Preschool Christmas Party

Allison's teacher wanted to plan a little party for all her kids outside of the classroom, so we had it at the house to keep costs down.  We told the parents to bring something to share with everyone else and made it into a pot luck.  I was stressing out about not having enough food, but we had more than enough and everything was delicious.

Ms. Rafay organized a craft for the kids to do.  They made Santa masks from paper plates and cotton balls.  Allison still has hers and insists that her daddy put it in front of his face and say "Ho ho ho!"

I put up the felt tree for the kids to play with too

But I think they were way more interested in Allison's room

The teacher asked that everyone bring a wrapped book for the kids to exchange.  They each drew a number for the book they would open.  She is really good about promoting reading to all the kids, and I think it has made a difference in their lives.

They were so excited to see which books they would get.  Ms. Rafay bought them each a book too. 

 Allison was ecstatic to receive a Pete the Cat book.  They have become her favorite thing lately, and I've had to hold back from buying them for her.  Her favorite song to sing is "My buttons, my buttons, my four groovy buttons."

She got a few other books that she loves as well.  I think she really enjoys Ms. Rafay reading to her.  We were very fortunate to be able to have a teacher for the past two years that loves her kids and actually wants to spend time with them outside of the classroom.  Weird, huh?

The kids enjoyed playing with the cat toward the end of the party.  They all wanted to pick her up and chase her around.  I think the cat was grateful to be out of quarantine for a bit.  She's not coming back out till the tree comes down.

The party was a great success and I think everyone had fun.  My house has been overrun by small children before, but these kids were better behaved than any others and their parents are some of the nicest people.  I would not hesitate to do this again.

Outdoor Tree Decorating

Now that Thanksgiving is over, we have free rein to decorate for Christmas and enjoy the holiday music and lights.  Allison wanted to help grandpa decorate his outdoor trees, but she needed a little help reaching the branches.  She wanted to pick the ornament colors each time.  She especially liked the smooth ornaments and how they felt against her face.  She has been asking to put up the Christmas tree for months, so I think she will be happy to decorate our house once we get back home.

 

Holiday Haircut

We decided it was time for another haircut.  Allison's hair grows so fast!  She hadn't had a haircut in a long time and I thought it would be cute for her to have the bob that she had last year.  I took a Tootsie Pop along because I know that suckers help her focus and listen to the stylist better.  She paid a lot more attention to what was going on this time.  She watched the lady cutting her hair and even got upset about it a few times as she watched it fall to the floor.  Now I'm hoping she doesn't take the scissors to her own hair one day soon.  She even had her hair fixed for the first time with a flat iron.  She thought it was weird that it made her hair feel hot.  She would touch her hair and make a face.  I'm still trying to decide what her hair is supposed to look like.  The stylist cut all kinds of layers in, so we'll see what it looks like after a bath.

 

Ren Fair 2013

We're turning it into kind of a tradition to go to the Renaissance Fair every year with grandma and grandpa.  This year we all decided to dress up.  Allison was a Tinkerbell fairy of course.

 I've been going to the Renaissance Fair with my grandfather since I was about Allison's age - maybe even a little sooner - so I think it's only fair that I include a picture of me and my Papa.

Allison loves music, so I took her into a shop that had all kinds of musical instruments to play with.  She really liked the drums. There were drums of all sizes that made different sounds.

I bought her a jingle bell bracelet because it seemed to go along with her costume.  Didn't Tinkerbell jingle in the original Peter Pan?

 

Grandma was dressed up as Tinkerbell too and grandpa came as a pirate.

 

 

We wandered around and ate lots of good food and shopped around for a while.  Then it was time to head to Allison's favorite spot - the petting zoo.  She always ends up spending the most time with the rabbits.

 

 

As we were walking, we found a wooded trail, which helped relieve us from the heat.  We came upon a fairy garden, so of course my beautiful fairy had to take her rightful spot on the fairy throne.

 

 

And play in the flowers.

 

 

We had lots of fun like we always do, but we were exhausted by the end of the day.

 

Allison loves spending time with her grandma and grandpa.  We will see them again soon!

Meet Lola

Lola is the newest member of our family.  I really got her for Allison because she loves cats and is always very curious about what the cats are doing at grandma's house.  The dogs aren't even on her radar.  I had been looking on Craigslist for weeks to see if anyone was giving away a female kitten.  I located one, but the lady gave it away before I could get there.  I ended up going to a shelter to find this one.  She attached herself to me pretty fast. 

She was kinda stinky after being in a cage at the shelter for a few weeks, so I gave her a bath.  I crack up every time I look at this picture because she absolutely HATED it.

But of course she forgave me and was soon following me around again.  I think someone was a little bit jealous about all the attention the kitty was getting.

She likes to perch on me...

And sleep on me...

And watch me do my homework...

 

And sit on piles of my clothes.

Allison enjoys following her around and asking, "What's kitty doing?"

And reading books to her...

And following her around some more.

I think she's glad to have a little friend around the house.  They are both very curious but cautious of each other.  Allison loves to pet the kitty but has yet to let me put the kitty in her lap.  I'm excited to see them grow up together.