Tree shopping

On Sunday, we picked out our Christmas tree. We met up with Mimi, Poppy, Uncle T, Aunt Missy and Kenzie. Before we searched the field for the perfect tree, we stopped to take a few pictures. 

We split up. John helped Mimi and Poppy while Gillian helped me. It didn't take long this year. Gillian posed in front of our tree. 

We then got to see Santa! Gillian was super shy and didn't want to sit next to him. John wasn't shy and went right over to Santa. Santa asked him what he wanted for Christmas. John proudly told him "I would like Lego Dimensions." Santa told him "Well I'm in the surprise business, I promise there will be a surprise under the Christmas tree." 

Gillian eventually sat next to Santa a answered a few questions. She was still a little shy but she was brave. 

When we got home the tree got set up outside until we were ready to move it into the living room. Everyone helped move it. 

We set up the tree and I finally added lights last night.  It's starting to look a lot like Christmas.

counting

Gillian has learned how to count by ten.  If you ask her how she learned, she says "From Peg + Cat!"  Peg + Cat is a new show that the kids found on Netflix.  It's about a little girl, Peg and her cat.  It's on PBS and the kids seem to really enjoy it.  Anyway, every time Gillian counts to 100 by tens she adds a little extra flair.

 

She cracks me up.  And of course when you ask her where that little bit at the end came from, she says "Peg + Cat."  With a little bit of help (from John) I found the episode Gillian learned how to count by ten.

 

This is the full episode.  The song is at the end when Peg is cleaning up the chickens.

 

Religion Class

The kids had their first religious education class of the year today. Well, let me take that back, it was Gillian's first religion class ever. In the parking lot, we met a boy that was in Kindergarten just like Gillian. All the kids and parents met in the meeting room. Gillian got very nervous and sat with me while the Deacon talked to the kids. Then it was time for the kindergarteners to go to their classroom. Gillian was a little nervous, but the little boy we met in the parking lot walked with her. It made me feel better. 

Daddy and I went and got coffee and then came back to pick them up. Gillian was so excited to see us. In the car we asked John about class. He said "It was good. We talked about Jesus." Gillian interrupted and said "You talked about Jesus?!?! We did too!!"  

The Zip Line

I took Gillian to a birthday party yesterday at My Gym.  Basically it is an indoor gym for little kids.  They have a trampoline and a ball pit.  They play a few games with the kids and at the end all the kids get to go on a zip line.  Gillian was the fourth kid to go.  She wasn't afraid and couldn't wait to tell John all about it when we got home.  

 
John was very impressed with Gillian.  But he of course had to make a big deal out of the zip line he went on last summer.  Don't worry Beansy, you will get to do the big zip line soon enough.

Good morning?

This morning Daddy got up and went downstairs. I stayed in bed just scrolling through Facebook. John woke up and came in our room. He immediately asked "Where's Daddy?" I said "First of all, you need to say 'Good Morning' when you see someone in the morning. Second, come snuggle me for a minute." He climbed into bed with me and we snuggled for a minute. He said "Yea, but where's Daddy?" I told him "Daddy is downstairs. Make sure you say 'Good Morning' when you see him." He asked "Should I wake up Gill?" It was 6:45, and I said "No way. Let her sleep. Some people need more sleep. Please don't wake her up." He left me and went downstairs. 

A short while later, Gillian woke up and came into my room. She asked "Where's John?" Again I said "You need to say 'Good Morning' to people when you first see them in the morning time. And come up and snuggle me." She snuggled for like 5 seconds before she asked again "But where's John?" I lectured her and said "You need to say 'Good Morning' when you see people in the morning time. Don't worry, your brother is downstairs with Daddy." She jumped out of my bed and ran downstairs. According to Daddy she ran right past him and didn't say "Good Morning." So much for my lecture. 

Lip Sync

We taught John about lip syncing the other day. We showed him some videos of Lip Sync Battle. His favorite was the Rock "singing" Taylor Swift.

I was able to get John to lip sync to "In Summer" from Frozen. He cracks me up. 

Let the dog back in

I put the kids to bed at 8, but around 8:45 John was standing in my doorway. He said "I'm just going to let the dog back in." I said "What?" He said "The dog. I'm going to let him back in." I said "Why?" He said "Cause he's barking." I said "That's funny, cause he's sleeping right here." And Duncan was sleeping next to me. John said "Huh, well I just wanted to snuggle you." I let him climb into bed and we watched the rest of MasterChef Jr together. I am thankful for my extra snuggles and my thoughtful boy. 

