tall tall tall

This picture is proof that it shouldn't snow here. . . hello, still green and alive.  Sad plants. 

OK, so we got snow and a little girl at our house couldn't even sit still to eat breakfast because it was the coolest thing to see outside.  A stirring rendition of Once there was a Snowman accompanied breakfast yesterday morning.

I hurried and bundled up, with my hair still wet out of the shower so we wouldn't miss the snow.  It melts really fast, so I thought it best to skip my breakfast so that the kid could build a snowman. . . it was still snowing too, the kind of flakes that make you think the clouds are styrofoam and falling to pieces.

. . . oh and did I mention freezing!  We stayed outside the better part of five minutes.  That's serious stamina for us.  We only had rudimentary/improvised snow clothes too.

That's right, rain boots.  It's all we had that were water tight. 

Miley was a little disappointed that to build a snowman you had to touch the snow and it turns out that it's pretty freaking cold.

Well the snow stuck around longer than expected and by the afternoon it was still here and so was the sun so we tried again. . . More layers this time.  Mie relented and used the mittens too.

We built a snowman.  Well two of them.  I've built my fair share of snowmen and this unnatural snowfall was a challenge.  Powder and slush.  It was a beauty.  Miley insisted it have a face and she provided the rocks.

She stomped it shortly after it's completion.  I guess she didn't want to wait for the melting part to sing 'small small small.'  She requested another. . . I made a Mickey Mouse snowman and even before I could take a picture. . . a swift kick to the head. . .

Yay, snow don't be here tomorrow when I wake up.  We've had our snow day, thank you.  OK?

picture our Christmas

Which you almost didn't get any pictures of because I maxed out my Picasa albums.  Oops.  Oh well, it was bound to happen since I'm too lazy to resize everything to use on the internet.  Fixed it, no worries.

On to Christmas. . . well first Christmas Eve. . . when I thought seriously about canceling Christmas.  No really, if it was up to me it would have been nixed. . . however, after watching The Grinch I learned that I couldn't stop Christmas from coming.  Bummer.  Why would I be so mean, you wonder, (well you should wonder because hopefully you don't see this as a normal for me)?  ;)

Well, little girl put up a mighty good case for it's cancellation with her wonderful attitude all week, with a beautiful climax on Christmas Eve.  Oh I was soooo tired.  I don't know what got into her.  The excitement, a virus, demonic possession?  Who knows.  I guess I should have threatened her with that Santa nonsense.  I feverishly prayed for my angel back. . . and it was a day after Christmas miracle when my prayer was answered.  Thank the heavens.  I am soooo not kidding.

Anyway, Christmas happened despite my less than enthusiastic point of view and was not just survivable, but also enjoyable as well.  Go figure.

I think this may have been Miley's favorite part of Christmas (other than her nativity set). . . pulling off a chain link every night. . .

 . . . and then asking me what number was on it.  She looks at the buffet now and sadly tells me that there are no more numbers.  She doesn't miss the tree or the presents. . . just the numbers.

 Watched our favorite Christmas movie so I'd have that song stuck in my head allllll night. . .

 That's how Miley watched it.  ??

New Christmas jammies.  Our family tradition.  Miley would not believe that her jammies had hot cocoa on them. . . nope, it was cupcakes to her.

Traditional family self-photo, with Miley's traditional pose. . .

After I happily put Miley to bed, Dave spent a couple or few or some hours putting a bike together. 

 The dogs and I totally went to bed without him.  ;)

 Welcome to Christmas morning. . .
 I thought Mie would be more excited.  Like jumping around the room excited, but no, we had a reserved but happy little girl.  She loved every gift and played with each, taking turns to give everything some of her attention.

I got a camera for Christmas.  Of course.  I didn't read the manual or anything, so here's a beauty shot I got with it. . . Oh and these pics represent the extent of the pictures taken on Christmas by me.  I really hate taking pictures during holidays because that's all I ever get to do.  So that's why there are twice as many Christmas Eve pictures as there are Christmas day.  Oh well.

Here was Dave's try with my camera. . . and his only contribution to our photographic Christmas evidence. . .

A stocking gift that Dave and I enjoyed.  OK, more me than Dave.  He's a sweet light-weight.  I'd say I have an amazing tolerance for sugar, but nothing compared to my grandma.  She wins hands down.

One gift we got was Disney Sing It!  With the classic Disney movie songs to sing a long with.  Miley rocked it. . .

And to get to those low notes. . .

Actually, she liked to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to every song I put on for her.  Oh well, she got three stars anyway.

Dinner was delicious.  Talking to fam was great.  The sun was finally out and the rain nowhere to be seen.  It was a very nice day.  In the end we were exhausted and surrounded by our Christmas leftovers.

real life in miniature

So here's what Miley's dollhouse turned into just in time for Christmas. . .

 The downstairs, which consists of a living/kitchen/dining area. . .

The second floor is home to the master bedroom and the bathroom. . .

The top floor is the kiddie room. . .

