Cookies for Santa

Max came over this week so his mommy could do some Christmas shopping on her own.  I decided it would be fun to bake some cookies with the kids.   I used my favorite gingerbread recipe, but I didn't take into consideration that the dough needs to be chilled in order for it to be cut easily.  Because I was working with two slabs of dough and two three year olds, speed wasn't on our side and the dough got too warm to cut out.  We only got about 6 cookies cut out and baked, but that is just the right amount for Finley with enough leftover to leave for Santa tonight.  Finley has been very excited for Santa to arrive.  She wants him to bring her a garbage truck, princesses and triple-A batteries.  The batteries were the most recent request since one of her favorite music books needs new batteries.  I bet Santa is going to be a busy guy tonight.  We have been tracking him on the Santa tracker.  Last we checked he was in Cairo, Egypt and the Ukraine.  We are going out for Chinese food tonight, then everyone will snuggle all warm in their beds to wait for Santa to arrive.  I hope Santa finds everyone well, Merry Christmas to you all!

Message from Santa

Video from Santa

Let's Visit Santa Again

We headed back to the Bass Pro Shop to meet Santa with Max. This visit, Finley asked for "Princesses." Santa said he would get Finley a whole box of princesses, all different kinds. Looks like Santa has some more shopping to do. She and Max were hysterical in the shooting range area of the Santa line. Almost as hysterical that there is a shooting range in the Santa line. We headed to Center Court Pizza afterwards to meet up with Miss Leslie and baby Caroline. Once again, Max and Finley impressed with their pizza eating skills...four slices each!

Christmas Pageant in Pictures

Finley looks pretty much the same in all her pictures on stage. She has a blank stare and is looking off in the distance. I think she was tuning out all the crazy crying that was going on around her. I asked her what her costume was and she told me she was dressed like a rat. She has been happy to sing "Twinkle, twinkle shining star" all the time since her pageant, but she wasn't happy to sing it that day. I guess she had a little bit of stage fright. We were so proud of her nonetheless and can't wait until next year's performance.

Finley's Christmas Pageant

Last Friday, Finley performed in her first ever Christmas Pageant.  She played a very serious shepherd.  She didn't sing much, but she wasn't crying like the kids around her.  Max was the breakout star this year, he sang every note perfectly, such a personality!  Finley attended this same pageant last year to watch Max.  Here are a few videos from the show. I got there 30 minutes early to get a good seat, wasn't early enough. Next year I will have to get there 45 minutes early...and maybe Finley will sing. Pictures to come tomorrow.

Santa Claus!

We took Finley to meet Santa Claus at the Bass Pro Shops today, continuing our tradition.  Here is her visit last year and here is the visit the year before that.  She is getting so big!  There were no tears this year.  Santa asked Finley what she wanted for Christmas and she gave the same reply she has been saying for weeks now....garbage truck!  Santa said that was his first request for a garbage truck, I sure hope he is able to find one for Finley.  After the visit, Finley colored a picture of a garbage truck to send in a letter to Santa Claus.

Pajama Day at School

On Wednesday, the kids were allowed to wear their jammies to school for Polar Express Day.  All of Finley's pajamas are footed, so that would have been a struggle to fit shoes over.  Luckily, there were adorable Christmas pajamas at Disneyworld and I had a 20% off coupon for them.  Finley was so excited to wear her Mickey jammies to school.  She requested piggy tails and she was set!  At the end of the school day, the class celebrated Ella's birthday with cupcakes and they had a book gift exchange.  Finley got Guess how Much I Love You and was very happy with her new book.

Happy Birthday, Sarah!

The birthday party circuit is winding down for the year, but not before we celebrated Sarah's 3rd birthday at the Children's Museum.  Finley had the best time visiting all the little houses set up for different holidays.  She also made artwork with macaroni and tissue paper, it was supposed to be a Menorah, she went with an abstract interpretation of it.  The kids all played in Kidtropolis and then we all headed upstairs to play the dancing lighted squares game.  After all that fun, we headed down to the party room for Chick-fil-a and cake.  Finley was a very happy girl and was so excited to sing Sarah "Happy Birthday!"

Day Two: Disneyworld

Our second day at Disneyworld was also spent at the Magic Kingdom. Finley started her morning watching the monorail from our balcony, she loved seeing the trains go by. We hit all of Finley's favorites: race cars, carousel, the haunted mansion, It's a Small World, etc... The end of the day was spent inside Cinderella's Castle feasting with the princesses.  Finley had an amazing time all day, but she really loved the castle.  She got her very own magic wand and wishing star with the bonus of an ice cream sundae at the end!

Day One: Disneyworld

Finley and I headed out to Disneyworld yesterday early in the morning.  After an easy flight out of Hobby, we arrived in Orlando having watched an episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and doing more stickers than I care to count.  We checked into the Grand Floridian and were lucky to have a room available straight away.  I watched my poor Cougars get crushed by Southern Mississippi and we had lunch at the hotel.  Grammy and Grandad arrived and we headed off to the Magic Kingdom.  For weeks, Finley has been asking to go on the Jungle Cruise first.  We were happy to oblige.  When we arrived into the park, the crowd was the biggest I had ever seen in Disneyworld.  It was complete chaos and Main Street was wall to wall people.  Justin Beiber had made a surprise appearance and they were filming for the Christmas day parade.  By the time we finally made it to the Jungle Cruise, we had a bit of a wait ahead of us.  Finley was so happy to ride the Jungle Cruise.  After the Jungle Cruise, Finley wanted to ride the Magic Carpets right across the way followed by the Tiki Birds.  Then we headed over to Tommorowland for The People Mover and Buzz Lightyear.  We also caught a show at the Castle and got to see it all lit up for Christmas.  We headed back to our hotel to watch fireworks from the balcony and let Finley get some rest.  Grammy and I headed back to the Magic Kingdom for more rides...we didn't get as much rest. I will be able to blog most of the trip during the trip since the WiFi is now free. Considering last year there wasn't even WiFi in the hotel, this is a major upgrade. Paying for wired internet really was not cool.

Happy Birthday, Max!

Finley's best friend in the whole wide world celebrated his birthday with an amazing party in his backyard.  There was a bounce house, petting zoo and a pony to ride.  Too bad Finley only wanted to play on the swings.  She wasn't in the best of moods and she only wanted to swing.  Once I got her to ride the pony, she loved it. The animals in the petting zoo were amazingly friendly with all the kids. Finley had her fair share of doughnuts and had such a fun time at Max's party. Happ birthday to Max!

Helicopter Fun

Clifton got a remote control helicopter and Finley is sort of obsessed with it.  Problem is that it only flies for about 7 minutes before it needs to be recharged for 45 minutes.  "More helicopter!" I don't think Max was such a fan of the helicopter. I don't think the cats were either. But Finley is a huge fan....huge! Just as an FYI, the helicopter was under $20 on Amazon, it would make for a great gift. Too bad my husband is too impatient.