December Goings On

Here is what we were up to in December!

SNOW
We finally got some snow in December and Mary played in it any chance she got...

Her snow clothes this year minus the coat.  (I like how she is wearing her gloves upside down for this pic).

 Cutie pie.

 Snow much fun!

My other cutie pie.

She even wanted to go out in the dark.  (I had been promising her all day and couldn't that particular day until Jeff got home).

A bribe of hot chocolate will usually help her to come back inside.

DENTIST
In December, Mary got to go to the dentist for the first time!  We got to go to my sister, Jennifer's office.  As you can see, Mary seemed to enjoy herself.

 Doesn't she look so big here?

 Just relaxin' and listening to a bit of music.

 My sister and Jonathan observe to make sure things go well.

SANTA
So Jeff and I had decided we weren't really going to do the Santa thing.  Our reasons were:
1.  We don't want to lie to our kids.  I just feel wrong doing it.  All of these elaborate schemes and lies that parents concoct to keep their kids believing just feel wrong to me.  I can't help it.
2.  The parallels between believing in God and believing in Santa are just too similar.  And my own personal testimony of believing in God took years to acquire and I just don't feel comfortable teaching my kids complete faith in something that isn't true.
3.   Jeff doesn't like the materialism/commercialism that Santa represents.  Instead we really should remember Jesus at Christmas.
4.  I didn't grow up believing in Santa - so in a way - I don't know what I'm missing.  : ) BUT, Christmas is still my most favorite holiday and there is so much magic to it without Santa.  I wouldn't really know how to do the Santa thing even if I wanted to.

BUT... I also didn't want to be militantly against it either.  I have no problem buying wrapping paper, pictures, etc with Santa on them.  He is a big part of Christmas in our society and I like the legend/story/fairy tale.  Another thing that I had to tell Jeff was that I am going to receive the heat if Mary goes around telling all her friends that there is no Santa Claus.  So last year, I'd say, "Mary look!  There is Santa Claus!!!"  And Jeff would retort, "Mary, there is no such thing as Santa Claus."  But this year, what really clenched it, was that it motivated Mary to be a good girl.  If she was about to be naughty, I only had to mention Santa not bringing presents and she shaped right up.

I'm not going to make a huge deal of Santa.  I'm not going to go to extreme lengths to have my kids believe in him.  But while she is young, I think we have found a happy medium.

So ANYWAYS.... our ward Christmas Party each year, Santa shows up.  And Mary hung about him more than all the other children I think.  She was pretty awestruck.  Okay, okay.  It WAS pretty fun and sweet.

 Mary still hung about even after she'd had her turn.

 And so... got a second turn!

DELANEY'S BIRTHDAY PARTY
Mary has a friend named Delaney who had a super fun birthday party with live critters for entertainment.  Was Mary scared?  Squeamish?  Grossed out?  No, no, and no!  The girl was having the time of her life.

Cockroach

Turtle

Iguana.. right?

I also have video of Mary holding a snake.  There was also a very cute little flesh colored jumping lizard.  When it was placed on Mary's chest, it would then jump up to her shoulder all of a sudden which would make everyone giggle.
Besides the fun critters, there was a ton of fun with balloons, Delaney's toys, and party bags.  We were so happy to be invited!

PRIMARY
For those who don't know, in our church, kids ages 18 months to 3 years attend nursery for the 2nd and 3rd hours of church.  Since Mary has turned three and a new year has begun, she now gets to go to Junior Primary (ages 3-7) for the 2nd hour of church and class for just her age group (3 year olds) for the 3rd hour.  She is a SUNBEAM!  In Primary, during the 2nd hour, they sing, give talks, listen to/participate in a lesson.  In December, the nursery workers would take the kids who were going to be going into Primary for the new year, into Primary for a short time to prepare them for the upcoming change.  As I was in Junior Primary with my own class, I got to see Mary come in a few times.  First week, Mary did very well - sitting in her seat and listening until.... she wasn't picked to do something.  And then all of a sudden I hear wailing coming from across the room.  Poor baby.  We all have to learn we don't always get picked.  The next week, she didn't want to stay in her seat.  So while her teacher and I tried to corral her, I ended up taking her out as a fit was coming on.  After she calmed down, I took her back in and she was picked to help with the balloon presentation and she was pretty happy about that.  Since then, I'm told she does pretty well - doesn't really sit in her seat - likes to wander about the room.  But that is okay.  She'll get it.  Apparently she does really well in the smaller class - answering questions and participating.  And I love to hear her come home and say things like, "I'm so grateful  I have a spirit!" or sing songs like "Do As I'm Doing" or talk about how Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ talked to Joseph Smith or how Daniel was saved from the lions.
Anyway, here are a few pictures I was able to snap while I was in there with her (I got moved to senior primary at the beginning of the year and then in the last couple of weeks got called to be the secretary in the Young Women's - so I'm excited about that).

