Let the holidays begin!

Today Sophia and I kicked off Christmas in style. We started the day by reading Christmas books as a family by the tree. We did this last night too, and she thought it was great fun to read in the dark with the tree lights.

Then I went to the gym and Sophia and Hal played and ate breakfast. Hal got ready and headed out to watch some football with the guys. When I got back we got ready and Sophia and I headed out to "A Day In The Life Of An Elf" on the 8th floor at Macy's. I have always loved taking her to see this, but this year seemed so much more fun. She was aware of everything that was going on around her. She kept pointing things out to me, which in previous years has been reversed. Along the route, we met Mrs. Clause and Sophia eagerly had her photo taken with her.


Her favorite part of the display was the dogs trying to take the mail away from the elves.

She also said she loved the part where the cooks were trying to catch the little mouse in the kitchen. After making it through the display, we got in line to see and greet Santa.

Sophia has just adored Santa the past two years. It is so funny to watch how her entire face lights up when she sees the man dressed in red.

When Santa asked her what she wanted for Christmas her response was, "I want a new pet for my house and a new doll." Not sure what she meant by the pet part. Then she said, "Oh by the way.....what do the reindeer eat?" I couldn't believe the way she just nonchalantly through this question it. It was soooo beyond her years.

After seeing Santa, we got a treat and enjoyed it together on the way to Walmart. We stopped to get cookie supplies and ended up seeing yet ANOTHER Santa. Her excitement couldn't be contained and she ran right up to him and sat on his lap. Not a shy bone in this girl's body.

She chatted her way through another conversation, thanked Santa, and told him not to eat too many cookies. It was quite cute.

Then we headed home to make cookies and get ready for my cookie exchange next weekend. She just loved rolling the cookie dough and helping me decorate in her little apron. It was like I was watching her grow up right before my eyes.


I have a feeling that this holiday season will be quite a treat for us as parents. I can't wait to see the story unfold.

Relaxing Thanksgiving

Today has been the most relaxing day considering it is Thanksgiving. Since my family and Hal's family are both out of town, we had Thanksgiving early at the end of October. It was really fun to celebrate early and have this day to ourselves.

We both got to workout this morning and then watched the Macy's parade with Sophia. I thought she would be really in to watching it, but she didn't seem to care much. While we watched the parade I made homemade cinnamon rolls from scratch. I was awfully impressed with myself! This was my first attempt ever and they turned out fantastic.

The rest of the day has been spent playing games, watching movies, and putting up the Christmas tree and decorations. We have had a non-traditional dinner of pizza fries for lunch and buffalo chicken dip for dinner.

The sights and sounds of Christmas are all around, yet today is supposed to be a day filled with turkeys!

I'm off in the morning with Sophia to hit the Black Friday sales. Can't wait to see what we find.......

Princess of the Week

This week Sophia got to be the Princess of the Week at dance. She was completely thrilled and was actually bashful.


They invite the parents in just for their dance. The Princess of the Week gets to pick a song and then they lead the ballet dance. The other dancers in the class then copy what the princess does.

Sophia had a hard time thinking of moves at first as I think she was a tad bit shy. Her dance teacher Miss Shelley was very patient with her and helped her think of a couple of moves. Once she got started she did a much better job. The hard part was the brand new tutu that kept her busy. She just couldn't get over it.


This will be a day I will never forget!

Tea with Beauty and the Beast

Yesterday I took Sophia to her first ever tea party. East Ridge High School which is right down the road from our house is putting on the musical Beauty and the Beast. This is their first ever play/musical so they are going all out. They are not only having two of the teas, but they are also having a huge opening night gala as well.



We arrived to the tea and all of the characters were wandering around the room. We were seated at our table with our friends/neighbors Amy and Ava Matza.

After welcoming us with songs, we were ready to eat and begin the tea party. The girls and the mommies loved the treats. We also just adored the cute table settings.


Throughout the tea they performed songs from the musical. It was really cute to watch Sophia sing along with them. Then in the end we were able to take pictures with all of the characters.

This was so well worth the money we spent. I was a bit nervous that it might be a bit lame, but it turned out to be one of the coolest days that I have spent mommy/Sophia in a long time.

To top it all off, Sophia and Ava were both dressed in their Belle dresses. What a wonderful way to end the weekend!

Happy Halloween!

Yesterday was a busy Halloween! Sophia started off her day by trick-or-treating at my parents house at 10am. It was awfully cute how she rang the doorbell. Sophia got some Scooby Doo action figures which she just adores!!

After heading across the street to my parents neighbors house where she got a little treat bag full of candy, it was off to the grocery store.

Of course she would not take her Scooby costume off, so if you saw a Scooby Doo yesterday at the Woodbury Cub Foods Store, that was my Sophia. People in the store were just oohing and aahing over her. It was pretty cute and she of course LOVED all of the attention the costume was getting her.

Then we made a quick pit stop at home for some lunch and headed to see Sophia's great gramma. Great Gramma was thrilled to see her and of course, she got some more treats.

After a short visit, we headed to pick up the pizzas at Papa Murphys where AGAIN she got candy!

Then it was home for a nap. She fell asleep instantly. While she napped I finished up laundry, got the house ready for our company, and got ready for the evening. Then our neighbors the Matzas came over with their kids for our tradition of pizza and trick-or-treating together. The kids just love hanging out with each other, and the adults always have a great time as well.

We finished up dinner and the Wickmans came over to join us for trick-or-treating.

The kids had a great time trick-or-treating on the street and then Hal came back and Sophia and I went on with Ava, Amy, and Roger. Abby and Bennett had called it quits and the Wickmans went home. We are excited to see them again on Friday though for dinner.

The girls had a blast together and lasted until almost 8:30. They sure did get a whole ton of candy. Sophia's overflows out of an ice cream pail. I would say she for surely has enough. To top all of that, one of the houses was giving away stuffed animals. Needless to say, after the girls got them, they were the highlight of the evening and they stopped caring about the candy so much.

All in all, it was a wonderful Halloween evening. We have another busy week with gymnastics, dance, the Y, and dinner with the Wickmans on Friday. Sophia has a playdate with her friend Peyton Collins on Saturday which she is really looking forward to. Then Sunday we are off to do a meet and greet for Beauty and the Beast and then a wedding shower.

Life doesn't slow down one bit in this house......I always stop though and make sure I cherish every moment. Don't let the little things slide by. One day your kids will be grown up before you know it.