Life Actually: 10th Day of Christmas

Hooray! It's the 10th day of Christmas. I've learned a few things since my last post I feel it's important to share. Our motto has now shifted from making this the most fun holiday season for Audrey to making this the most "memorable" holiday season - this means that most of the photos/events of the month have, at one time or another, ended-started-with-began-with tears. I've also learned to roll with the flow of a toddler. I've changed the organization of my so-well-planned-out agenda of awesomeness so now it's just a list of ideas and I mark through the ones we complete as the situation arises. I also include a lot of snacks on our daily adventures.

I also feel it should be noted that we have been able to complete 10 days of Christmas fun while also caring for our Beagle-with-a-stomach-of-steel who ate an entire bag of York Peppermint Paddies yesterday and then proceeded to barf throughout the night in various locations (including under the bed). Not even a barfing dog can hold this family back! You might be wondering why we didn't rush to the vet when we realized (as Tober hurled a minty fresh batch all over the living room - narrowly missing my clothing) that Tober had eaten an entire bag of chocolate. You see, this is family tradition. Each year Tober eats himself sick on chocolate (cake, a king size chocolate bar, etc) and it's become a holiday routine around these parts. For those still worried you should know he is acting fine and is completely back to his old self - PLUS we have unanimously decided that York peppermint paddies are the way to go since they made the house smell minty fresh.

Oops! Side tracked. Below are days 6-10 of our holiday excitement.

Day 6: Writing a letter to Santa and 5th grade holiday choir concert.

So Far... So Good.

Really Enjoying the Use of Markers

Such a Well Written Letter to Santa

Ahh... The Meltdown. I Asked Her to Hold Her Letter. Apparently That's All it Took.


Pondering Mickey Before We Leave

Day 7: A trip to see Santa Clause in Denver. We do not have proof of her official disdain of seeing Santa "BYE BYE SANTA" but I CAN tell you that we waited in a short line and as soon as she saw the jolly man in red she was ready to bail. We have found the perfect Santa. He quietly got up and we got settled on his bench, and then as they took the picture he popped in at the last minute. Audrey had no idea, and we have our Santa picture! Now that we're back safely in our own home Audrey loves the idea of Santa. We read about him and sing about him every night before bed, because HE'S GREAT of course...

A Little Light Cleaning Before We Leave

Winter Wonderland

Munching on Some Popcorn with Dad in Line

Such a Good Sharer

About to Meet the Man Himself

Of Course She Made a Friend While Waiting

Day 8: Our Holiday Party with our little Range View buddies. We had a few of our friends and their families over on Saturday for some relaxed fun. Audrey LOVES her buddies and kept checking the door throughout the day to see if they were there yet. She has a special little friendship with a little boy and when he arrived she was so very excited! She is one of the oldest in the bunch and a friend of mine brought their ten month old. He's already walking and as he toddled into the living room Audrey walked up to him and said "HI! It's Audrey. IT'S ME!" She also pointed out her letter to Santa to all of our guests and "read" it to a lucky few.

Audrey Hasn't Met a Grown UP she Doesn't Love to Snuggle

Getting Ready to Party

Audrey's Betrothed


Playing Toys!

Dad's Worst Nightmare!

Day 9: Holiday dinner with Sara and Zach. We had two of our other friends over on Sunday for a holiday party filled with yummy food and games! Even though I didn't win I still managed to have a good time, and was ALMOST a good sport, since it's the holiday season and all. Audrey got a new watercolor paint set and some new paint brushes. She begged to sleep with the new paint brushes and snuggled them until bed time.

Dinner Time

Sara's Favorite - OVALTINE!

Opening....

PAINT BRUSHES!

Snuggle Them

New Scarf, Buffs Tickets, and of course...PAINT BRUSHES!

Christmas Girls

Getting to Work

Day 10 - Water Color! Audrey was in love with her new paint set and so scrap all the good ideas mom had, it's time to PAINT! I promised her we could paint after school and boy did she remember. She walked in the door and said strongly PAINT MOMMY! I had to make a dish of brownies for Scott's holiday party so I bravely spread out the art sheet, watered her paints, and set her to work. She did great, and really enjoyed painting! I want to remind everyone of the episode a few days prior, where I attempted to paint Audrey's hands and it resulted in a melt down - fast forward to today and you would have thought that was the best idea ever! Of course Audrey thought SHE had come up with the idea, as she happily painted and repainted her hands making hand print after hand print, laughing and having a grand old time as if to say "MOTHER! WHY DIDN'T YOU think of this!"