Janine Grover (Primary chorister and friend) helps Mary conduct the music.

Mary sits in those big chairs with her class.  Mary is such a big girl now.

Mary gets to help with the balloon experiment.

IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS
Here are a few other pictures that I wanted to include...

Jonathan reaching towards Christmas tree.

Mary holding the baby Jesus from the nativity set.

Kantorei before one of our Christmas concerts.  I sang a lot around Christmas.  Not only did I sing with Kantorei, but I sang a solo in Relief Society at church and a solo for the Stake Hymn Sing.  I'm glad I get to celebrate Christmas through song.  It's great.

My front porch all decorated for Christmas.

Tah- tah for now!

November Goings On

Here is some of what was happening with us in November.

FRIENDS
So this isn't really something that just happened in November.   Besides our play dates with Stephanie and Sigmund, Mary has had a few other friends that we have been meeting with regularly - for the past several months- from her primary class at church.  It's not really a play date, because the mom doesn't stay.  It has been nice though.  Mary goes to Thomas' once and month and once a month he comes here.  Same with Nadia.  So it ends up being about one a week.  It's great!  I can't post pics of Nadia and Mary playing - but here is a cute pic of Mary and Thomas playing.  Mary always looks forward to playing with her friends.

And it has been good practice to learn how to share with others.

THE NUTCRACKER
My friend Christina (she and I danced together growing up)'s daughters dance with the International Ballet School (rated like 7th in the nation) and they performed a mini version of the Nutcracker at one of our Highlands Ranch Rec Centers.  It was perfect, because I wanted to take Mary, but didn't know if she could sit through the entire thing.  She enjoyed it immensely and I actually had to take her out once because she wanted to dance in the aisles.  But she had a chance afterwards to  get up on that stage.  I only wished they had done a bit more with the scenery for this small performance - especially since it was geared towards kids.  Their full production is really great!  Anyway, it was a fun mommy/daughter date.

 Christina's Avery and my Mary

You should see Avery in action.  Her technique is pretty phenomenal for one so young.

 Mary finally gets her turn on stage and as you can see, she doesn't need any encouragement.  Gee, I wonder where that comes from?

BOOK ADVENT
So this year, I really wanted to do a Christmas book advent countdown.  I wanted to read a book with Mary every day and do an activity to go with it.  I decided to start early since we were going to the Nutcracker the weekend before Thanksgiving.  I set up the tree extra early this year (which I found out I will probably continue) so that Mary could wake up every day and find a Christmas book wrapped under the tree.  We started with the Nutcracker (book), and then to books about Thanksgiving and then Christmas books.  I got most of them from the library, but I did buy a few, and I also had some Christmas books already.

WELL, let me tell you.... I was successful for about a week.  One thing that is discouraging to me right now is that I want to craft with my kids (NOW is the time while they are young), not to mention other projects for myself, and I just haven't been able to carve out the time.  I'm still going to try.  But it is certainly easier said than done.  I'm hoping as I get more organized I will be able to find time for it in my schedule.

So we started out strong - doing an activity along with the book for the first few days.  Then I lowered my standards to try to just read a book every day until Christmas - which I was more successful about - but still not perfect.  Oh well.  It was my first time trying.  I'm hoping I can work out the kinks so that I will be more successful next year.

My tree this year.  Isn't it so pretty and serene?  I loved having my tree up so early for at least a couple of reasons - firstly, it is one less thing to do in December, secondly, it gets you in the Christmas mood.

 Mary crimping her turkey feathers to go along with one of our Thanksgiving books about a Turkey.

Making an American-Indian headband to go along with one of our books about the First Thanksgiving.

Though I didn't get to as many craft projects as I wanted, we sure did enjoy the ones we did!

FAMILY PICS
Of course some of the best times in life are just hanging out as a family.  I sure do like the feel of our little family of four.  Feels kinda perfect.

I love this pic of Mary and Jonathan playing together (look at both of their expressions).  I'll take it - even if it is a bit questionable.  : )

Saturday morning snuggles with Daddy.

Park Days

I remember when Mary couldn't do some of the more challenging things on playgrounds such as climbing up a wall.  She is so big now.

 Baby Brother can swing with us now.

This situation was kinda funny.  Awhile back I made pumpkin cookies and as Jeff was eating them, Jonathan (who has never tried cookies) used all his strength to try to get them.  It was so cute, but was even more funny because.....

 ....the exact same scenario -albeit chocolate chip cookies -  happened with Mary.

Isn't it fun to see how much Jonathan and Mary look like each other as babies?  I hardly recognize Mary in those pictures she looks so much like Jonathan.  

That's it for now!