Ainsley's Classroom Christmas Party

Ainsley's teacher is absolutely the best. She comes up with clever projects for the kids and Ainsley is always coming home talking about all the fun things she does in Mrs. Hinson's class. Today was no exception. It was the last day of school before the Christmas Break, and Mrs. Hinson had the kids make Gingerbread Houses. Each child brought two containers of cake frosting and two bags of candy. They used their own frosting to cover their house, and she created a candy "buffet" out of all the bags of candy the kids brought. Ainsley and I decorated her house and had SO much fun. Then, The Big Guy did a cameo and took a picture with the whole class. SO much fun!



She's just starting to frost her "gingerbread" house here. Ok, so it's not gingerbread. But it was MUCH easier.


House is frosted and we're now starting to decorate. She LOVES this part!


Done decorating the house and very proudly standing beside it.


Santa came to class! He was great and was amazing with the kids...just what you'd expect from the Man Himself.

Crazy Addy

No commentary...just a photo I think is really funny...

My Direct Line to the Big Guy

Christmas is so much more fun with little ones around. You notice things you wouldn't otherwise notice (yes, there are a lot of people with those snow globe things in their front yards) and you appreciate the little things more ("Mommy! Aren't those lights beautiful!?"). Christmas for little ones is all about decorating the tree, baking snowman-shaped cookies and waiting (not so) patiently to open all those prettily-wrapped presents you just KNOW are all for you.

Christmas for little ones also includes Santa Claus. Yep, the jolly, red elf made his entrance officially into Ainsley's conscious this year without any prodding or subliminal messaging from Mom (no, really).

Ainsley has been adding items to her Christmas wish list for Santa for a few weeks now, and I think I'm going to have her write a letter to Ol' Saint Nick next week and take it to Macy's to mail it (Macy's is donating $1 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation for every Santa letter mailed in one of their stores - up to $1 million. Check it out - it's a good reason to write your own letter to Santa this year! Go to www.macysbelieve.com for more information.).

This year is also the first year Santa has been a "motivating" factor for Miss Ainsley. She never really understood in the past that Santa brought gifts, so the things she got Christmas morning from Santa were met with a blank stare. This year, however, she's ALL OVER getting stuff from the man in red. She also is beginning to understand that Santa only brings presents to GOOD little boys and girls.

Sunday afternoon, a particularly rough day for our little princess, due to no nap and too much sugar, found her acting particularly difficult, and Mom had just about enough. After scolding her quite completely, I turned around and marched into my office and sat down at the computer from which I write this missive.

I realized just then that I had a question for my mother, with whom I regularly call to chat. As I was picking up the phone, Ainsley sidled up next to me. I didn't think anything of it, because she very often decides she needs to talk or ask me a question just as I get on the phone. As I was dialing my mother's phone number, however, Ainsley tugged at my sleeve. I looked over to find a little girl with a very sweet and repentant look on her face. Not knowing what was wrong, I took the phone away from my ear as she looked at me and said "Are you calling Santa?"

It was the opportunity of a lifetime. That one chance every parent dreams of...the chance to guide your child toward the straight and narrow by lying right through your teeth. I, however, took the high road and told the truth.

OK. So, I wish I had taken the high road. Honestly, her little face broke my heart and I didn't have it in me to tell her I was doing just that...calling Santa and that she better be good or he'd take all her presents back or give them to some other child. Instead, I hugged her and kissed the top of her head and told her I was calling Gram. She said, "Oh, well then can I have a cookie?"

The low road is looking really good about now...

Zany: Seven Things You Don't Know About Me

My good friend, and fellow blogger/conference heckler, Sherry Carr Deer tagged me for this Zany list. I'm honored to be tagged and will do my best to make it interesting.

