It's Magic!

We've found in the last couple days that giving Nora a little extra attention (especially of the daddy variety) has helped to assuage her combativeness a bit. With a happier kiddo it was much easier to have some fun today. Kyle surprised her by picking her up from school and after nap here I took both kids to the post office and then, we met up with Elizabeth & Caroline (and their mom & grandma) at the playground. The girls had fun, Lincoln had a BLAST - he climbed ALL THE THINGS (including slides - to the top!). After the playground we headed to the train station where Kyle took Nora downtown to the Magic game. They had killer seats, 5 rows back (with all you can eat food included) and from what I understand, Nora was in heaven! She can't stop talking about Stuff the mascot (who she didn't really want to come close to her, but did enjoy watching walk on the chairs and being silly from a distance.) From what I've been able to tell it was a pretty magical daddy daughter date night! And they won (this has been a rarity at home, so worth mentioning!) It wasn't a bad night for me & Lincoln here either. I didn't accomplish ANY of what I'd hoped to but I did watch some TV and relax in a quiet house, so no complaints!

Mischief Maker!

When Lincoln is playing on his own and things fall quiet he's the kind of kid where you have a 50% chance of finding him reading quietly and playing nicely and a 50% chance of finding him up to something pretty harmless but trouble none-the-less. I mentioned how the kids (typically and primarily Nora) unwrap a book each night...well, Lincoln decided that morning was just as good of a time and that he's perfectly capable of picking the correct book and unwrapping it himself. I don't know that I've ever seen this kiddo so proud of an accomplishment than when I caught him in this act! At least he'll know what he's doing when he opens Christmas presents!

Caught

Oh this little guy. If there is a marker anywhere in this house where he can reach it, he will find it and use it! Unfortunately Nora is not the best at putting her things away when she's done with activities like Christmas card making. This is what I found in the living room this morning after putting in a load of laundry. Looks like I'll be doing more! One thing's for sure, this budding Picasso is always pretty proud of his artistic accomplishments!

All Is Calm...Now

We have had some really rough mornings around here but by the evenings (when Kyle gets home) things seem to settle down a bit. Tonight before bed the book was "The Sweet Smells of Christmas" - one of my favorites when I was littler. I don't think I've talked about our book countdown. Every night, beginning December 1st the kiddos have unwrapped a Winter/Christmas book. Some we've collected over the past few years, some are new. After they unwrap the book, they hang the day's number on the playroom door frame and we sit and read before Lincoln goes to bed. It's been a fun way to close out the day, especially loooong days!

All Jacked Up!

Kyle got his lumberjack on today while shifting the wood pile from the top of the driveway in front of the house to the back yard. In hopes of taking advantage of the dry season, he split some of the larger pieces (got this one on the first try!) and piled them in a sunny spot. We're a little bummed that this wood probably won't be ready to burn this fire season but pretty excited for next year's fires! Today was a typical low key Sunday with some things accomplished here and there but nowhere near what we were each secretly hoping to. Our kids slept in until around 9 though, so I will take that as a HUGE win! 9 pumpkin rolls are complete with a decent number more to go, but a start is a start so I'll take it! Hope you all had a good weekend!!

Elf Culture!

Today was a very full of fun kind of day! For starters, late this morning, Santa swung past our house with a police escort and threw candy in our yard (apparently he gets a pass for littering this time of year!) then after lunch we headed to the Orlando Rep and saw "The Happy Elf" musical. It was pretty cute and the kids (and Katie) seemed to enjoy it! After, Nora SHOCKED me when she wanted to go up and get her picture with the cast - including Santa - whom she's been pretty terrified of this year (she hasn't ever wanted to get a picture after one of these plays, and I thought for sure she'd panic and back out)

Photo evidence that I was once again proven wrong by Nora! I'm starting to get used to it! Then...in true Nora fashion, this happened...

I couldn't help but laugh and roll my eyes - and of course snap another picture. After they finished winning over the elfin hearts of the cast we packed them up and headed out on the rest of our adventure. We went to Disney Springs and had dinner at Rainforest Cafe and then strolled around browsing some stores and themed Christmas trees. Because we're old and mean (and because Nora was none the wiser) we left before the drone show. Who can blame us, we have two kids who benefit greatly from sleep AND who needed to Facetime Lady and wish her a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!! Hope you all had a Saturday full of fun!

It's a Show!

Things got pretty real tonight when we found ourselves sitting outside Nora's school watching a holiday "performance piece" and concert put on by the elementary kids and eventually the Preschool/Kindergarten classes who graced us with Dreidel Dreidel Dreidel, Jingle Bells and Feliz Navidad! After the show we headed home to add to our festive mood and celebrate the "coldest" night of the year so far with a fire in the fireplace, some warm oatmeal cookies, Christmas punch, Muppet Family Christmas, pizza and most importantly, snuggles with Katie!! Christmas songs!
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