Merry Christmas!!!

I feel like I’ve been in a coma for the last week:  no work, no family in town, nothing to do, plenty of egg-nog and 3-year old holiday enthusiasm.  It doesn’t get much better than this.

Merry Christmas to all and Happy New Year!!

Gingerbread House

Elayna and I went to Imagination Avenue this morning to make our first ever Gingerbread House!!  The store is adorable – its set up as a mini-town and Elayna loves to play there.  But I loved the gingerbread house activity – they had everything set up for us and made it very easy.

However, I realized quickly that I am not an architect.  Poor E … all her homes kept falling down!

After a lot of trial and error, we soon got the hang of it and E’s house is very sweet indeed!

Fireworks and Christmas-y Things

There’s a large number of Christmas-y events here in the valley and I like to thing we’ve sampled most of them.  Most consist of a small yard of hard-packed snow, simulated snowflakes made of soap, too many people and not enough bathrooms.  They do almost always put me in the holiday spirit though which is I suppose all that matters.

This year we decided to try a new sampling:  the Care Free Winter Fest.  In addition to the usual winter activities, they also offered a light parade and fireworks.  Absolutely beautiful.  And while there was still a huge crowd and not enough bathrooms, I really enjoyed the small-town feel of Care Free and the general festiveness.

Most of all, I loved how much Elayna loved it.  She loved the snow, the lights, the frybread.  She loved dancing in the square and looking for Santa.  She just loved it – and I suppose that put me in the Christmas spirit more than anything else.

Big girls by E

<while having a picnic in the shower>

E: don't eat that. It's for big girls.
Me: but wait. Mommy IS a big girl.
E: no you're not. You're a mommy.

Yes, yes. Enter the era of mommy un-coolness.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

A few photos from our last week with my parents, brother, and sister.  We’re so thankful for such a great visit with them.

The Mommy Getaway

Since Aaron has been traveling a lot this fall, he promised me a girls’ getaway.  I cashed it in this weekend with a sorority reunion in Vegas-baby!  Ahhhhhhh, Vegas!

This entire idea was a gamble.  I love/hate Vegas, we’re trying not to spend a lot of $$ right now, and I haven’t seen most of my sorority sisters in 10+ years.  Let’s also face it:  8-girls + 3-nights + booze + 2 bathrooms = a recipe for disaster.  However, I ended up having a GREAT time and really enjoyed seeing these women again.

  

  

I do believe we spent most of the weekend on either the shuttle bus (we stayed at a timeshare in S. Vegas) or walking and walking and walking the strip.  We ate yummy Vegas food, people watched, and celebrated 11-11-11 together!  Four of us even did a club crawl through Coyote Ugly and Studio 54 – probably my only opportunities to ever go in there!  There was minimal drama, only one tattoo, and even some $$ from the slots. 

  

I frequently long for my 20’s.  I’d love to go back and relive my college years again – I loved my sorority and my school and my friends.  But maybe my 30’s isn’t such a bad place after all:  I can revive long-lost friendships and enjoy the company of united friends without the craziness and drama.  I can relish the rare evening out and the opportunity to dance without feeling the need to over-indulge.  And at the end of it all, I can always go home to my sweet family.

The coconut dress

We just received another bag of hand-me-down clothes from our friend McKenna Bein this week. Ever time E looks through them it's like Christmas morning early. I'm not sure if she just loves the clothes or if she loves that McKenna touched them (E's a big fan of McKenna).

Overheard from the living room:
"oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh! This is sooooo cute"
"I love it. Mommy I love these new pants".
And my new personal favorite: "Mommy, look! It's a coconut dress!"




I'm pretty sure she meant polka-dot.

A Girl … and her Cat

As I sit at the computer, Felix the cat is sitting on my lap, marking my skirt and nuzzling my hands.  He’s a sweet little companion who’s growing like a weed!  He’s also a little demon incarnate – hell bent on attacking our ankles and catching dust bunnies loudly under the bed at midnight.  He’s also Elayna’s new best friend.

Since we adopted Felix over 6-weeks ago now, he and Elayna are nearly inseparable.  She’ll call for him when she gets home from school, he prances at the opportunity to wake her in the morning, and I frequently have to take him away so she can concentrate on supper/rest-time/bathing or whatever activity she’s actually suppose to be doing.  She loves him even through the rough play and the scratches.

   

And while its still up for debate whether Aaron and I love him, he is a sweet little addition to the house.  We’re happy to have a crazy kitten in the house again but also looking forward to when the kitten teeth fall out…

Halloween

I do believe I have the cutest Ariel mermaid ever…

  

Aaron and E also carved her first ever pumpkin.  She is very proud of it and even made me light it this morning for posterity.

