When Christmas is done and gone...

you relax in a blizzard! :0) Christmas was a blast this year with Addie. She truly got the whole Santa gig and was more active in the Christmas fesitivities such as the church program. Addie commented that Santa was good to her although she was upset about not getting a Tinkerbell bike. Addie didn't come up with the bike idea until a little later than Santa would have liked. Santa "made" his toys early this year, so when she threw the bike into the loop who better than grandma and grandpa to take that number. BUT, we couldn't find a Tinkerbell bike so a "fairy star dust" bike had to cut it or not...you never know how much a 3 year old can make you feel like dirt but when asked if she was happy with her bike- in a low, saddest face you've ever seen, "but its not a Tinkerbell bike." Hits you right in the heart! She quickly got over it though and was happy with her MANY other things!
So the snow...it was nice to see a white Christmas, but frankly..snow when school is not in session is a waste of precipitation! :0) Haha..only school staff can truly see the meaning in that! We have actually not been out playing in this now due to the CRAZY winds that have been blowing for the past 24 hours. Then tonight..Addie had round 2 of the "bug" that is really a bummer. Tossed her cookies a few times, (sorry for those who are squemish, but I teach science- get over it! :) ) but seems to be coming back to sorts now. (we hope!)
With Christmas all behind us now, we are looking forward to a happy New Year!

Adam at his parents house
Baby girl and myself

Heather and Chis at my parents

Uncle Steve and Addie

Angel (Addie's step cousin) and Addie

Addie with her new dog, Gigi like her Aunt Sylvia's

Baby clothes! YAY!

Addie's new 4-wheeler from Santa

Aunt Sylvia, Dana, and Grandan at my house for Christmas Eve Dessert Bar

Addie going to bed and waiting for Santa to come

Lincoln, Addie, and Holly on Christmas Eve

Holly and me

Addie getting new boots!

What a Weekend!

Wow! We were action packed this weekend! Saturday morning we had our last play practice for church and then we were off to Richmond. We wanted to try and get Addie to see Santa before the Princesses on Ice show but when we arrived at Bass Pro Shop(which was supposed to have a Santa's workshop) it was a 3 hour wait!!! Ridick! So we trudged on to the show and decided to see him afterwards. The Show was PHENOMENAL! Addie was very excited and did extremely well for a two hour show! Her first show like this. Her favorite was Tinkerbell, but she liked all the princesses and the other characters. It was money well spent! After the show we headed to Virginia Center Commons and saw Santa.

The angels were watching over us because she finally did it!! She went to him, of course with the death grip on my hand, but she went to him and told him she what she wanted for Christmas which was babydoll clothes and a Tinkerbell bicycle (*thanks Mimi). She didn't want to get on his knee but hey, no tears and talked to him about his reindeer and he showed her his neat watch (that's why his hand is out). He was a very nice Santa and I appreciated his good work in giving me my Christmas present- a picture of my daughter with Santa!

On Sunday, we had the Christmas play at church. The play this year was an idea I saw online, but I had to make it work for 23 little ones, so we did a rendition of the story of Christmas with lots of Christmas songs. It was called Hold Onto Your Hats, Jesus is Always with You. The idea was that no matter who you are and what "hat" you wear- Jesus will always be with you. So the kids would switch their hat with each song they sang. Too cute!

SNOW DAY!

The white stuff is back! The snow is just beautiful falling down. We have several inches on the ground now so finally Addie was able to go outside and play. She has been pacing back and forth from window to window all morning just waiting for there to be enough snow to play in. While we waited, I got a little Christmas wrapping done with my little helper. We were supposed to go to Williamsburg today to see Santa but with the weather we thought we'd skip that. We might stop by the mall this weekend to see him when we are headed to see Disney Princess Classics on Ice in Richmond!!

" Yep, looks like it's snowing at Mimi's!"
Snow Angel

Bye yall!

We have outdoor speakers on the deck, so we had the Christmas tunes playing! Sorry its sideways...not sure how to move it around!

She flew down the slide one time and made air! Missed that one for video though!

