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It's been so much fun being the parent of a pre-schooler :) It's great seeing what Graham's been working on - here's a few of the things that came home with him today...
I'm especially excited that a week from today we'll be attending Graham's Christmas program at school. On the way to daycare after preschool today, he gave me a sneak preview of some of the songs they will be performing....so fun!
Look what was in our mailbox today!
If Graham looks a little worried, it's probably because he was a bit concerned about what Santa might have to say after a particularly challenging weekend....behaviorally speaking ;)
But not to worry, Santa sent a very nice message to the kids about what's going on at the North Pole...
There were also two of these stickers in the envelope....
I reminded Graham that the list is a fluid document and that having the sticker doesn't mean that he couldn't get moved to the naughty list if Santa sees something he doesn't like!
Graham was very excited to get the letter and the sticker and said that he hoped that all of his friends were on the good list too :)
Graham was super excited to have a birthday party invitation - our friend Justin turned 4 this weekend! I wrapped the gifts in kraft paper, and Graham got to decorate however he wanted to...he thought it was pretty awesome to get to put the stickers wherever he wanted :)
Pa-Paw came to hang out with Eleanor (I'm told they had a wonderful time) and Graham and I headed out to the National Academy of Artistic Gymnastics. It was such a great place to have a birthday party! When we got there the kids were playing on the "pirate ship" side of the gym...
There was this big pirate ship with a big foam pit beneath it that the kids could jump into...
(Graham was pretty pumped to see his friend Sammy was also at the party!)
Also on this side of the gym were individual trampolines all lined up next to each other...how fun!
Much like Graham, I was excited to see my friend Kara at the party :) Attached to Kara was this cute little eyeball...
....which belongs to the beautiful Maya! (I can't believe how big she's getting!
Back to the party....After the pirate ship we had pizza, goldfish, apples, and of course...CAKE!
And then it was on to the other side of the gym, where there was more jumping into foam pits...
And some fun parachute play!
They gave all of the parents free passes to come back and play another day, so that will be something to look forward to. We had a great time and Graham was soooo tired when he went to bed! We're very happy we got to celebrate Justin's big day with him - good times :)
We had a very happy holiday-activity-filled Saturday!
Pa-Paw joined us for breakfast with Santa and Mrs. Claus - Graham was a little nervous to go talk to him without me right next to him, and Eleanor was having nothing to do with them....so once again I got to be in the Santa picture too!
We're glad we have our requests in to Santa - Graham even wanted to stop by quick again before we left the breakfast to tell him something he forgot earlier. Santa told me that Graham asked for an iPad - I wouldn't mind if Santa brought me one too ;)
They had a fun little cookie decorating station at the breakfast too...so Graham decorated a gingerbread dude and we all got a bite - yum!
Later in the afternoon we went on the hunt for a Christmas tree. For the past few years I've been going back to the same place and continue to be happy with it - Carroll's Country Christmas Trees. We walked down "Candy Cane Lane" in search of the perfect tree....this was Ellie's choice...
But I was thinking something more like this....
After checking on some measurements, Kenny went to work sawing it down....
They tied a green and yellow marker on it (GO PACKERS!) and then we walked back in to the main entrance while someone came out on a Gator (just like Papa's!) to pick up the tree and bring it to us :) One of the favorite parts of the walk to and from the trees was a stop at a little pond to throw in a few rocks...HUGE hit for kids of all ages!
Once we met up with our tree again we had it trimmed a bit, then shaken and tied up - I actually have video of that (Graham enjoys watching it over and over again) if you're at all interested HERE.
The kids and I enjoyed looking around at the decorations while Kenny supervised the tying of the tree onto the car....
Once we got home, Kenny and Faith got the tree into the stand and untied, and then I put about 5-6 strands of lights on the tree while everyone watched a Christmas movie. We had pizza and played a bit before getting ready for bed.
Faith read the Christmas story for the night next to the tree....
And then it was quiet....FINALLY. I love all of this Christmas fun, but it seems to have the kids even more wound up than usual. I was happy to kick back and watch a movie with Kenny and Faith, munching on the Chex Mix that mom sent :)
I love December and all the fun stuff that goes with it. Because I love it so much, I like to try and record more of what's going on around here during this time of year. Let's see if I can catch everyone up on the last few days :)
NOVEMBER 30th
Not technically December, but it was an important day because Graham got to stay up past his bedtime to watch Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer with me on tv.
Graham was pretty excited because I made us popcorn to eat while we watch, and I was really happy to share something with him that I watched as a child. Funny how those shows stand the test of time!
DECEMBER 1st
It was a bit of a stressful day for me both at and away from work, so it was pretty exciting to get a Christmas care package from mom with this inside...
I love mom's Chex mix and I have every intention of making a batch of my own this holiday season...but this will totally hold me over until I have a chance to get it done! The mint M&Ms are super yummy too :)
Also in the care package were Christmas clothes for Ellie and Graham - more on that in another holiday blog post.
DECEMBER 2nd
Another busy and long day at work. Graham asked to stay at Wil's house, so Eleanor and I had a "girl's night in"
After dinner and some play time, we watched multiple episodes of Dora the Explorer ('cause E didn't have to share TV time with Graham) and I even let her munch on some popcorn while watching - oh happy day!
We're opening one holiday book each night, ending on Christmas Eve with a special story. Ellie got to open the book all by herself tonight and we enjoyed a holiday Berenstain Bears book before bed.
Big plans for the rest of the weekend - breakfast with Santa and Christmas tree hunting on Saturday, and a birthday party on Sunday. I picked up our Christmas cards at Costco this past week so those are waiting to be addressed and sent, and I'm looking forward to getting lights and ornaments on the tree.
Love, love, LOVE this time of year and hope everyone else is enjoying it too :)
