We went to the movies! It was Maddie's very first movie experience. It was suppose to be a rainy day so we thought we'd surprise her by taking her to see Tangled, a Disney movie about Rapunzel. The rain stopped by the 11:00 show time but I'm so glad we went. It's a really cute movie and Maddie LOVED it! She started out sitting on her own seat but as the show started, she moved to mama's lap.
She did great the entire time. Towards the end I could tell she was getting tired but a song would start or something would capture her interest and she held in there. I was surprised to see it was almost 1:00 when we left!
My grandma sent Maddie (and us) money for Christmas and I tried to think of something special to do with the money. I can't wait to call and tell her about Maddie's experience. This summer should be fun when the local theater plays free movies during the week for stay at home mommies and their kids.
This is just after we told her what we were going to do.. how do you explain "movie theater" to a two year old?
She was excited when she saw the giant screen and the seats!
Um yes, we did eat almost this entire bucket BUT it was our lunch... that's a pretty horrible excuse but I'm sticking with it.
Added this photo because mom looks good! lol
Here's to a fun movie experience for your family!
Monday, December 27, 2010
As we guessed, Christmas this year was lots of fun. Two is a good age. She isn't completely aware so we can wrap Santa gifts in paper just like the gifts we gave to others and if I forgot to move our Elf on the Shelf (Zippy), I could do it in the morning before she noticed, BUT she was certainly more aware of concepts this year than last. As many times as we tried, there was NO sitting on Santa's lap, but I think she enjoyed seeing him and the Mrs 5+ times. :)
We hosted Christmas Eve dinner at our house and had Matt's family join us for homemade lasagna,which tasted awesome! [Insert pat on the back here]
Because we're normally at Matt's sister's house for X-mas Eve, we were unaware that Santa actually flies over Camarillo for all the kids to see.. we read about it in the paper and heard neighbors yelling... thankfully we grabbed our jackets and made it outside to see him come back through again.. a helicopter actually suspends a lighted Santa with flashing reindeer to both sides of town.. it was soooo neat to see and I'm glad we didn't miss it.
I wish I had more photos to capture the evening. We all had a great time and don't get together often enough these days.
Grandma Phyllis and Maddie had fun in her chair
Maddie practiced the art of opening gifts before Santa even arrived!
Knit hat and scarf from Grandma Phyllis
Coloring in one of her new coloring books with Matt's cousin Brian
Brian had a Beatrice Potter cup and saucer set that Aunt Lainie cherishes and she found one for Maddie.. so sweet! I LOVE stuff like that!
Her aunties spoiled us and Maddie with a kite, books, Wii accessories and games... wow!
Before bed we made sure to leave milk and cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer
Maddie woke up a little earlier than normal (6:45) on Christmas morning and seemed to have forgotten that someone came to bring her presents but she was very excited when she saw the living room.
First we opened our stockings... in the days leading up to X-mas when Maddie was asked what she wanted from Santa, she kept saying a toothbrush (cute and good hygiene)... well a toothbrush and a puppy but we knew that wasn't happening so she got a spinning Thomas the Train brush.
To add to the mood, we had the fireplace roaring!
I heart these Santa jammies!
And so we started opening gifts at about 7:00... then took a break for a french toast breakfast... then back to opening gifts until about 9:30... YIKES! Daddy got very good at getting fairies out of packages in no time flat and I did my best to record all the fun. She now has 3 different sizes of the Disney fairies, Toy Story 3 figurines, and lots of art supplies to keep her busy until the summer.
We were all very blessed this year. We have our health and a beautiful and super smart daughter that makes us so proud. I have the fondest memories of my childhood that involve our holiday rituals and I hope to give that to Maddie. I was sad to grow up and not do those things with my family anymore, but now Matt, Maddie, and I are creating our own family memories. I hope she grows up to cherish them too. (p.s. Thank you mom and Grandma and Grandpa Behling for that!)
I got a gorgeous desk to organize all my crafting projects (no more kitchen table and cardboard box to dig through) and Matt and I got a Wii from Santa! (I can't wait til he goes back to work so I can practice and kick his butt! lol)
Daddy got a bigger TV for the living room and a blu ray player and best of all a super smart wife that knows how to hook it all together! We also treated ourselves to a wireless system so we can stream movies from Netflix and play Wii games with our friends from their houses. So looking around the house, we certainly are lucky and grateful for all that we have.
