Building A Life

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

December 16

Make a Santa

December 15

Write Christmas cards

Once again, I failed to make progress on this project. But Millie was busy writing letters to Santa all day :)!

December 14

Paint a snowman :). I may have had a bit of a heavier hand in this one ... it's hard to hold the attention of a two-year old for an entire painting! Millie did have creative input though, picking out the paper to use for the snowman's accessories and suggesting we put a house in the background. She also helped with the gluing and painting. Can you tell I'm having fun with this too?!

Monday, December 14, 2009

All I Want for Christmas ...

... is a wagon according to Millie. If you ask her, everyone in our family wants a wagon for Christmas. Fortunately, she got the chance to tell Santa himself what she wanted tonight. I think it was a little confusing for her and that she thought she was going to get the wagon right away. We talked about when Christmas is though and where it falls on our calendar and I think she is starting to understand a little more. She did a great job with Santa, sat on his lap and talked to him and everything. Merrill did very well too, especially given she was short on sleep today :). We ended up going to a local mall to see Santa, which wasn't exactly where we were hoping to see him, but it worked out. There wasn't much of a wait since it was Monday night, BUT it was "Take your Pet to see Santa night" so half of the other people in line were there with their dogs. We even had to sign a waiver saying the mall was not responsible in the case of injury or demise to our pet/child. Yikes. Fortunately, no injuries were incurred and all children/dogs were well behaved. Next year though, I think we'll try to avoid pet night ;).

Waiting in line:

finally meeting Santa:

the official picture :)

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Countdown to Christmas

December 1: make Advent chain

each link has a Christmas activity for us to do on it!

December 2: sing Christmas songs
I won't subject people to our singing :)

December 3: make a reindeer

December 4: read a Christmas story
'Twas the Night Before Christmas

December 5: make ornaments

December 6: decorate the Christmas tree

December 7: paint a Christmas tree

December 8: make a snowman

December 9: write a letter to Santa

Millie provided the written text when prompted with questions
December 10: write Christmas cards
So far, this is the only activity we haven't gotten to yet ... Thursday was a bit busier than I anticipated!
December 11: decorate Millie's room

We totally need to work on this for next year ...
December 12: paint Christmas pottery
Pictures censored by Santa :)
December 13: look at Christmas lights
going to do this tonight!

11 more days to go!!!

Enjoying the Journey

As I mentioned below, we stopped in Chicago on our way to and from Michigan. It was a great way to break up the trip (making each leg only about 5 hours -- give or take) and it made the journey as much fun as our end destination. Bob and Irina are such good friends and we just don't see them enough. We're hoping that our move back to the Midwest will help that a bit. Their son, Tavi, is incredibly sweet and smart and he and Millie had a blast playing together. The last time we had these two together, Millie was 9 months and Tavi was almost a year. He didn't want much to do with her then -- after all, she couldn't even walk! This time however, Millie held her own and they had a great time.

Tavi was waiting up for us Tuesday night when we arrived at 8:00. The kids ended up playing for several hours! It was a late night, but a fun one and a well deserved one for Millie after putting up with sitting in the car for so long. Wednesday morning we got up, had a leisurely breakfast and then went to a nearby conservatory to walk around and visit. We had lunch out and then hit the road again to head to Michigan. We were glad we got to stop again on Saturday so the kids could play more. They enjoyed time in the park, a trip to the coffee house, a warming dinner of soup and bread, and some bedtime stories. Both kids went to bed pretty fast that night, though Tavi won the sleep race!

We are hoping that the Calin-Jageman's can make it down to St. Louis soon so we can all play again!!

Pictures from our trip...

Day 1: not even on the highway yet :)

about to meet her sister in dreamland ...

a quick driving lesson at a pit stop

Finally in Chicago -- and they have a piano!!

Tavi really liked Merrill. He has already asked Irina for a little sister, and told her she can get one at Target :). I think our visit only reinforced his desires...