December 2013 Activities

We continued getting our Christmas decorations put up after Thanksgiving. Our favorite new Christmas piece is the Little People Nativity set. It is perfect for Lyla to play with and set up. She loves looking at mine, and thought it was so fun to have her own. It was also an easy way to talk about what Christmas really means. It was out where she could play with it each day and we could talk about the greatest gift....Jesus!

They had a Christmas program at Lyla's school. We were SO excited to see the kids perform. Lyla loved practicing the songs for the program all the time. She is a little singer and performer for sure!!

While it was kind of chaotic, I mean it was 2-4 year olds, they were SUPER cute. I just love these kind of things. It is fun to see the kids in "their element" at school and see them interact with the other kids in the class as well as their teachers.

Lyla told me before the performance that she and Kate wanted to stand next to each other. Seriously attached at the hip. Well when her class walked out on stage, she was not next to Kate. She got up on stage, looked around, and moved herself down so that she was, in fact, next to Kate. Too cute. Later, her teacher, Ms Cathy, told me that she had separated them on purpose so that they would behave and pay attention. Haha. Those girls have minds of their own. They actually did a great job standing next to each other. I was so proud.

Some kids stood there like a deer in headlights. Some kids cried. Some kids turned and looked at the older kids behind them. Some kids, ahem, Cooper, ahem, took their costume off piece by piece. And some kids actually sang. Lyla actually sang most all the songs. I was impressed. I mean, I knew she had practiced a lot at home, so I knew she knew what she needed to do. I was so proud of her!

She even followed along with the hand motions.

Sweet Cooper.

Cooper and Lyla have become fast friends. We see them for an out of school play date at least once a week. His parents, Jeff and Lyndsay, and Adam and I have become fast friends as well. We love their family and love spending time with them. Lyla and Cooper get a long like brother and sister, and can each hold their own against each other. Cooper has a little sister Halle, who follows along behind them. She LOVES Lyla and Lyla loves her. The three of them are so sweet together and I cannot wait to add another one to the crazy bunch.  

Her angel halo had trouble staying on.

Coop decided he was just done with his halo.

Sweet friends, Lyla and Kate.

Lyla made the decision for her halo to come off too.

Born to perform. 

I mean, she was really good singing all the sings and remembering the words!

These performances warm my heart and I am just so proud of her. I loved seeing her enjoy herself. She was not nervous or scared at all, and I love that! These kids are just too cute!

This year we had the special opportunity to go to the Nutcracker Ballet at church. Lyla is obsessed with Mimi's ballet girls and jumps at any and every opportunity to go watch them dance. It was SO fun seeing the Nutcracker during the Holiday season. As Lyla gets older, I would love to start the Christmas tradition of going to the Fox to see the Nutcracker each year on a Mommy/Daughter date.

We invited several of Lyla's friends to come. Lyla got to sit with Kate and Molly during the performance and had so much fun! She actually sat still through most of it. There were a few parts where she was bored or wanted to get up and dance though. It was a shortened version of the actual Nutcracker and the fact that she could not sit through this whole performance let me know that she still has a couple of years probably until she actually sit through the full length at the Fox.

She insisted on wearing a Ballet tutu, after all, we were going to the ballet. I figured that she is only little once, so of course I let her!

She LOVED seeing and talking to the beautiful ballerinas after the performance was over. She was IN HEAVEN! 

I mean, she LOVES these girls!!

We had the special treat of MawMaw and Honey joining us on this girls day out! Honey and PawPaw were coming in town to come to Lyla's school Christmas performance when they got the news that MawMaw's brother had passed away. So while the circumstances were sad, we also got the special treat of MawMaw and Uncle David staying with us for a few days while they attended his service and spent time with family. It was so nice to have them in our home with us and get that extra time with them! We welcome any reason for them to come, and I was sad for them for the reason of this visit, but still enjoyed having them!

One of my favorite Christmas traditions that we have started is decorating Christmas cookies with friends. These are the same friends we decorate pumpkins with. I love this group of friends. I am so blessed by them and am so thankful for out friendships.

The kids had a great time decorating and eating these sweet treats! 

Sugar always puts a smile on these faces!

Ollie.

Tripp.

Molly.

Camille. Last year she was the baby of the group. Not anymore. 

I cannot believe she is not a baby anymore. It went by too fast.

Ready to eat her decorated cookie.

Some other yummy treats. Got to love pinterest!

Finished product.

This year, baby Amelia is the baby!! She is super precious and belongs to Ollie. 

Next year Lyla's baby will be the baby of the group! I cannot wait! It is so fun adding to our little group!

It is hard to keep an out-doors kind of girl inside ALL the time when it is cold outside. I do not love being outside when it is really cold. It is just not for me. But I must say I do love that about living in Atlanta. I love that we actually have seasons. We get just enough of each type of weather and just when we have had enough, the weather changes and we get to enjoy a new season! One day she just had so much energy and I could not keep her in any longer. So I sent her outside with Adam and he put her to work!!

Haha. She loved it! 

She had SO much fun raking the leaves. It makes me realize that she really does love to help and if I make doing things around the house FUN to do, it is a great way to keep her entertained and have her help me get things done at the same time.

I love the Holiday season. Even though it is SO busy and flies by much too quickly, I love this time of year. I love soaking up the memories, laughter, smells, food, and family time!