(Green) Milk and Cookies for Santa!

It wasn’t planned this way but when Santa arrived at our home on Christmas Eve he was greeted with a feast of green milk and green cookies! 

The green milk was thanks to Santa’s Elf ‘Bobble Chippey’ so since he’s now living back at the North Pole with Santa until next December, he’ll have to deal with him about that!   But, the cookies were all my doing.

When we were in Florida in November I saw a neat Christmas decorative icing package so picked it up.  We hadn’t used it so Christmas Eve day we set to using it, decorating cookies for Santa.  I was working on some last minute appetizers to take to a friend’s place that night and to family the following days so Hannah was set up near me, ready to decorate sugar cookies (thanks Auntie Norma!) for Santa.

You can see that this year she needed no help at all and quickly set about getting the important job done!

Adding many, many….MANY sprinkles!

The finished product all set out for Santa!

And since it’s fun to do this, here’s a recap of Hannah’s Santa offerings for the past couple of years.

2010  (21 months old)

2009  (9 months old)

And one final note to Mommy.  Don’t let this innocent face fool you!

Next year schedule cookie decorating (which equals eating copious amounts of sugary icing!) at a time other than 2 hours before Christmas Eve service!  Let’s just say my excited bunny and I enjoyed the service from the hall and overflow room…along with other excited toddlers!

One Word…Family

(There are a number of posts for 2011 that I still have to create before printing our annual book so for the next bit you’ll find some older posts coming up.  Hopefully that means I’ll finally find time to finish our Disney posts from August!!)
The week following Christmas we were blessed to travel 5 hours away to spend time with our extended family.  These are precious people in our lives who mean so much even though we only see one another a couple of times each year.  Family = blessed!
When we get together with my cousins and their children it is a sea of little ones and Hannah is in there with the rest of them!  I love to see her playing with her cousins!  Have you ever tried to get 22 kids to look at a camera at the same time?    This was the best we did…not bad!
Can you hear right through the pic the amount of noise these kiddos were able to make?  SO much fun!  I love how close in age my cousins children and Hannah are! 
This pic just made me laugh!  Look what happened when we opened the box of chocolates!  Some serious chocolate selections for sure!
Many dress-up layers happening here.  Her friends Ro and Ree would be proud!
I’m so thankful for our family both near and far!

A Right of Passage

Truly, nobody has to tell them….

or show them. 

It…just…happens.

At least once in a child’s life (and probably more than once) a child must…

wear these on their head!

And oh the giggling from them and mommy when they do!

Santa brought Hannah what she’d asked for, underpamts and Minnie Mouse pj’s.  Oh yes, she was one happy girl!!  (And mommy scored a blog post.  Now I don’t have to wait until her wedding day to share these cute photos!)

Grandpa’s Girls

On Sunday as we were waiting to open gifts as a family, Dad called out to us to come and bring our cameras. 

When we arrived in the family room he told us that he was already holding his gifts and that he needed nothing more.

It wasn’t until after I’d snapped the pic that I remembered this very same one being taken just 2 short years ago.  How can time move so quickly?  Slow down!  Slow down!!!

(I’d forgotten how round Hannah’s face was then compared to now.  She still looks very much the same minus *sniff* the ‘baby’ look and yet the shape of her little face is different.)

Christmas Morning 2011! Two is Such an Awesome Age!!!

After beginning our day in the upstairs hallway reading the Christmas story in Mommy’s Bible and in one of Hannah’s books we made our way downstairs.  I love how excited she was!!!  (Smart cookie too!  She quickly recognized the M&Ms candy cane in her stocking as the same gift I’d given my piano students this Christmas.  Can’t get much over on her any longer!)

LOL!  If you listen carefully to the beginning of this one you can hear what she’s looking for.  So cute!  Also, love how excited she got with each and every gift that she opened!!

