Sushi- Maddie style

After a week or so of craving sushi, we ordered take out from our local favorite. I wanted Maddie to get in on the fun so she ate white rice, and dinosaur chicken nuggets with chopsticks. It's fun to give kids a new way of eating something you know they'll eat.

Of course a few minutes later, she asked for her fork but at least she had some exposure. :)

Snow Day - Pleasant Valley Co-op- Dec 18th

I think it's really special that in Southern CA some of the schools host a "Snow Day" for their kids. Yes, we could drive to the mountains and be back at the beach all in the same day, but that's probably not happening any time soon. This was a much easier way to expose her to the freezing cold.

Um, yes, she does own snow pants and a huge jacket. I, now a Southern CA mommy, thought that might be overkill so off we went in leggings and a jacket. At least I remembered the mittens and hat. Good way to make her appreciate the CA sun! lol

Unfortunately 10 minutes or so into the fun, she was soaked! Thankfully I did think to bring a change of clothes so we put on some jeans.

Thanks to the Pleasant Valley Co-op for another great memory!

Maddie's Preschool Christmas Program

Miss Maddie's school held their annual Holiday Pageant and Silent Auction on December 3rd. All the classes took turns going up to sing songs. The Preschooler's had their mommies or daddies with them. They sang songs that they sing each day in school.

Christmas Even 2011 Entertainment

Maddie and her Jingle Bells jam!

1st Dentist Appointment - Nov 11th

Maddie had her first Dentist appointment just after her 3rd birthday. She's pretty good about brushing teeth 2x a day and she was rewarded with lots of little toys and stickers from the Children's Dental Group (The spaceship dentist) during her first appointment. They made the experience really fun for the both of us and even sent a picture of her with the dentist to our house a week or so later.

Maddie received a 100%! Way to go Maddie!

Disneyland Dec 2011

This year for a special treat while Matt had some down time at work, we went to Disneyland. The advent calendar for that day read "a car ride to a magical place". Maddie didn't realize where we were until she saw a Mickey Mouse sign in the parking structure.

We ended up upgrading our park hopper tickets to season passes (the cheapest ones) so we can go back a few times next year. They have a super cute Little Mermaid ride and a Toy Story section over at California Adventure that make it worth the trip to the second park. Next time we go, I think we'll spend a night or two in Anaheim because when going to both parks, we didn't see very much! I doesn't help when you have to wait 45+ minutes to see Rapunzel and 25+ minutes to see Tinkerbell but those are for sure must do's for our family!

We met some new characters this time... Maddie is a bit obsessed with Toy Story so it was very cool to see her get some lovin' from Jessie and Woody!

The castle at night was just gorgeous!

We're a bit spoiled by living so close to such a "magical" place!

Happy Birthday MOM!

Happy 58th Birthday to my mom!  11/11/11 makes for an extra special birthday this year!
Wish we could be in WI to share your day but we're all thinking of you here in Cali!

Love you mom!

AND Happy 38th Anniversary (yesterday). Thirty-eight years is a VERY long time and you and dad should both be so proud of sticking through thick and thin all these years!  Love you both!