each took a side and pulled...

She was thrilled when she ended up with the larger piece.  She made a wish and I hope it comes true for her.

Later that day, we went to our clubhouse to visit with Santa.  The Clubhouse Committee put on a great event for the kids in our neighborhood.  There were sweets, drinks and of course the big man himself, Santa.  Arabella was so excited to sit and talk with him, Max, not so much.  I was happy because I didn't have to trek to the mall and brave the lines and crowds there to see him!

That afternoon, we attended Arabella's Cheer Team Christmas Party. The girls had fun playing and decorating sugar cookies that we made and brought to the party. It was nice to relax a bit and enjoy some "mom" time. All of the girls get along so well which is so nice, given that they all have strong personalities.

And to round out the day, Jay and I attended his Caterpillar district office party. It was fun since we don't often get to have a night out.

December Lowes Build & Grow

Last Saturday, Arabella and Jay went to Lowes to participate in the Build & Grow clinic. This month, they built a holiday train. Arabella was excited because the sickers that smelled like peppermint, chocolate and cookies. It is super cute and she was very proud of her badge. Her little apron sure is filling up and she is already looking forward to the next project!

Messy Maxton!!

Max and Arabella couldn't be different when it comes to eating food. When Arabella was this age, I don't remember her making quite as much of a mess as Max does. Maybe it is beacuse he is a boy, but not only does the food get all over him, but it ends up everywhere. Just yesterday, I found some on the window sill in the kitchen...no idea how it ended up there! Anyway, he loves to eat and pretty much will eat anything you give him. He wants to eat whatever we are eating (Arabella was the same way) so I just give him what we have and he is happy.

He was even trying to share with Arabella!  Maybe he gets so messy because, afterwards, he usually ends up in the bath and he loves the bath (Arabella did too).