A Surprise Gift

A couple of days before Christmas, the doorbell rang. When we answered it, Katie found a surprise gift from her friends, Nick and Marie. It sure made someone very happy!

It's so much fun to be surprised by a present! 

The first thing I found was a stuffed Minnie Mouse who was wearing some of my favorite colors! 

I loved the Minnie Mouse book! It had lots of pieces that could be removed. 

I thought the glasses were smashing! 

I used the camera to take a picture of my mom. 

There were even stickers in the bag!
Thank you, Nick and Marie! I loved everything!

Making a Gingerbread House, 2013

Just like last year, I had extra gingerbread-house-making supplies left over from school, so I brought some home. Katie and I had fun building a house together. She had a lot of similarities to building it a year ago - she enjoyed sampling the chocolate, she liked putting the house pieces on, and she hated getting frosting on her fingers. In the end, she was happy with the final product.

We always start with a milk carton and a plate. 

It was trickier than I thought to get the frosting spread across the whole cracker. 

Hmmm…what should I do next? 

What in the world is sticky frosting doing on my finger? 

I loved this wreath! 

I eventually just had to keep a wet napkin around to get the frosting off my fingers. 

I found a Hershey kiss. I think it belongs in my tummy and not in the house. 

I felt like we were almost done. 

I just had to add lots and lots of sprinkles for the final touch. 

Done!

Shopping Day

Katie had a fun day of Christmas shopping with my mom and Garyldine a few weeks ago!

I love to get clothes off the rack! 

You never know what someone might miss if I don't show them. 

Do you want this? 

How about this? 

I think this one is beautiful! 

Don't you think everyone should have a dog purse? 

Lunch with the girls is always fun!

The Festival of Lights

Last weekend, we decided to take Katie to The Festival of Lights. We decided two things: it's not the best idea to go the weekend before Christmas, and it's not the best idea to go when the weather is mild. Put those things together, and you have a huge crowd. It was hard to really enjoy the experience as much as we could have on a less crowded night, but Katie still liked seeing the lights.

We saw these angels that were lit up all the way up the hill. 

We went to see the big nativity scene, but I didn't like it as much as my Little People nativity set. 

My mom and I had to stay close in the petting zoo because it was so crowded in there. 

I wanted to touch the hay, but my mom told me it was dirty. 

We washed our hands when we left the animals.

After we left the animals, I saw one of my favorite trees.

Then we went into the church to see the choir. 

I was a polite audience member and clapped after each song. 

We got a quick picture before we left.

A Special Job

Right before school got out for vacation, my mom was busy putting together some goody bags for my students. She needed Katie to stay busy for a little while, so she gave her some candy canes and asked her to hang them on the Christmas tree. Katie was so proud of the job she did!

Winnie the Pooh and I can reach all of the candy canes!

Merry Christmas, 2013!

My parents came over on Christmas morning to celebrate and unwrap gifts. Katie actually slept later on Christmas morning than she typically does, but she also had a very late evening the night before. I walked down the stairs with her, and she was very excited to see what Santa had left for her. She saw her new kitchen right away and was pretty happy about it, but she suddenly got very shy. She hid behind my legs and didn't want to touch anything before I did. Whatever the reason for her shyness, she recovered quickly and the kitchen became a new favorite toy.

In addition to the kitchen set, Santa had also left some toy animal figures - some zoo animals, some farm animals, and some dinosaurs. Katie quickly integrated her new animals into her kitchen, and her giraffe was her favorite guest in her new kitchen.

Since she was having so much fun with her Santa gifts, Katie took a long time to open her other gifts. She would open a few and play with her kitchen, open a few more and play with her kitchen, and the pattern continued. Even now as I type this in the early evening of Christmas, she still has three presents waiting to be unwrapped.

I got a kitchen!

Winnie the Pooh, look at these animals!

I love my horse!

I found some dinosaurs too.

Santa left me some blue cupcakes in my kitchen just like on my Christmas list!

It didn't take me long to start cooking.

I put the apron on the giraffe.

I also helped the giraffe wash his hooves.

Aunt Jennifer gave me a beautiful jewelry box with a twirling ballerina.

Gaga got a funny hat from my mom since she's always cold. It made me laugh, but it kept her warm!

Aunt Debby sent me a Scentsy hedgehog.

She also gave me a beautiful box of hair bows.

Uncle Jeff, Aunt Grace, and Ian sent me this Hawaiian doll. I love to hear her sing!

I got a sparkly tiara from Aunt Debby.

She also gave me lots of art supplies: sidewalk chalk,...

…giant coloring sheets,...

…an art kit that even had scissors and liquid glue that I loved,...

…a backpack and some art pads.

Just as I was trying to cook some more,...

…I got a phone call and had to answer my kitchen phone.

Then I had time to give my giraffe a bath and comb him.

Later that night, I decided to finish opening gifts, and I found a card from Grammy Noreen and Grandpa Joe!

They always know how to pick books I love!

Finally, I opened my card from Uncle Jeff, Aunt Grace, and Ian.

I've never seen so many words in a card. My mom is still trying to read it. While she was trying to read it, I found my friend, Winnie the Pooh, right away!
Thanks for the presents everybody! I loved everything!