A Few More of My Favorite Things

My favorite two year old, singing Away in a Manger!

Apple Cider and Mulling Spices!

Frosted and sprinkled sugar cookies!

My two year old with a vest and boots, in front of the tree, with a cheesy smile!

Cousins excited to see what gift the baby girl received!

A baby celebrating her First Christmas with a Grandma with excellent health!

A little girl so excited to play with the people that Santa brought to her house!

New Christmas Decorations!

Cousins celebrating their First Christmas Together!!!


Bless us Lord, this Christmas, with quietness of mind;
Teach us to be patient and always to be kind.

~ Helen Steiner Rice


I do not like that we can't make it to where we want to go today. I am thankful that tomorrow it should be better and we can make our way to see the rest of the family!


MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Away in a Manger--Calla Style

"Away in a Manger, no crib for a bed.
The little Lord Jesus, lay down his sleep head.
The stars in the sky looked down where he lives.
The little lord Jesus sleeped in the hay."

A trip to the North Pole

Ok...so we probably did not go to the North Pole to visit the big, jolly man; however we did see him indeed! We took a visit to Central Avenue to his "dot house" and went inside. Calla had been talking about visiting since Friday afternoon when we visited to check out his hours.

When we arrived, I took off her coat and she walked right in, climbed up the steps, and sat on his lap. She told him she wants a pony. He admired her baby and then she told him that she wanted another baby and then he asked if she wanted clothes for her baby and she agreed! Then she told him that she needed a table. We have several tables, so we are not for sure why she thinks we need another! HA!

Hopefully your shopping is nearing an end, you have your goodies baked, gifts wrapped, parties attended, dresses bought, tree decorated, stockings hung, snow scooped, and still remember the reason for the Season.





Luke 2:11-14
Today in the town of David a savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah. This will be a sign to you: you will find the baby wrapped in clothes lying in a manger.
Suddenly a company of the Heavenly Host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the Highest Heaven, and on Earth Peace, Goodwill to men."

Deck the Halls...

with a Heisman Trophy! Suh, Suh, Suh, Suh, Suh, Suh, Suh, Suh, Suh!

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

Chad. He is a great Dad to Calla, he pays bills, he does laundry, he challenges me to be a better person, he cooks wonderful things, he does dishes, he is kind, he lets me be in charge when I want to be, yet he takes charge when he needs to, he lets me watch my shows on the television and then watches his online later, he allows me to be a part of things that I want to be in, he encourages me to play board games that require more than luck, he is one of my greatest gifts this year.

A late start for school on Monday! A No School Tuesday following that late start Monday! A No School Wednesday following these other two great days!!

Christmas Music!

Nativity Sets!

Christmas Decorations!

A trio of decorated trees with gifts for those we love littering the floor!

Sugar cookies and other Christmas baking!

This precious little girl who loves to bake with her Mama!

This amazing child who will sit and read stories to herself!

This little girl who stands by her tree and asks me to take her picture. She also loves to dance around the living room singing Taylor Swift songs. She loves to find toys on commercials and say that Santa will bring them. She loves to go to church and see Pastor Dave and Pam. She misses her friends when she is not with them. She asks to go to Grandma's brown house. She asks where Burlynn is and what she is doing. She wonders where we will go when we leave Shirley's house. She wants to know if Grandma Karma is at work. She loves to cuddle and watch Biggest Loser. She is one of my greatest gifts this year!

What are your favorite things?

Monday already!?!?!

Whew! What a weekend! We started out with a game at the 'hockey house' on Wednesday night and had a great time. We have only been to one other game this year so it was exciting to go again.

Thursday morning, Uncle Jeddy was here bright and early to celebrate Thanksgiving. The rest of the family was on their way to Missouri and so he decided to spend some time with us. Jersey also got to come along for the ride and Calla was excited! She had been telling me for 2 days that "Jersey lick my hand and I say No, No Jersey! We don't lick!" Well, when they arrived Jersey came in the house and Calla about crawled up Chad's leg so that Jersey did not get her! We had a great day eating and hanging out. That night Calla and I decided to make a rainbow cake. It had really cool looking colors in it, I just wish it would not have stuck to the pan so bad. We can't wait to try again soon!

On Friday, Calla and I decided to decorate for Christmas. We have one tree in her room and then the rest are in the living room. She decorated her tree by herself and it looks great! We also did some shopping that afternoon and were surprised that there were hardly any lines to wait in!