Seven Things You Don't Know About Me

1. I always have to put my right sock, shoe, pants leg – whatever – on first. It’s not a superstition as much as a bizarre thing I started as a child where I decided, since I was right handed, that I must “like” my right side better. Therefore, I had to treat it better. Hey…shut up. I bet you’re weird, too.
2. I smell my children on a daily basis. They each have their own unique smell, and it puts me on an even keel to know that I remember each one individually. I'm sure they won't let me do this when they're in college, so I'm getting my sniffs in now. Also, I know for a fact that I’m not the only mom who does this. But, she’s debatably weird, too.
3. I regularly hit the “send/receive” button on my e-mail repeatedly just in case an e-mail came in during the fraction of a second that Outlook wasn’t searching. Yes, I believe I am that popular…or at least that I should be.
4. I cannot stand mayonnaise. Like seriously hate it. I don’t know why, but I think it’s gross. Someone made a mayonnaise-based cake for me when I was in grade school and swore I would never taste it. I took one bite and almost threw up.
5. I have a secret (Hey, Jennifer, it’s not a secret anymore. Yes, I know.) desire to run for public office one day. So, those of you who know about those skeletons in my closet better keep your mouths shut. There’s a cushy public service job in it for ya! Or, maybe I’ll just buy a position…I hear Illinois has one available.
6. I’ve not yet been to Europe and consider this a major flaw in my personality and credibility. I’m trying to get there, but the exchange rate isn’t helping.
7. I don’t like wearing blue jeans. I don’t find them comfortable, and (to me) casual should equal comfortable. I believe the average underwire bra to be more comfortable than jeans. I own several pair, but I only wear them when I feel I have to (or when nothing else is clean).

Snotty Christmas Addy

Christmas picture day at the daycare is not something I typically pay much attention to since I have my own methods for getting holiday pictures. So, when the note came home giving the date for Addison's Christmas pictures, I pretty much ignored it. When Derek took her to school on the appointed day wearing her yellow onesie with the duckie on it (she looks cute in it, and it was about 85 degrees that day), Addison's teacher pointed out that it was picture day. "Oh," Derek said. "Well, that's OK." Her teachers, who spoil my child rotten to the point that she thinks her back end isn't ever supposed to touch anything resembling the ground, offered to dress her up for the picture. Derek agreed so as not to be rude and told me about it that night. Again, I pretty much wrote it off.

Then the proofs came back. They were actually really cute. They had put Addy in this sweet (and frillier than I would buy) red and white dress and even put a bow in her hair. There was this odd little white speck on her face that I assumed must have been an ink blip during the proof printing. So, I proceeded to order an 8x10, two 5x7s, 8 large wallets and 8 small wallets. And, again, it left my mind the next day.

Imagine my surprise when the pictures showed up and that little white speck was, in fact, NOT an ink blip, but SNOT. That's right, folks, snot. Apparently Miss Addison got her dander up that she was being expected to sit by herself and threw a full-on, all-out tantrum. And, instead of cleaning off her tears and nose before taking her picture in the sweet little red and white dress, the photographer just started snapping away.

So, if you're interested in owning your very own, one-of-a-kind, 2008 Addison Christmas Snot Picture, I have plenty left over. I'm happy to mail you one. All sizes are available. Please put in your order early to allow delivery by December 25.

Goodnight, Moon

Ainsley has been learning all about the moon, stars and planets in school. She has brought home coloring pages with fabulously-colored rings (she's partial to pink and purple) and we have talked a lot about the planets in general. For Thanksgiving, Ainsley decided that she was thankful for the stars. :)

When my mom called me today and told me that in the night sky you could see the moon, Jupiter and Venus, I knew this had Ainsley written all over it. I hope you caught it, too, because these three heavenly bodies won't be in this or similar line up again for nearly 50 years!

After bath time we headed for the front door and scared the UPS guy half to death as he approached our door at the same time we did! After accepting the package (a new winter coat for Ainsley, yea!), we headed for the driveway.

I didn't need to point out the moon to Ainsley, but I did point out the two planets since she thought they were stars (and they do look like stars, darn it). We took a few pictures (including one taken by Ainsley).

As Derek reminded me, I am not the Hubble Telescope, so the images aren't going to be in the next issue of National Geographic or Life, but here is what we got...


Here is the best photo I got with my little pocket-sized digital camera. Not bad, huh?


Here is Ainsley's picture. She didn't quite hold it still, but you can still tell there are three items in the photo. And, hey, she's four!

Is There a 12-Step Program for This?

Many of you know that I spend a lot of time on social networking tools like Twitter, Digg, Delicioius, etc. This has become somewhat of an area of expertise for me in my work, which is now leading to new and exciting opportunities with a potential new business. However, in the meantime, a friend directed me to a quiz to determine if I'm "addicted" to social media. My score is below...you make the call.

64%

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