Art supplies from Grandma Doris and Grandpa Frank
The fairies just kept multiplying!
Even Syrah enjoyed Christmas.. I was worried about the tree and our crazy cat, but she did great and not one ornament was broken or bashed around the house
My mom sent these fun glasses
We all checked them out!
More fairy excitement!
We love the Leapfrog game from Uncle Erik and Aunt Sarah.. this one will have her writing her letters in no time.
Maddie received her first "barbie" dolls.. a Snow White from Santa, and two fairies from my parents. She also got another Leapfrog Tag Jr reader that looks like the alien from Toy Story 3 and about 5 new books. If you haven't checked out that system, you should.. it lets her "read" the books by herself and has some pretty fun songs and sound effects.
My mom also sent this great Melissa and Doug cookie baking set (I love their toys). Maddie had lots of fun baking us cookies in her kitchen she got for her birthday. She also made her a really cute apron to wear while she plays.
We received too many things to list but thankfully they all fit into our house! WHEW!
Mommy hanging out with Maddie and her fairy friends
Here's a photo of Maddie singing a song with mommy on a gift we received from Aunties Alyx and Pam
Here's the video.. ok I *thought* I sounded ok until hearing this play back... ugh.. sorry to subject you but listen to Maddie's words.. "I just wanna play with daddy" and the unprovoked bow at the end.. when she's famous this will be on her DVD.
Maddie's new tricycle.. a gift from Papa and Grandma Lena. She thought she was pretty cool in her bunny helmet too... now we just need to work on steering and peddling before her parent's backs go out! By summer time, she'll be a pro!
Here's video of Maddie singing her favorite holiday tune at the X-mas parade
And Miss Smarty-pants herself "reading" Hop On Pop. (sorry it's so dark) She went through the whole book almost word for word and then I ran to grab the camera.
Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and have a very safe New Year's Eve!
Ok, maybe not a genius, but certainly pretty smart... I'm sure this a complete fluke BUT she was playing with a drawing toy, (one that is magnetic with a pen and you erase it by pulling over a lever) I looked down......and ran to get my camera! Can you believe it? This is the only thing on the page and I promise you, there is no computer "trickery" involved. It isn't spelled correctly and when we asked her to write her letters she couldn't but how funny.. that CLEARLY says "MADY"- gotta love small miracles. We've been talking about drawing letters and this time I guess her hand ruled her brain
A few early Christmas gifts from Papa and Grandma Lena... how fun! If you weren't sure if Maddie was a spoiled girl, you can now know for sure she is... we're working on making sure she stays a girl and doesn't turn into a BRAT! She came prepared to the opening of the box with a crayon.. which she promptly used on the coloring books she received Tinkerbell stocking! The most special gift was the hallmark book that both Grandma and Papa recorded the "Night Before Christmas"... what a special gift that she'll cherish always... or until the batteries run out, what happens then? She loved it and we've listened to it every nap time and bedtime since.
My latest project.. cookie packages for my MOMS Club Cookie Exchange. Maddie helped me make sugar cookies and I packaged them with this cute bag topper... gosh I wish I could do this for money!
Here she is on Monday helping me by making beautifully, fully covered cookies (yes, those are penguin pajama pants and I love them very much!)
Everyone at the party thought they turned out super cute
We went to a friend's Holiday Open House tonight.. super fun time. Maddie came out of her shell about an hour into the night and started to have fun with all our friends and their kids. p.s. Maddie HEARTS Dane!
Apologies in advance for the red eyes but the red eye reduction on iPhoto made us look like Children of the Corn. :) It was her idea to go cheek-to-cheek for this shot!
Happy Holiday and for those of you who pray, say a prayer for my Seester. She's having an elective surgery in the morning and I would appreciate the thoughts.. we love you Auntie!
With all the holiday shopping and activities, I've gotten behind on my blogging so here's an update since Thanksgiving. (yikes, it's almost Christmas!)
