Merry Christmas to all!

I love ChRiStMaS!

My favorite part about Christmas is to see the JoY in Arielle's eyes when she comes downstairs on Christmas morning and discovers all the presents under the tree!

{I love how she has the same cheesy grin in all of these pictures!}

Have a VERY merry CHRISTMAS!

~Momma to Bug~

Christmas tidbits

I can't believe that there are only TWO days left until Christmas and this is the first post I have done about it! It was not my intention to skip a couple of months of blogging in order to live my life but unfortunately that is what has happened. If only I had a quarter for every time I heard this expression but it really is true..."There is not enough time in the day."

We had a lot of fun decorating the tree this year as it was the first time Arielle really participated and I even got a little creative by tying ribbon to glass ornament balls and hooking them over the kitchen window. It was a quick, easy and inexpensive way to decorate for the holidays! Even so, Arielle keeps asking me when we are going to decorate for Christmas...I don't think what we have done is extravegant enough for her. We have already had our share of cookie decorating parties also, an event that Arielle enjoys solely so she can eat the very sugary, toppings!

Arielle has been counting the days down to Christmas on her My Little Pony Advent Calendar {which was a last minute decision since I didn't have enough time to sew one up myself which I intend to do for next year}. She has done well in understanding the countdown and when another day has passed us by so if nothing else it has taught her that but I think it has also taught her some patience too!

This year when we visited Santa at the mall, Arielle wasn't afraid of him but she played shy so Mommy had to sit next to him too. She told him she wants a digital camera so she can take her own pictures and the camera that she wants has to have stars on it {like the one she saw in a catalogue}. I love that the number one thing on her list this year isn't actually a toy...I never would have imagined that. Arielle was also lucky enough to meet Santa again at the May family's annual Cookie Party and this time she wasn't so shy nor did she forget to tell him that she wants a digital camera for Christmas!

Oh and I am happy to report that I finally schedule Arielle's Christmas portraits to be taken the first week in January...like I always say, "Better late than never."

~Momma to Bug~

Song and Dance

Arielle has been fortunate enough to receive some HaNNaH MoNtAnA presents this year from our friends and it has made her so happy! One of them is a Hannah walkman that has some of her songs recorded which is such a cool idea for kids.

Here she is practicing her song and dance {she wanted me to record her over and over again so I'm not too worried about her being camera shy anymore}. I'm thinking she should have her own Disney show in the next few years with this performance!

~Momma to Bug~

I got the idea for this post here and thought it would be fun and help to get everyone even further into the ChRiStMaS sPiRiT!

My 5 {Christmas} Addictions:

1. Silver & Red decorations. I can't live without these two colors when decorating for Christmas.

2. Wrapping paper and ribbon. I need lots and lots of different wrapping paper and ribbon choices before I can begin to think about wrapping up presents.

3. Home. Although there is a distinct possibility that a time may come where we may need to travel for Christmas, I can't imagine what it will be like. I have never been away from home for Christmas and I very much like it that way.

4. Coats. I think I can say this with certainty but for the past several years, I have made sure to purchase {at least} one new winter coat. For some reason it isn't Christmas season if I haven't bought one.

5. Returns. Who out there can't relate to this one? As much as I HATE to wait in lines, having a return makes it all worth it.

Anyone else interested in sharing their addictions?

~Momma to Bug~

Thanksgiving Road Trip

I am tHaNkFuL that we safely drove nearly 2,000 miles last week and it was rather uneventful! The first part of the trip, we decided to leave in the afternoon so that Arielle could {not that I really thought she would} "sleep through the night." We made our first and ONLY stop to eat dinner after being in the car for nearly six hours. Arielle fell asleep after watching her fourth movie of the day. That was around nine o'clock. At 2 o'clock in the morning, we had to stop for gas and Arielle woke up. She didn't go back to sleep. We made it to our desitnation, Cape Girardeau, MiSSoUrI at about 4:30 am. At least Daddy was able to get her to go to bed for another five hours that morning.

Thanksgiving was wonderful! It was so nice to spend more time with Gaby and meet all of our relatives from her side of the family. Arielle and her cousins got along so well and they played from sun up until sun down. Arielle took an extreme liking to her older cousin, Josh. She followed him around all day long and didn't let him out of her sight. He read her stories, protected her from flying dodge balls, pushed her in the "wagon roller coaster", coached her through her first game of kickball and made sure she found good hiding places for several games of hide and seek. It was truly amazing to see how kind and well mannered other children can be. This trip definitely proved that Arielle is NOT shy and she LOVES attention from grown ups and kids!

The best part about the trip was that Arielle and I got to meet GrAnDmOtHeR. Grandmother is 93 years old and is the only living Great Grandmother that Arielle has. I couldn't help but tearing up as we walked into her room at the Lutheran Home and I saw her reaction to meeting us and seeing Gaby, her youngest daughter. Grandmother asked if she had died and gone to heaven. Arielle asked to sit next to her at the table on Thanksgiving. She had a great time chatting with Grandmother and all the other kids at the table. It was a nice sight to see!

We set out for our journey home on Saturday morning. This time we made several stops along the way and I think Arielle set a new record for number of movies watched in one day (I lost count after four). In addition to movie watching, we colored several pictures and she did lots of playing with her little toys that she brought. She needed something to occupy her time because wouldn't you know it, that kid did not get one wink of sleep during that entire car ride. FoUrTeeN hOuRs and not even a doze or a nod out of her but like I said, it was pretty uneventful which is a good thing. Arielle kept saying, "This is a really long drive, huh?" It was a loooooong drive but well worth it.

Aunt Pat & Arielle

Aunt Carol & Arielle

~Momma to Bug~