The rest of the weekend we just did our normal weekend activities. We played games with friends, did laundry, took naps, and watched some football.
Last night we celebrated Thanksgiving with Chad's family. Calla had a wonderful time playing with her cousins on that side!

She would only stand on this side of Jed so Jersey could not lick her!

She loved to ride this pony and show Uncle Jeddy all the things it could do!

She is ready to make a cake!

These are the three colors we used. They looked so great when baked!

Here is Calla's version of the "Cinderella Song!"

Disney on Ice!

This past weekend we were lucky enough to go see Disney on Ice with our friends Amber, Andy, and Elly! This year it was all about Princesses and Calla loves princesses! We did not tell Calla that we were going to see the show, but we just told her that we were going to the hockey house to see Elly. When we walked in she was looking around and said "Jasmine is at the hockey house! Burly likes Jasmine!!"

Jasmine, Ariel, Mulan, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Belle, and of course Cinderella were all featured. Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy all made an appearance as well. When Mickey and Minnie came out, Elly was waving at them and smiling and Calla was yelling "I LOVE HER!! I LOVE MY MINNIE! I LOVE HER!!!"

Calla likes Jasmine some because Burlynn loves Jasmine, but Calla REALLY likes "Cindebrella!!" The first half of the show was all about the 6 princesses, but then the whole 2nd hour was Cinderella! At intermission, Calla was ready to go because "Cindebrella is not here mom!" I convinced her that Cinderella just takes longer to get ready and indeed she would be there. She did enjoy seeing Cinderella and even got a cool cup to bring home!

She was so excited before just to be hanging out with Elly again!

We still have a few pumpkins around and she really wanted a picture with her little pumpkin.

Calla and Mommy at the show!

Calla and Elly ready to see the princesses!

Aladdin

Little Mermaid: The special effects were amazing during this!

Cinderella in her ride to the ball!

Calla just staring at the show!

The ending number with the fireworks. Calla really enjoyed them!

She wanted to suck my thumb so I ask to try hers!

Happy Halloween!

Calla spent 3 days celebrating her current favorite holiday! On Thursday, we went downtown to trick-or-treat to the local businesses. On Friday, Calla got to celebrate at daycare with her friends. Then this weekend we went to Deshler to celebrate. My mom and I hosted a baby shower for my best friend Stephanie. She is expecting her first child in December! Then we got to go trick-or-treating with Uncle Shane and B! We had lots of fun and can't wait to see them all again!

Calla Minne Mouse!

This is her gallon sized bag of candy that she collected over the 3 days!

Calla Minnie Mouse and Burlynn Cinderella!

The girls with Uncle Jed Stand Up Comedian and Uncle Shane from Saw!

This morning we got to go feed the ponies some apples!

Papa and his girls!

An 89th Birthday Party!

Today we went to celebrate Grandma Bernice's 89th Birthday! Grandma Karma, Papa Mike, Patty, James, Barrie Jo, Uncle Chris, and Charlotte were all there. We we missing Allison and Clara, but hope to see them again soon. We ate lunch together (and cake!) and then went to Grandma's house to take pictures and hang out for a little bit.It was a fun afternoon!

Calla and Baby Charlotte! "Her cousin!"

Grandma Bernice and two great granddaughters!

The Boy's and their daughters!

So, we have lived here 4 years and every year this burning bush will have about 10 leaves that turn red before they all fall off. This year (hopefully our last here!) it has decided to turn a beautiful shade of reddish orange before it shed all of its leaves!

Fall Break!!

Today I am on Fall Break and we are celebrating our 2nd snowfall of the Autumn!?!?

Last Saturday we went to another parade and then our friends came over to watch the Huskers. Calla did not have time for a nap. This was her at 7:15 that night on the living room floor!

Last night she wanted to watch "the Candy Movie!" with Daddy. This is what I found when I went to the living room. :)

On the way home from daycare yesterday we decided we wanted to make cookies today. We stopped at Hobby Lobby to get some pumpkin cookie cutters. This morning we whipped up some batter and rolled them out. Calla loved helping!

She really wanted to put the sprinkles on! Calla held the sprinkles up and the cookie and said "Mama, take my picture!"

Check out her tongue while applying sprinkles!

She is so determined!

Finished product!
When we were done she asked, "Now is it Halloween?" I had to tell her one more week! She is SO EXCITED to have Halloween!