SANTA COMES!

Kate has been asking for a "pink car" for at least the past 4 months without end. I had to take her to see it every week at Walmart. Luckily, I convinced her that because it was hanging up on a rack, you couldn't just take one home. To anyone who has asked her what Santa was bringing her, she has replied, "pink car". Well, he brought it indeed and boy, was she excited. So excited that she only wanted to sit in it and admire how cute she looked! She has no interest in learning how to drive it right now. I'll bet Santa is glad he spent that money!! She also got a pink guitar, a harmonica, a kazoo, maracas, and a trumpet. Do you get the sense that she LOVES music. Check out the picture of her playing the guitar!

CHRISTMAS EVE

Good stuff for Santa!

Let me make sure this is good enough for Rudolph!

Smells good to me!

ENJOY!

Every Christmas Eve since Kate was born, we have gone over to our good friends, the Powells' house for food and fun. Kate always looks forward to seeing Perry and talks about it all day. The older she gets, the harder it is for me to sit back and enjoy myself for fear that she is into something she shouldn't be. This year our biggest challenge was not wanting to share. Kate has a bag of things that she likes to take with her EVERYWHERE and she doesn't want anyone other than Scott and me to mess with it. Our sweet friends the Willoughbys were there too and they have a little boy named Trey who is the same age as Kate. He REALLY wanted to see what was in Kate's bag, but she said "absolutely not!" Don't tell her that I gave him one of her things that we have 2 of. I will have to take a picture of the bag and everything that's in it so that you can see just how much stuff we have to carry and try to keep up with.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to snap a bunch of pictures that night because I was busy getting Kate out of Perry's closet (that she locked herself in!), saving her from Princess the cat, and trying to get her to share with Trey. What I did get pictures of were the Santa and reindeer snacks that Sweet Lee sent us home with. That girl thinks of everything! My dad tells me all the time, "You better hold onto her, she's a good one!" She really is the best. Kate had so much fun putting the snacks out for Santa and his reindeer. I love the picture of her sniffing the snacks before putting them on the plate. Only the best for Santa!

THE LIGHTS IN CANTON

We took Kate to see the lights on the Square in Canton on Friday and boy, did she have a good time! We had to peel her away from the Merry-Go-Round! She kept calling it "my merry-go-round". They had a firetruck and train to ride and a horse drawn buggy, but she wanted no part of that, just her merry-go-round. When we left, we drove through Indian Pines (a street in Madison that takes Christmas lights and blow up things to the extreme) and let Kate see the "singing house". This made her forget all about the merry-go-round. We must have sat there for 15 minutes just watching the lights blink to the music on that house. Kate was in awe! Bless her heart, she is soooooo into the Christmas lights and decorations this year. I don't think she will understand when everyone puts them away!

BLISS

When I was trying to get that "perfect picture" of Kate for our Christmas card, we ended up in the backyard - Kate running and me chasing. Last year I had to get a camera that would take a picture the instant I pressed the button because she was so fast. This year, I had to add a telephoto lens so that I could get close enough because she is out of the posing and hamming it up phase and won't let you get as close as you have to with a standard lens. Anyhow, at the end of our photo session, Kate decided she would jump on the trampoline for a while. I am not good at action shots, but these pictures of her jumping (with her back to me of course!) and that pony tail swishing in the air and her arms up in celebration just made me think how fortunate I am to have those things that money cannot buy and that to me is bliss - just being 100% happy in the moment (and unfortunately I don't think we take the time to realize how few times we stop to just be blissful). As I watched her jumping, I remembered doing the same thing as a little girl and how much fun it was. When she jumps she is totally into it. The best part is when she invites you to join her. Thank you, God, for the times when you allow me to see beyond that "perfect shot" to what really counts.

AM I REALLY 36?

Today is my 36th birthday and I CANNOT believe I am getting so close to 40!! It seems like yesterday when I was still in my 20s and all of my older friends would say, "you're still a baby" and now I am just OLD! My students gave me a surprise party the other day at school which was really sweet. When I got up this morning, there was a cake on the island. Since I don't do photos in the early a.m., I just took Kate's picture with the cake since she really wanted to eat it for breakfast. Hooray for 36!