       

She was VERY excited about Halloween this year – barely touching her pizza and running to the door every time an early trick-or-treater would arrive.  As we were setting our chairs outside in the driveway, she’d run to the sidewalk and scream ‘Trick or Treat!’ to any potential visitor.  She loved handing out candy, she loved the attention she got in her red wig, and she loved being devilishly scared.  She even enjoyed trick-or-treating to our closer neighbors although she like handing out candy more.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Pumpkin Patch

While there are some lovely fall festivals and pumpkin patches in Arizona, we opted this year to spend a blistering hot morning at the McDonald Ranch pumpkin patch. 

Since the ranch is close-by, I forgive them their lack of vendors and overpriced pumpkins randomly stacked in the desert.  Elayna loved the hayride and even enjoyed the crowded petting zoo. 

Most of all, we enjoyed spending some time with our friends the Conners, Gubkas, and Horwitzes. 

     

Happy Birthday Aaron

Another year, another birthday bash.  But at least now we have an enthusiastic candle-blower to help.

E said while we were making Aaron’s card:  “Daddy makes a rainbow – he likes rainbows.  I’ll make a football or a batman.”

Gymnastic - part II

I mentioned last week that we’ve enrolled Elayna in a gymnastics class.  It meets on Friday mornings and E loves it!!  She talks of little else and has started jumping on any couch, bed, or spare pillow to practice.  During class she can hardly contain her excitement, follows direction, and is learning quickly!  I love her enthusiasm.

What I don’t love is the new gymnastics clothing peer pressure.

When I first called to sign her up for class, I asked the receptionist what she should wear.  ‘Nothing fancy,’ she said.  ‘Shorts and a t-shirt are fine.’

When we showed up for class, we soon discovered that every little girl was wearing the tight leotard ala USA Gynastics Team.  Great.  The sparklier the better.  Elayna didn’t seem to care that she was the only one in a t-shirt and shorts.  I still don’t think she’s cared 3-weeks later when I continue to dress her in a t-shirt and shorts (above picture was taken today.  E’s in the pink shorts)  But MOM cares.  Mom is wracked with fashion guilt.

It does not help that the gymnastics-moms discuss the clothing options and their daughters’ multiple ballet/gymnastics/karate wardrobes.  It does not help that her coach mentioned she would move much freer in a leotard.  Or that the manager made me put her hair in a ponytail today.  All of these things break down my cheap, only-a-3-year-old, she-doesn’t-care-anyway excuses.

Lucky for mom, the gymnastics facility has a section of sparkly leotards.  After class today, I steered E over and told her she could pick one out.  My eye was on the $15 blue flowered one.  E of course ignored my hints and chose the pink $30 monstrosity with the silver sparkles. 

Again, great.

So next week we’ll put the new outfit to the test … and officially crack the door open to my new life of competitive soccer-mom-ness.  A sparkly uniform:  this is how it begins.

A Finished Project

I have crafting ADD.

I always start with good intentions.  Holidays are approaching, magazines are filled with new ideas and suggestions, and I <unfortunately> believe I’m qualified because I own a pair of scissors and craft glue.  I love visualizing a new decoration, buying supplies, and the first hour of cutting/planning/pasting.

And I pretty much hate all of the rest.

This is why I have a plastic tub of unfinished projects, cloth scraps, ribbons, and lost dreams.  This is why our scrapbooks stop at 2006.  This is why the stocking I made took 5 years and was finalized with glue and desperation for E’s first Christmas.  This is why Elayna’s ‘texture blanket’ is now random scraps of fabric for her to play with and why her Advent Calendar was finished after Christmas last year.

Poor, poor good intentions.

However, I have determination this year!  And I unprecedently finished my Halloween idea BEFORE Halloween and without swearing/burning something/throwing it away.  I even think it looks pretty cute.

I saw this idea in a Better Homes and Gardens magazine.  The original door signs were made from closet doors painted black and white wooden letters.  Because I’m cheap, I chose a cute black taffeta fabric with a black spiderweb design and cut white letters from paper.  I’ll probably put baskets of pumpkins beneath the signs for fun.

I’m celebrating my small victories!!  Maybe there’s hope for getting something done by Christmas too!!

Gymnastics

We've started another new adventure with E - gymnastic class!!




We tried a trial class last week at North Valley Gymnastics and E has talked of little else since. She's very excited for her weekly class and the girls are very cute.

Cooler weather, a park, and good friends

Pete Gubka is Elayna’s earliest friend.  His mother Jacquelyn and I worked together at Wells Fargo and we were both thrilled when the 2 kids started day-care together and were actually compatible playmates.  Through the years, Elayna has migrated to girl-playmates and they both attend different schools, but Pete and Elayna still enjoy each other and love playing together.

And finally the Phoenix fall has set in – a perfect excuse to get the kids out to the park on Tuesday!