Birthday Bash

Well I am officially married to an old man...haha! Adam turned 30 and we had nice party for him. We had a plethora of food! Steamed some oysters, chili, chicken tenders, mozzarella sticks, chips n dip, shrimp dip, veggie tray, cheese tray, and a cupcake cake! Hungry yet!? Enjoy the pics!

Likes: Having snow in the forecast! (Maybe I'll be lucky!), Getting an A in my last masters class, seeing Addie be so excited about Christmas, Adam's birthday cupcakes- whipped icing is the bomb!

Dislikes: Freakin cold temps, bad butt kids, dusting the furniture with lots of Christmas decorations out (don't laugh at me :0) )

Busy Time

Well in a ten day stretch there has been and will be a lot of activity!

Dec. 3- Worked diligently to finish 15 page paper

Dec. 4- Heather and Chris were married in Stanardsville, Va in the mountains. It was extremely chilly but she looked very pretty in her dress and UGG boots underneath! :0)

Dec. 5: Hudson (Adams' Mom's Family) Family Christmas get together where 40 some crazy people come together to break bread, but instead broke two tables that sent food flying to the floor not once but twice! Quite an adventure when you get together with the Hudson's!

Dec. 6: Submitted final masters paper

Dec. 8: Submitted final portfolio

Dec. 9: Finished masters final exam

Dec. 9-10: Addie gets the flu superfast! You know its always bad when your three old asks if they can lay down and rest at 5 o'clock in the afternoon. Now the Christmas Parade in town has been scratched off the list of things to do today.

Dec. 11: Adam's 30th Birthday Party

Dec. 12: Adam's Birthday

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So today I am home with my sick child hoping that she soon feels better, because theres nothing worse than seeing your little one sick. I guess I can be thankful that its not any closer to Christmas than it is.

Light at the end of the tunnel

This is my last week of classes for my masters! I cannot be anymore excited! I just submited my last paper and I have a final Thursday night. My light is near and it is VERY bright!

Likes: finishing my masters this week, Addie saying she will take a picture on Santa's knee (right now that is), Adam bringing home dinner tonight so I didn't have to cook, getting Christmas cards in the mail

Dislikes: 11 more school days til Christmas break, having to be the only school in the area that goes on Dec. 20 and 21st, REALLY windy and cold weather..unless of course it brings snow!

Santa Visit #1

Santa visit #1 went a little like this....started off positive with Addie wanting to go see him and with all smiles. We approached the man in the big red suit and still we were happy to see him. Santa then jokes and calls her boy names trying to get her to say her name which she too thought was funny. And then....the dreaded question. "Addie would you like to come sit on my lap and take a picture with me?" And their off- the water works begin! NOOOOOOOOOO with tears streaming down the cheeks! I did finally get her calmed down enough to tell Santa what she wanted for Christmas.... very weepy might I add.."baby doll clothes please." Kids- gotta love 'em!

Once in the car, Addie talked a mile a minute about the "old, man Santa" and his reindeer jingle bell stick. She now thinks that "Santa is okay because he didn't hurt me and he gave me a candy cane." (she's a little paranoid! Last year she said Santa could come to her house as long as he didn't touch her! haha) She would also like to know where his reindeer are and I told them they were out to dinner and would be back to pick him up later. Santa visit #2 will be in about 2 weeks...next story to come. Maybe the picture of above will be without Momma this time!

I can't believe I'm doing this...

Well after following some of my friends blogs I decided that I might as well jump on the bandwagon! I have enjoyed being able to read about what is happening in their lives and so I thought I'd add mine on too!

Thanksgiving break has been nice but just not long enough....it will be Monday morning again before I know it. The countdown for Christmas break will begin then! ;0) Christmas has already started in my house (horrible to say but it started Nov. 19th-eek!) and Addie is really into it this year. It is amazing to see how much a year can make in the way she views and understands things. This year at her Kingdom Kids program she actually sang and did the movements rather than standing their mummified. And this year she is talking about what Santa is going to bring her but the truth will come in a couple of weeks when we go to see Santa. Will she scream bloody murder like the past 2 years or will she sit in his lap and give her Momma a smiling Santa picture? We shall see!

Addie Claire

What Addie was thankful for...