"I Go See Ballerinas!"

Last night my mom and I took Kendall to the Mountain West Ballet's performance of The Nutcracker.  Tickets were reasonably priced so we figured this would be a great opportunity to expose her to "real" ballerinas.

Kendall and Nanny waiting for The Nutcracker to start

I was a little nervous - not knowing how she'd respond to the performance as well as the fact that it didn't start until 7:30 pm...30 minutes past bedtime!  She couldn't wait for the ballerinas to come out on stage.  She kept asking "Where are the ballerinas, Momma?"  My little girl was hooked immediately!  As soon as she saw them dancing on stage, she didn't want it to end.

She was able to follow the story fairly well for just being two years old!  She didn't like when the little boy broke the girl's nutcracker toy.  She also was concerned with the dragon blowing fire at the guy fighting him...she did argue with me over whether he was a dragon or a dinosaur though!  She also was upset that the little ballerina that popped out from under the dancer's dress pulled the tail off of the mouse (rat).  She thought that ballerina should have had a time out!

Kendall clapped through almost the entire first act.  She didn't care if you were supposed to wait to clap, she was so full of joy, she wanted to express it!  She's got her Christmas party at her dance class today so it should be interesting to see how she does...She recognized some of her dance steps in last night's performance.  She blurted out "plie popcorn Mom!" and "She's popping her balloon!"

I think going to see The Nutcracker is going to become a new holiday tradition for us girls!

Cool Neighbor Gift!

Here in Utah, giving gifts to your neighbors is a BIG deal!  I've read numerous blogs about ideas, the way it stresses people out making sure they don't forget anyone, planning the perfect gift, etc.  To me, gift giving shouldn't be stressful or something you should feel obligated to do.  You give to someone because you want them to know you care about them...When wasn't a Christmas card enough to say Merry Christmas?  Some of the ideas I've seen appeared rather desperate attempts to "give" something...like a bottle of Sprite with a note saying "Hope your Christmas is merry and Sprite!"  Cute, right, but really?  Giving someone a bottle of soda?  I'd be just as happy with a card, a smile and a wave!

I made the M&M treats I posted about earlier.  We have to go deliver them sometime this weekend.  I thought Riley would enjoy that part so I'm waiting for a night when we're not too swamped to make our deliveries.  We also gave them out to Riley's music teacher and the principal at his school.  We received the cutest and most clever gift from our neighbors.

This is what arrived at our doorstep yesterday:

When we opened up the box, this is what we found:

And under the dollar for the Redbox movie was yummy cinnamon bears and swedish fish!

Isn't that just the nicest and most thoughtful idea?  Money for the movie and a snack for the family to share while they snuggle up on the sofa together!  

Hope you have wonderful neighbors to share the joy of the season with you too!

Meeting Santa

This year's photo shoot with Santa was MUCH smoother for Kendall than it was last year.  This was the result of seeing the fat man last Christmas:

Notice how happy she was!

Here is this year's meeting with Santa:

She refused to sit on his lap, but she did stand in front of him, take a "candy can" from him and jingle the bells on his wrist!

She made her brother go first, but he was a little nervous.  Can't figure out why.  I think he's starting to question the whole Santa thing and he needed to feel reassured about this was the REAL Santa Claus.

Finally, a picture with BOTH of them smiling!  This is NOT an easy task with my two munchkins.

Merry Christmas!  Ho Ho Ho!

Riley's Christmas Program

For anyone interested in seeing Riley's School's Christmas program from last night, here's the video that Andy recorded of their performance.  The kids did a fantastic job and Riley even invited his Uncle Kevin and Aunt Cara to watch him.  Kevin and Cara are so wonderful to our kids.  Riley and Kendall are so lucky to have them.

The first grade sang about  advent and it's meaning...They begin with an introduction to the wreath and what each candle means with an explanation.

Merry Christmas!

Neighbor Gifts and Other Christmas Ideas

Finally figured out what I'll be doing for our wonderful neighbors this year!  I LOVE this idea and I found it over at My Computer Is My Canvas.  It is an adorable little story about M&M's and the Christmas nativity.  This is the poem she uses:

As you hold these candies in your hand, and turn them, you will see...

The "M" becomes a "W," an "E" and then a "3."

They tell the Christmas Story, it's one I'm sure you know.

It took place in a stable, a long, long time ago.

The "E" is for the East, where the star shine O so bright.

The "M" is for the Manger - where the baby Jesus slept that night.

The "3" is for the wise men bearing gifts, with haste they quickly came.

"W" is for Worship, an angelic choir sang praises to His name.

So as you eat these candies or share them with a friend,

Remember the true Spirit of Christmas and never let it end.

Then she makes a batch of Peppermint Pretzel Melts - you know, the square pretzels with peppermint kisses melted on them with an M&M on top...

The recipe is posted on her blog if you don't already know how to make these yummy holiday favorites!

Here's another holiday idea that I'm using to decorate my house with this year...just have to buy the frame for it yet.  I printed this picture out and plan to put it in a cute wooden frame with a bold Christmas colored mat and display it in the house.  

I wish I could remember where I snagged it from so I could give that blogger credit.  If you want me to send you the jpeg so you can print one out yourself, send me an email and I'd be happy to forward it.  Here are some others that I've grabbed but again forgot to remember where they came from:

I'm thinking they'd look awfully cute mod podged onto some wooden blocks with some Christmas paper for a background...Too many ideas, not nearly enough time to complete them all in time!

Kendall's First Birthday Party

Up until now, Kendall hasn't actually attended a birthday party of a "real" friend of her own.  Yesterday her friend Natalie had a dress up birthday party.  It was so cute to see a bunch of little girls layered in necklaces, bracelets, purses, princess dresses and high heels!  Nat's mom made her an AWESOME 3-way mirror that I just might have to copy.  It's so much cuter and easier than the one I had planned to make Kendall!

