Christmas 2011

Wow..Christmas came and went so quickly...but it sure was great. Addy was so much fun this year and seemed to really be in awe of all the Christmas wonder around her.  She loved our Christmas tree and the lights I hung on our porch.  She ooohed and ahhhed when we went to look at lights.  And presents...she loved opening her presents this year.  She loved them so much she savored every moment of opening them (hence why it took hours to open all of her presents).  It was great and I loved every minute of the Christmas season.  I must have enjoyed my day so much that I forgot how to take pictures because I did not end up with very many pictures that were worthy of sharing.   Here's what I have been able to salvage.

First a video of Addy seeing her bike:

Our tree

 Addy loves her new bike...and helmet!

She even kept the helmet on to open the rest of her presents.  Have to be safe in this house!

Then on to my mom's house.  Mandy & my mom

 The best picture of Addy in her dress...unfortunately she does not love the camera much any more.
If you have any tips on how to make her smile...can you email me??

 Alison & Addy

 Who wants a book about Dick Cheney?!?  Brad.  And who bought it for him?!?  My mom.
Really?!?  (wink, wink)

 Alison & Brad

 Cousin present exchange

 Addy loved Maddie's & Taylor's dolly

 Samantha & Kayla

Playhouse

Santa came a bit early to the Milton house and brought Addy a playhouse.  He thought Addy might enjoy playing with the house over winter break, so might as well give it to her early, right?  While she does not like to be left alone in her room, Addy is enjoying her house and sharing it with her doggies. We just have to make sure someone is in the room if we want to avoid a crying fit.

 Inside the house

 So far Santa was right and made a good purchase.  Hopefully his other presents go over just as well!!

BFFs

One great advantage to your BFFs having teacher mommies: you get to have lots of quality time together while the mommies are on break.  This past weekend, Addy hung out with her BFFs, Micah & Charli.  The girls loved playing with each other and Charli's toys.  Of course, they did not love taking a picture as much.  No smiles...

Yesterday, Addy & Charli met up again at Sea World.  Sea World was very festive, with a snow park, Christmas tree, and fun snowman lights.

 Addy loved the snow.  Charli wasn't sure she liked it.

So fun!

Snow man lights

 So festive!

 Addy has mastered the art of avoiding the camera.  Charli is much better at posing.  

Our efforts to get a picture of the girls in front of the tree only partially worked.

I was able to get one picture of Addy & I together.

Looking forward to more BFF time next week!

Cookies!!

This weekend Renee, Alison, & I (plus Renee's boys and Addy) got together to make some cookies and decorate a gingerbread house.  It used to be a tradition to do cookies with our moms at my mom's house.  But since our moms were on a cruise to Hawaii we decided to make cookies on our own. 

The boys and Addy had a great time playing some old school Nintendo 64.

And Renee did an awesome job on the gingerbread house accompanied by a gingerbread tree, man, & woman.

I forgot to take pictures of the cookies before we bagged them up, but they were very pretty.  And yummy too!

Bragging...

I bet you saw this post title and thought I would brag about Addy...but nope, I am actually going to brag about my second set of children, my students.  This year Fallbrook High School collected over 1600 toys for children in need.  This is a huge number, compared to the 300 we collected last year.
If we collected over 1000 toys, our ASB director and principal vowed to dress as elves the Friday before break.  Not only did this give students motivation to donate toys, but it also gave us teachers an extra push to encourage our students. :-)
Rod and Mike did a great job and made pretty fine elves.  Here are some pictures to prove what good sports they were:

The toy drive also reaffirmed what I already knew.  It feels good to give back to the community and to do something for someone else.  Hopefully my students learned the same thing so we can keep the gift of giving alive after the holidays. Done bragging...thanks for indulging me!

Fallbrook Christmas Parade

Another way of getting into the Christmas spirit??  Heading to the Fallbrook Christmas Parade. We sat in front of Trupiano's again (with a lovely heater & yummy food) and snuggled in to enjoy the floats and performers.  Addy & I tried to sit close to the action on the sidewalk but only made it about 30 minutes in before Addy started having a meltdown.  Meltdown stopped when we a further away from the action and sitting in front of food. Amazing what food can do, right?

 

 Alison & Brad 

And yes, it was as cold as it looks.

 Mema & Dylan

 The girls

 Addy & her G-ma

Getting Festive

A couple of weeks ago was the annual Kiwanis' Christmas party for the kids of Fallbrook.  Addy was so much fun this year.  She loved the playground, arts & crafts, seeing her cousins, and the cookies!!

 

Of course, we tried Santa again to see if Addy would be more friendly than last year, but we only had success when Cyndy was able to distract her.  Madison & Taylor took some cute pictures with old St. Nick.

 Here is the Addy picture with Cyndy distracting the girls.

 Didn't quite work.

We still had a great time and what a great way to kick off the Christmas season. 

Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving was like many before it, full of lots of family, food, wine, and great conversations.  While it was like others, this Thanksgiving felt different.  I am not sure if it was because Addy was actually able to play with her cousins and keep up with them, or if there were less people so I felt I actually talked to everyone, but this Thanksgiving felt different in a good way.  I left my mom's house full of love and an understanding of what Thanksgiving is really about: being thankful for all that we have.  I am so very thankful for both of our families, friends, and the life we have been given.  Enough of the mushiness and onto the pictures.

Melissa & Kayla

 Uncle Buddy, Roy, & Matthew

 Anna (Brad's mom) & Brad

 Andrea (@her first Thanksgiving with us in years!!), Taylor, Mom, & Grandpa

 Cyndy & her girls

 Our two chefs (missing their helper, Alison)

 My loves

 My family

 Our little family

 G-Ma & Addy