It stayed this nice and organized only until my daughter got her hands on it, and then. . .

. . . there was some major rearranging done.  ;)

I didn't make the furniture, I bought it bare wood so I could customize it.  I made the accessories, wallpaper, and did a lot of painting.  As with every project I complete, there are some things I'd like to add or change. . . already.  ;)

wishing you. . .

We hear it's possible, (just not during family pictures) and so we hope it finds all of you today!

only one more sleep

'til Christmas day!

observations to the contrary

It turns out that positive thinking cannot in fact get rid of a sinus infection.  Nor can denial.  Go figure.  Though I do think I crippled the experiment since being an optimist is not my general tendency.  Maybe a truly optimistic person has a better chance of it.  Oh well.  And if the doctor tells you all the possible side effects of a drug, inevitably you'll feel one, two or all of them.  Thanks for planting that information in my subconscious.

I apparently cannot pick out my husband's clothes any longer.  Dave bought this jacket, against my advice, well I mean I told him I thought it was freaking ugly but he could buy it if he liked it.  You know, I'm supportive like that.  Anyway, my sister told him it looked good and he's a sucker for praise so it now calls our closet home, or more often then not, my husband.  Dave loves this jacket, and to my dismay gets many MANY compliments on it.  What the?  Whatever.

I talk and talk, but you never know how much a two year old, or a husband for that matter absorbs. . . or understands.  I tried to explain the nativity (with her set) to Miley while she was her usual busy self moving the pieces around.  OK, she's two.  I tried again, thinking my efforts were mostly brushed aside to make way for her imaginative play.  Again, deja vu.  I figure I'll have better luck next year keeping her focus, but for now I contented myself with the fact that she knew who baby Jesus, Mary, and Joseph were.  Good enough.  Well today I saw Miley gathering all the nativity pieces together around baby Jesus to throw him a birthday party.  She told all the animals to sing and then she sang Happy Birthday to Him.  The finale was a Yay! and a kiss for the baby.  She told me all the Christmas cards we had received were birthday cards for Jesus.  ;)  Maybe she understood more than I gave her credit for.

seriously

There are only two contests that I take winning very seriously, and the the other one is Ugly Christmas Sweaters.  Which is why I couldn't rely on any retail store to provide something sufficiently tacky.  I decided handmade was the way to go. . .

Except I put DI tags in them to claim that I in fact found them at the store.  ;)  I didn't stick to that story very well though.  And then I forgot to get a picture of us actually wearing my art pieces.  Sorry, but trust me, we looked hot.  Our babysitter thought we looked so good in fact that she wasn't even aware we were going to an 'ugly sweater' kind of party.  Thankfully, Brit got a picture, so I'm sure it will make it's way to the internet sooner or later and you can judge for yourself.

It was Dave's sweater that technically won, but I claim a win since I was the one who made him look that foolish, I mean awesome.  I have a plan for a real special look next time around.  Gotta top the last one.

more Miley of course

I asked Miley where Nilla was (she was outside) and Miley told me that she was going poop in the potty.  I think all the potty talk is getting through, except that we didn't teach our dogs to do that, just so you know, gross.  Also, I used to abhor the word potty.  It just sounds stupid.  Still does, but for some reason I hear it come out of my mouth.  Ugh.  I hate when I have to eat my own words, and the whole I'll never use the word potty is particularly hard to swallow right now.

The other night after putting little girl to bed I hear her yelling for me. . . what sounds like Mommy, I made a poop poop.  Oh crap.  She's never done that before, pooped at night, or told me she's pooped at night so I had to go in and check.  I go in and see the little princess all cuddled up in her blanket with her cuddles (bunny and giraffe) and asked her if she needed her diaper changed.  She said 'No Mommy, I'm tootin.'  Oh, toot toot, not poop poop.  Why she felt like I needed to know that, I can't imagine.  How embarrassed will she be when she finds out I shared this story?  ;)

Have I told you about her pillow?  Miley is a stomach sleeper and since you aren't supposed to give babies pillows we just never thought about it. . . until recently.  I mean, she's two, she can have a pillow now, so I thought I'd offer her one.  Her reaction was to throw it out of her crib immediately.  OK.  I continued to offer it to her each night and she finally relented and let it reside at the bottom of her bed.  She makes a point to have it there and no where else in her bed before I leave her for the night.  HOWEVER after some weeks of this, I found after coming back into her room one night that she was actually lying on it.  Yep, she grabs it after I leave and actually sleeps on it.  To save face after her adamant refusal she won't let me see that she actually wants the stupid pillow now.  How stubborn is that?  She knows that I've seen her use it, but she still won't admit it and it's still at the bottom of her bed until I shut the door behind me.  What a booger.

Miley loves to do whatever I'm doing.  I look at a lot of magazines and when I do that she goes and grabs one to flip through as well.  We decided to get her a subscription to Animal Babies.  It's a cute magazine, and she is in love with it. . . or the idea of getting her own magazine.  Either way, she's memorized her first issue.