Disney On Ice

We went to see Disney on Ice, Princesses and Heroes last weekend.  I have never been and we have never taken the kids to see a show like this, so needless to say I was very excited.  We told Gillian that she could wear one of her princess dresses.  She said "Ok.  I'll wear my new gold dress."  She was referring to her Christmas dress.  After we explained that she could wear one of her dress-up dresses, she proudly said "Elsa.  I wear my Elsa dress."  I was excited about that, because then she could wear her Elsa hat that Grandma made her for Christmas.  Plus I was able to wear the Anna hat!

 

 

We arrived at the Prudential Center and found our seats.  We got there a few minutes late and Aladdin was already skating.  John was happy to see Aladdin and Gillian as super excited to see Jasmine.  Basically, the actors would sing and dance on skates and perform a short version of their story. 

 

Next up was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

 

 

In between the stories, Tinkerbell would skate around the ice and sometimes we would see Mickey and Minnie Mouse.  They would help introduce the next Princess.

 

 

The next Princess was Belle.  Gillian was very excited by this point.  She was jumping up and down.  She saw Lumiere and leaned over to me and said "Him's got feet!"  Poor dude had to skate around in that big costume and Gillian called him out within 30 seconds. 

 

 

After Belle, we got to see Rapunzel and Flynn Rider.  Next, we got to see the Little Mermaid.  John really liked this part of the show.  The first part was the sailors on Prince Eric's boat.  They did fun tricks on their skates.

 

 

So they showed the whole part where Ariel gives up her voice for human legs.  Gillian, very loudly, said "But her's already got legs.  See?  Right there!"

After Ariel and Prince Eric were married, we had a short intermission and then got to see Tiana.  Next was Sleeping Beauty.  Sleeping Beauty is my favorite fairy tale.  Gillian was a little afraid of the dragon. 

 

 

 

After Sleeping Beauty, Goofy came out and announced the arrival of Cinderella.

 

Cinderella's step sisters were hilarious and Gillian really loved Cinderella's carriage.



 

 

Mickey and Minnie came out all dressed in very fancy clothes and announced that the next princess was Anna!

 

 

All the kids in the arena were singing along.  It was adorable.

 

 

Olaf got to sing his song, Summer.  This is John's favorite and he sang along as well. 

 

 

Tinkerbell came out after Frozen was completed and then all the Princesses and Heroes came on the ice.  Along with Mickey and Minnie. 

 

 

The kids loved this part.  Tinkerbell sat in Cinderella's carriage and it rose up in the air and "Fireworks went off!" 

 

 

We had a great time with our favorite Princess and Hero.

 

 

 

 

Car conversations

I love talking to the kids in the car. There is something about a car that gives kids the convidence to tell you all kinds of things. Maybe it's because you aren't looking directly at them. I don't know. 

So today, Gillian and I ran some errands (just the girls). On our way home, Gillian asked "Are you going to die?" I tried to laugh it off and say "I wasn't planning on it." She didn't get my joke. So I said "No. Why do you ask?" She said "Cause parents die." Perhaps she has watched too many Disney movies. I said "Sometimes, but Mommy isn't going anywhere." She said "So you will be around to drive me places?" I said "Of course, until you are able to drive me." She said "But I don't know how to drive." I laughed and said "Don't worry, I will teach you." She said "OK, good cause I don't know how to drive." And that was it. She changed the subject. 

Buddy's adventures in 2014

Our Elf on the Shelf arrives every year the Friday after Thanksgiving. This year the kids were very excited about Buddy's arrival and it seemed like we were constantly talking about him. 

On Friday, November 28th, the kids found Buddy on the kitchen table. Buddy wrapped the table in wrapping paper with a sign saying "I'm back!" John told me "It looks like Buddy brought us a big present!" But Gillian told me "It's not a present. It's the table!" John said "I was mistaken. It's just the table!"

 

 

 On Saturday, Buddy had a paper sack race with Elsa, Goofy, a dinosaur and Clover. 

On Sunday, we found Buddy by John's Legos. He made his own Christmas tree!