The infamous ‘underpamts’.  You can see in this pic even though it’s blurry that she was happy to receive these and it seems to have set things in motion.  She’s asking to use the potty more often and is ready to begin potty training.  I was going to wait until late Jan when we had a Saturday at home but I think Monday is going to be the big day!
Let it snow!
Minnie Mouse pj’s
A new Mickey Mouse Clubhouse DVD
A Leap Frog LeapPad was my main gift to her.  It’s designed for ages 3-7 but since she’ll be 3 in just 2 short months (whaaat???) I decided we’d give it a go!  She’s done wonderfully with it and already knows her way around it playing games, watching videos and even using the camera!

LOL!  Love how she blends into the sea of Christmas wrapping.  And, that one lone gift still under the tree.  She was so excited to play with some of what she’d already received that it sat there for a good hour until she was ready to open her final gift.  I wanted her to have time to enjoy her gifts rather than open everything before the playing could begin.  Guess it’s one of the perks of it just being the two of us.  It gives us lots of time to take Christmas morning at our own pace and do what works for us.  Fun!!
And…if you’re not already bored to tears with all the videos in this post, here’s just one more.

Merry Christmas from my adorable little sweetie and myself!! (Note to self – make sure to take a pic of us together on Christmas day next year!  Oops!)
And yes, I still pinch myself all the time because I cannot believe this amazing, fun, wonderful, precious, sweet, beautiful little girl is my daughter!  Truly God has blessed in ways we cannot measure!  Oh how I love her!!!!!

View Full Album

And….HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!  May 2012 be an amazing year for you and your family!!

Merry Christmas from Our Family to Yours!!!

When we woke up we found Bobble Chippey in the upstairs hallway looking at the nativity scene.  We read her ‘Very First Christmas’ book together and then played with the nativity set.  It was probably a good half hour before she suddenly looked up and questioned with excitement, ‘Santa came??’

Oh yes he did baby girl!

Off to play with new toys so for now,

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!!!

The Latest Adventures of Bobble Chippey

We laughed the morning he got into Hannah’s hair accessories!  He was wearing a big Christmas bow in his hair and a Mickey pony tail holder as a skirt!  Silly Bobble Chippey!!

Napping with Mickey and friends (minus Donald who has been AWOL for a couple of months and Pluto who is Hannah’s current favourite and sleeps snuggled under her chin.)

He found Hannah’s scissors and paper and had fun with them making Christmas snow! 

Watching a Christmas special on TV

Mmmmm….snacking on Christmas M&Ms.  (Hannah has an AMAZING memory!  She took one look at him like this and said, ‘Mommy, Dat napkin from Grandma’s house in Florida.’  And you know what, she was right!  Somehow I packed one of them in our luggage and when I unpacked it the night before  - yes, still not unpacked from FL - Bobble Chippey decided to use it.  I hope this amazing memory is here to stay!)  

Playing with Hannah’s cash register

LOL – this is a common stance that Hannah takes on each morning when she finds out what Bobble Chippey did overnight.

Sitting beside her gingerbread house.  Hmmm….wonder if he took a nibble?

And this morning Bobble Chippey got himself into a little mischief!  This was him holding the sign outside the fridge

and when we opened the door and took out the milk…

it was GREEN!!!  Silly Bobble Chippey!!

(LOL!  After looking at this series of pics I hope Santa brings Hannah what she’s asked for…another pair of pyjamas!   She has more than these but each morning I remembered to take pics she was wearing the same ones.  Oh well….they’re cute and I enjoy the excuse to nibble her toes with the cherries on top!)

1 more sleep!!!  Merry Christmas!

Christmas Celebrations with Nana and Papa!

(Catch up post from Dec 23, 2011)
Tonight Hannah and I celebrated Christmas with Nana and Papa and oh the fun we had!!  After Hannah’s nap and hair cut it was time to head to Nana and Papa’s for an evening of fun and PRESENTS!!
Reading her new princess book with Nana
We gave Nana a coffee table book created from pictures from our Disney trip in August.  It was fun to relive those memories together again.
Auntie Joy gave Hannah a pillow case made with Mickey and Pluto material.  She loves it and has slept with it almost every night since, only missing it when Mommy sneaks it into the laundry.  At first Hannah preferred to use it as a sleeping bag though!
As always, the boxes proved to be as much fun as the actual gifts!
Thanks for all the great gifts Nana and Papa and the evening of Christmas fun!