We went on a holiday trip to Colorado to see Matt's family from October 20th-30th. We were hoping to see some snow and did see a few days of light dusting but mostly it was just COLD!
We did have lots of fun despite Matt being out of commission for 24 hours with food poisoning or some weird flu bug... poor guy was pretty miserable. I would be too if I missed the Santa Train! (oh and was up all night exploding!)
The plane ride was a super good experience... thank goodness for portable DVD players and a love for Tinkerbell. Before we knew it, we were on the ground!
Maddie's 1st Lollipop- She ate this one before we even took off so she got two!
Grandma Lena and Maddie watching Tinkerbell
Someone looks comfy!
A trip to the mall... It was snowing in Santa's Ice Palace! She didn't want to sit on Santa's lap this year (we'll try again) but she did get close to him and thought he was pretty special.
The Cherry Creek Mall was pretty awesome with a really large play area for the kids... talk about a germ factory! We did end up with a runny nose after playing... oh well! What else are you going to do with a crazy two year old when it's cold outside?!
A visit to the Butterfly Pavilion.. a really cool indoor butterfly sanctuary that imports butterflies (before the cocoon stage) from all over the world.. it's kept very tropical-like and the most beautiful butterflies are found everywhere.
This was a special exhibit on spiders
Looking for Fairies
Matt didn't realize this guy wanted to hitch a ride on out... Mothra Lives!
Brave Papa!
No spiders (or humans) were harmed during the taking of this photo
The cutest grasshopper
and tarantula
Erik and Sarah invited the family over for dinner that evening Dessert was a gorgeous setup... individual chocolate fondue using a tealight candle. I LOVED IT and will probably steal the idea at some point.
Maddie adored her Aunt Sarah... she so patient and kind.. I can't wait to have another niece or nephew!
Our Little Butterball!
Maddie and her cousins (Matt's cousin's kids- 3rd cousins?) watching Tinkerbell
Thanksgiving Fun... Place the Hat on the Turkey.. all the kids liked it.. I heart the dollar section at Target!
A COLD day at the park Does anyone in this photo look warm?
Even the freezing cold doesn't stop her from looking cute. Does this hat make my cheeks look big?
Tubing in the mountains
Not my most fashionable moment but at least I was warm
Maddie had blast and still talks about sledding down the mountain and saying "weeeeeee".
On the way home we stopped for food at an Irish Pub and that's when we think Matt ate something bad... poor guy!
The next morning we (Erik, Lena, Papa, Maddie and I) drove back to the mountains and boarded the Santa Train!
It was as cold as it looks, but the hot chocolate helped warm us up
Dinner at an eccentric place called Casa Bonita. They had cliff diving, gorillas, a scary maze and a gun show, all while you ate! It was pretty dark so I didn't get any great photos inside.
By day 10, everyone was POOPED and ready to get back to our own beds.
It was a GREAT trip! Thanks for having us!
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St. Nick (Santa Clause) came to our house on December 5th.. this traditional was done in my house when growing up and I wanted to share the fun with Maddie.. it'll help build the excitement of the season. It's a German tradition that St. Nick comes to your home on the evening of the 5th and if you leave your shoes outside your door, he will fill them with nuts and fruits. Maddie got an apple, and some small trinkets.
She got new sesame street cars to go with the one count mobile that she already had.
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My latest party designs.. a member of my MOMS Club hosted a baby shower for two of our mommies, both expecting girls. I brought water bottles and these cute butterfly chocolate suckers to the party.
Last Thursday was our 2nd annual Camarillo Light Walk.. we met with a few MOMS Club members and walked the Gemini-Dunningan neighborhood.. they really go all out as a community to create magical displays for the kids (and us older kids)
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Saturday was our town's Holiday Parade- It was 80 degrees... nothing says Christmas like shorts and flip flops!
We even had parade balloons!
Maddie's 1st Candy Cane.. I realized after she started eating it that it was fruity and not the traditional peppermint. Despite the look on her face, she loved it!
Miss California 2020- she already had the wave down
We ended the evening with our first Family Movie Night... first of many I'm sure. We watched Shrek The Final Chapter (very cute) It was free at CVS because of my creative couponing. :)