Here is some of the little girl fun!

Kendall and her friend Paige checking out Nat's dress up collection

The birthday girl

Singing Happy Birthday!

That's my girl...licking off the icing!

Aren't little girls dressed up in fair wings just the most adorable thing you've ever seen?

Some deep conversation, I'm sure!  :)

Other than the fact that K hasn't been getting enough sleep lately and is a bit CRANKY, she had a great time!  So cute to watch the little ones play dress up together!  Thankfully Natalie has a lot of cute dress up stuff to share with everyone and got more contributions to her collection for her birthday.  Kendall insisted on getting Natalie a pink tutu because they go to dance class together!  Such a great party idea!

Shh! Baby Jesus Is Sleeping!

There is a local mormon church that puts on a live nativity during the Christmas season.  We took the kids last year and they really enjoyed it, so we went again tonight.  Getting there early is the key!  You have to wait in line to go through the (heated) village where you can see what life was like over 2000 years ago.  They have carpenters, weavers, potters, tax collectors, bakers, a market, an inn keeper, etc.  They also have shepherds with lots of goats, sheep, camels, llamas, and calves.

When the kids saw the 3 wise men, Riley said, "Look, it's the wise men!" and Kendall's response was "The wise man built his house upon the rock!" which lead into the entire song with motions!  She got the wrong wise man, but it was all she knew!  It was precious.

Hanging out by one of the many warm fire pits!  Kendall was refusing a photo op...no surprise there!

I'm wondering how often this was seen in Bethlehem...Palm trees in the snow?  It was a first for me!

Look Daddy!  Camels!

Please let me pet you Mr. Llama!

Checking out the cow pen

Like mother like daughter...gotta pet the cows!

Watching the tax collector count the money

We had practiced how to behave when we got to see baby Jesus.  She kept telling me that I had to be quiet so we wouldn't wake him!  When we finally got to see him, she was the quietest I've ever witnessed!  She told baby Jesus that she loved him and then blew him a kiss.  It was so sweet and I'm so glad we waited in the cold to see him.

Christmas Crafting Ideas

It's been requested by some friends that I share some of my Christmas crafting ideas.  So here we go:

Such an easy idea for a handprint with your child!  The instructions for this craft can be found HERE.  You could use this as a card for grandparents or hang it on your tree.

Another cute use of a handprint for the holidays is to create a Santa!  Another cute card possibility.  The instructions can be found HERE as well as instructions for a handprint tree, handprint angel and my favorite, the handprint snowmen ornament.

We made these cute ornaments snowmen ornaments last year for the grandparents as well as for our tree.

On the back has Riley's name and the year.  You can dress them up with scarfs, etc. if you choose.  Ours have black stovepipe hats but you can't see them well in this picture.

I also made these last year for us and for the grandparents:

I took photos of the kids from the side and then printed them out, traced and cut them out on black cardstock and then mod podged them to the wooden discs I picked up at the craft store.  Distressed the edges with some ink and then attached the ribbon and they go perfectly on your tree.  On the back I included the child's name and year.

I've been in a shirt crafting mood lately so here is one of my favorites!  If you would like the template for this one, please feel free to contact me and I'll send it to you.  I made one for a dear friend in Jax and I really wish our two girls were still neighbors to see them in their matching shirts!

I also created a Christmas tree shirt for Kendall, here's the what inspired my creation.

With Kendall's I created it on a white tee shirt and have 4 layers of ribbon - two different types of the same color and width.  I used only red buttons attached with fabric glue and stitched the ribbons onto the shirt and stitched the star on at the top.  (A mom at Riley's school thought I bought this shirt!  Gotta love it when it doesn't have the "homemade" look!)

(Sorry for the poor quality photo - I just got it out of the wash) 

I've also wanted to create a shirt with words on it in a holiday print...Yes, I made the matching skirt, but you wouldn't have to go to all that trouble.  Find some cute Christmas material and then trace and cut out letters you print off of your computer.  You can use heavy duty Heat & Bond or stitch around them with a sewing machine like I did.

This was last year's matching shirts I made for my kiddos.  I created them using a stencil made from freezer paper.

These are some other adorable ideas using handprints for the holidays:

These ideas came from HERE if you want to see more information about them.

This one is on my list of ideas to do with my rugrats this season.  I have a bunch of green and red buttons left over from the tree shirt I made for Kendall.

For the directions, go HERE and make some with your little crafters!

I also went to a great store out here called The Wood Connection.  It's a wood crafter's paradise!  They have every thing precut and ready for you to take home and make your own!  Here is what I've made for Christmas this year:

I painted the sides and parts of the fronts with an off white paint.  Then found some coordinating scrapbook paper, cut it out and mod podged it on.  Then I took some sand paper and sanded off the edges and any extra hanging off the sides.  Then I took my distressing ink and made it look older.  I love how it turned out.  This store has all types of fonts, word packages, etc.  I'd like to find a rusted bell to hang from the "e" and maybe embellish some of the other letters, but that's for another day.

I also bought and made this using the same idea as the project above.  Painted the sides, mod podged paper down and then used vinyl letters to spell out JOY!

My other creation from that store was this:

I think I'm going to find some pretty red wire to wrap around the tree on a diagonal and make some cute curly q's at the ends, but haven't been to the craft store all week...Not to worry, it's only Wednesday!  Still plenty of time to get back there and do more damage to the credit card!  

That should hopefully spark some ideas for you to create for the holidays!  Happy Christmas Crafting!