Christmas Parties

This year we went not one, not two, but SIX family Christmas parties.  Whew!  It was a whirlwind and we were exhausted by the time all was said and done, but boy did we have fun!  I wish I would have taken more pictures, but I was too busy enjoying myself.  I want to be a part of the memories, not just take a picture of them.  Add that to the fact that my munchkins were spun-up, sugar-crazed maniacs that literally never stop moving, and well, I guess you can see why pictures were few and far between.  Nevertheless, I did manage to capture some of the fun that we had.   It was so nice to catch up with family that we hadn’t seen as much as we would have liked this year and Evelyn and Mitchell had a ball playing with all of their cousins.  I wish we could focus more on this togetherness than gift giving all the time.  It is so hard not to fall into the materialistic aspects of Christmas, but we really do try.  We want to teach our kids that presents are not the most important things.  Family and love are. 

Wildlights

We went to Wildlights this year at the Columbus Zoo in late November.  We ended up going on a Tuesday night and it was perfect.  Cool, but not too cold, and not crowded at all.  The kids were mesmerized by the lights and decorations. Christmas music played throughout the zoo and we enjoyed $2 hot cocoa and kettle corn.  One of highlights was getting to see Santa’s reindeer!  I loved watching the kid’s faces as they took everything in – it was magical!

Miss Fancy Pants

Evelyn loves to play dress up these days.  Her favorite books right now are the Fancy Nancy series.   She wants to be fancy whenever we go out now.  Jewelry is a must – beaded necklaces, bangle bracelets and multiple rings.  She usually has a pair of sunglasses and yesterday she packed a boa in her purse.  I didn’t realize she even had it until I noticed pink feathers all over the backseat.  Shoes are another big thing with Evie.  She owns more pairs than I do and she changes them multiple times a day.  Recently Aunt Sha-Sha gave her a pair of black booties.  She absolutely loves them and insisted on wearing them to school because they were ‘so fancy’ and she wanted to show her friends.  It’s not unusual to find her dressed up in a princess dress with not one, but two frilly skirts underneath in addition to her light-up Cinderella heels. 

As fun as it can be to play dress-up, sometimes getting her dressed to go out can end up being quite an ordeal.  Evie is a strong-minded child and so stubborn.  She has started wanting to dress herself a little bit more which has led to some interesting results.  For example, the other day she wanted to wear a bright pink dress with a purple skirt underneath, navy blue leggings and black boots.  One morning, I dressed her up in a grey and yellow polka dot shirt and jeans.  I thought she looked adorable, but she started sobbing because the sleeves of the shirt were too tight (they really weren’t).  Another day Pat got her dressed and she threw a fit because the sleeves of her shirt were too long.  There are days when she cries because her socks aren’t long enough (she’s tried to pull anklets up to her knees) or her pants don’t completely cover her ankles (they were capris).  We pick our battles and we don’t mind her having an opinion about her clothes, but it can be frustrating sometimes.  

Despite this, I do love having a fancy-pants little girl.  Getting Mitch dressed for the day is usually a lot easier and faster, but Evie really enjoys her clothes and extravagant accessories and that’s fun to see.  Heaven help us when she’s a teenager though!