December Randomness...2011

December has been full of activities without a moment to spare! We have been doing all kinds of fun things this month starting out December with an OSU Hockey game.

My nephew is playing for them this year as a freshman and they are off to an awesome start. In between periods, Dawson and her cousin Breea visit all the Brutus figures in the arena!

Next came P.J. day at school along with a special visitor. Santa stopped by to say hello to all the kids at school. This is our first picture with Santa! Yay!!!

A few days later, it was Christmas party day. I volunteered for the craft since I was out of school a few days before her.

Here is the craft I found for the kids to eat. It worked out perfectly without any parent help except for the tying of the licorice!

YUM!!!

And lastly, our first time bowling!

Watch out....here she comes!

Check out that form! We had so much fun, she's already asking when we can go again!

All About Winter

Today we went to the Natural History Museum for a program called Tiny Trekkers. Each month there is a class with a different theme. Today's theme was "Winter." The teacher talked about hibernation, migration, and active animals in the winter. She also shared lots of pictures of various winter animals. Grace and Lynn joined us for the class and the girls sat quietly and listened to everything that was said. After about 20 minutes, the kids were allowed to explore all the activities set up in the room.

Dawson made a winter picture with the sun shining low (like it does in the winter) and some animals down at the bottom of the pond since that's where they go in the winter.

When the picture was done, we then stamped some winter animal prints in the snow.

Next, we made a felt snowman. All of the parts of this guy were removable.

We ate lunch then headed into the planetarium for a special Sesame Street movie about stars. Both girls loved it and kept pointing to the stars in the planetarium. The main idea of the movie was that the whole world shares the same sky. We see the same moon and stars as the people in China! (and the grandparents in NY...Nana and Ba!)

After the movie, we explored a little more of the museum and got ready to go home!

And to our surprise, when we left, there was a lot of snow! These two ran right into and just wanted to play!

What a way to leave our class about WINTER!!!

Christopher Pop-In-Kins

These past few days, we have been having a lot of fun with our elf Christopher. This year, he hides in all kinds of places and we find him in the morning. You are not supposed to touch him or he will go back to the North Pole. We are not playing it the right way. When Dawson finds him, she hugs him and tells him how magical he is....hehehe...it's funny listening to her. Then, I leave the room and come back and he's in a different place. She then tells me he moved on his own with his magical powers. I love the way she is joining in on the creativity of the elf! She loves the magic of the Elf!

Here he is watching the Elf Movie.

Making a snow angel out of rice.

Hanging from our snowman lights.

Hiding in the tree.

Sitting by the manger.

On the mantle with all the snowmen. I wonder where he will be next?

All Aboard....

Off to the North Pole we went last night aboard the Polar Express. We have gone before but this was probably the most magical time of all. We boarded the train full of joy and excitement. Which in Dawson's way is giggles and smiles!

We turned our tickets in for this beautiful "golden" ticket. As the ride returned, the conductor punched our ticket....just like the book!

She was just so excited she could not sit down.

Teddy joined us for the trip too. I was told Teddy had never been to the North Pole so he should really join us for the trip! She got me on that one!

The elves on our train read the story and then we were served cookies and hot cocoa! Delicious!

One of the best parts for the children is drawing on the windows. It's so cold outside they steam up quickly and they are perfect for writing. The elves on our train liked to draw Xmas trees on the windows and the kids liked to decorate them!

Getting ready to hide from Santa because we are not quite a fan of his yet. I knew she wouldn't want to talk to him so we carefully wrote him and letter and she was prepared to hand it to him...which she did. Dawson asked for three things...An American Girl Doll, Baby Alive and the Operation Game! Perfect list for Santa!!!

The volunteer elves on the train are outstanding. On our way, we were read the Polar Express story and on our way back we sang lots of Xmas carols, had a pajama fashion show and told Xmas jokes. There was never a dull moment!

Finally, a visit from Santa! Not much eye contact but, no screaming and he did get a high five!

Thanksgiving Festivities

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Our Thanksgiving week started out with a feast at preschool. Each of the children from 3 different classrooms created a different dish to share at the feast. The children dressed up for the occasion also. As you can see, Dawson chose a pilgrim costume for the event.

Thanksgiving day was beautiful. Early in the afternoon, we got out the scooter and the tricycle and took some loops around the block. It was a great day for being outside!

After Thanksgiving, Grammy shared a new animal and book with Dawson. It's name is "Jingles" and it's voice activated. When you read the book that goes along with the toy, Jingles barks throughout the story. There are two books available so far and a movie soon. It's such a fun toy. Another amazing Hallmark creation! After we read the book, she sat down to draw a picture of Jingles. Not too bad!

Another Sketch

Another interesting sketch. Dawson brought this to me and told me this is a picture of me with her inside my belly! Then she told me she knows she was not in my belly but it's ok if she sketches it! Sketching, sketching, sketching is what we are into these days. Dawson is spending a lot of time drawing pictures and now writing words. As I'm cooking in the kitchen, I always hear a little voice saying...how do you spell this and how do you spell that! Very cute! Four has been so much fun! I can't wait until Christmas because this should be an exciting year!

Trick or Treat

Finally, a Halloween post....better late than never! This year, I had a few more people over for dinner before trick or treat and a lot less time taking pictures. I just enjoyed the night for a change!

Minnie Mouse loved running in her heels and I can't believe she had no problem doing that!

Our carved creations....

A better view of the heels! Her favorite part of this whole costume was the shoes!