On Monday, December 1st Buddy found on my china cabinet. He was not only up high, but he also had a disguise! Gillian found him first and said "Oh my goodness! Look at Buddy! Him's so cute!"

 

On Tuesday, we found a Spider-Man hanging from my fan! He kinda looked like Buddy!

Buddy also took his disguise from Monday and put it on John's basketball picture on the fridge. Gillian noticed that right away! She said "John, look at what Buddy did to your picture!" John said "Buddy?!?! Seriously?"

On Wednesday, December 3rd, we found Buddy on top of the kitchen cabinet. He was spying on the kids using some penguin binoculars.  

The next day, we found Buddy relaxing in a little hammock he made out of a bandana. 

 

On December 5th, we found Buddy in the living room.  He brought the kids a new Christmas ornament.  He also brought one for Baby Mackenzie.  And he brought an ornament that had his name on it too!  Thanks for helping us decorate our tree!

 

 

On Saturday, December 6th, Buddy had a rocket ship!

 

 

On Sunday morning, Buddy had trapped the kids in their rooms using streamers.  When we were talking about Buddy coming to visit, John kept saying "I hope that Buddy locks us in our room again."  Buddy had done this trick in 2011.  I think Buddy may have heard his sugguestion, and this year, he put a lot of streamers across the kids doors.  Well Sunday morning, I heard Gillian crying in her room.  I found her sitting on her bed.  She said "I can't get out!"  John heard her crying and said "Why? You can just do this."  And he walked through the streamers.  He ended up pulling down her streamers so she could get out of her room.  Not the best idea Buddy.  

 

 

 

On Monday, December 8th, Gillian found Buddy hanging out in her room.  He took one of her ponies and decided to take him for a ride on her dresser.  Once again, a very simple idea, but it didn't end well for Buddy.  Check out my post The Accident.

 

On Tuesday, December 9th, Buddy took it easy and decided to build a tower of books and read his favorite story.

 

The next day, Buddy made the kids some giant snowflakes.

Unfortunately, the kids did not behave well on Wednesday and when they woke up on Thursday morning (December 11th), they found Buddy on strike. 

 

John saw Buddy's note and said "Three strikes and that's it.  He won't come back. I guess we gotta be nice."  Their attitude didn't change and Buddy was still sitting on strike the following morning, December 12th. 

 

We were babysitting on Friday, December 12 for the kids' cousin, Mackenzie.  Gillian was very jealous and was not enjoying having to share Mommy's attention.  At one point during the night, Gillian was told to put down a dress, she was carrying.  Gillian chose to put it on top of Mackenzie's face.  Before I go any further, Mackenzie wasn't hurt.  The dress was dropped on her face while she was sleeping.  I was holding her at the time.  It was more of an attack on me than the baby.  Anyway, Daddy was not happy about Gillian's attitude and he picked up Buddy.  You aren't supposed to touch an elf.  It takes away their magic.  But Daddy was angry, because it was already day two of the strike and she was still be obnoxious.  The picking up of Buddy caused both kids to cry hysterically, but it did seem to change their attitudes. 

 

On Saturday morning, we found Buddy sitting with another note.

Santa's magic must have made Buddy feel much better, because on Sunday we found him ziplining across the kitchen! John said "Buddy must know that I went ziplining this summer!"

On Monday, December 15th, we found him flying a G.I. Joe airplane.  He also had some cool goggles and a bomber jacket!  When we asked the kids how he got that plane upstairs, John said "He flew it.  Remember, he's magic!"

The following day we found Buddy in the living room.  He took Gillian's My Little Ponies and made them look like reindeer!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next day, Buddy ask the kids "Do you want to build a snowman?"

The following day, Buddy stopped by dressed like Harry Potter.  John saw him and said "I guess he likes Harry Potter too!"

 

 

On Friday, December 19th, Buddy was enjoying a little snack of M&Ms.

 

Saturday morning, Buddy made a little candy cane hunt for the kids.

On Sunday morning Buddy wanted to play a little football!

Monday morning, Gillian found Buddy in the kitchen.  She said "Hims got my underwear!  Last time he take Johnny's."  Buddy made a parachute out of Gillian's underwear!

Tuesday morning, December 23rd, the kids found Buddy had made a chain out of paper.  And he was hanging from the fan in the living room. 

Finally, this morning John found Buddy right away. 

See you next year Buddy!  Can't wait to see what you come up with next year!