December 3rd and 4th

December 3rd - Last night was pretty low key. We tried getting the rest of the decorations organized and put out or up. We watched the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree special. Some favorite parts of that were David Cook and whoever sang White Christmas (I can't even remember). Ava wanted to dance to White Christmas so Ava and I did the "Cinderella Dance" around the parlor and living room. (Tree photograph from photobucket.com)

December 4th - Tonight was one of my favorite nights of the holiday season. Tonight was our Newbern Christmas parade and I look forward to that every year. This year Bradley had to work at the parade for Rotary so it was just Ava and I. After Bradley left, I got a pot of chili going and some water heating up for hot chocolate because tonight was a cold one! While I was cooking, the floats, tractors, firetrucks, and bands started lining up and Ava was ecstatic to see that the firetrucks were right in front of our house. She watched them until it was almost time to bundle up and head out. The parade lines up staring right in front of our house, but the bands and a few other things line up a block down. I usually don't mind missing those things, but Ava was adamant that we see the band. She kept talking about it and asking to see the band. So we went down to scout out a location to sit and got a chance to stand in front of the band and talk to Bradley while the band was lining up. Ava was in heaven!

After we took our places to watch the parade, Pop surprised Ava by walking up and watching some of the parade. After the first band went by and a couple of floats, we headed for our front yard to watch the remainder of the parade and Santa Claus. I just like Ava getting the chance to exchange a few words with Santa, in her yard, where no other kids are. We still had several floats and things to go, but with Ava being the only kid around, we got tons of candy. Once Ava figured out what they were doing she absolutely loved running for the candy. I was putting it in my pocket, but Ava had a little pile that she would carry hers to. Last but not least, Santa came by and wished us a Merry Christmas and told Ava that she had been good this year and he would be back soon. We finished the night up with our chili and hot chocolate and enjoyed some family time together.

I know this pic is blurry, but it is the only one of her picking up candy.

December 1st and 2nd (plus Nov 30th)

Like I posted earlier, I am working on my scrapbook, but so far the time I had set aside for it has now went to other activities. So, I am going to post my pictures from those days and then post the scrapbook pages as I get them done. Which is hopefully soon!

I have decided to add November 30th to my scrapbook because it was the day our church started celebrating advent and the start of the season. On Sunday night our church had a service called The Hanging of the Green. Bradley, Ava, and I participated by putting holly in the windows of the church. Ava also took part in the children's story and listened to the story of Christ's birth with the other children. Bradley was hesitant about going because he said that Ava would "embarrass the family." She did great during the story, but the rest of the service she wanted to go to the nursery and play. Of course during the story time she made everyone laugh because she kept saying things out loud like, "I want to touch it," (talking about the book) and, "Oh no, it broke," (when she realized an ornament had fallen off the tree). Also classic was when I got on to her and told her to be good and she said, "Sweeper gonna get me!" That goes back to the fright of the vacuum cleaner. (Ava is in the beret)

December 1st was Ava's first day at the new babysitter's house. She had a wonderful time playing with her new friend, Luke. She was so tired that she fell asleep in the car and stayed asleep while I laid her on the couch. Bradley had come home early to watch her and she slept through my chiropractor's appt and was still asleep when I got home. While asleep Bradley put the tree up and got the lights on it. We spent the night putting ornaments on the tree, setting out our Nativity scenes, and listening to Christmas music.

December 2nd was filled with more decorating and Ava getting to hang her stocking on the mantle. Also, if you remember last year she kept stealing Baby Jesus, well this year she is still into nativity theft and she has been putting them into her Easter and Trick or Treat Baskets.

Daily December

Just wanted to let you know that so far, both days of December and even the 30th of November were days with Christmas activities. Last night I got my pictures downloaded and a few printed so I will begin posting some of those tonight.

So check back in the morning!

25 Days of Christmas - Album

Some of you might remember that last year I tried to document our Christmas and do a little activity each of the 25 days of Christmas. You can see the archives for the 25 Days of Christmas from last year right here . It was hard to keep up with and I felt I spent way too much time at the computer every night documenting our day. So this year, I am doing a little something different. Ali Edwards is a scrapbooker who does a Daily Album for the 25 days of Christmas. You can find her website here and see all the wonderful scrapbooks and projects that she makes.

So in November I made my album and it is ready to go. Everyday or 2 I will upload my pictures, print them off, add a few embellishments and journaling, and voila! Here are a few pictures of my album that I will be adding to each day! Follow us as we go through a magical Christmas season with Ava! And if you don't mind, add a few comments on the way! I hope you all each have a magical, blessed holiday season!

Back from 2 Thanksgivings

We are back at home and I am trying to catch up after our 2 Thanksgivings. On Thursday we celebrated Thanksgiving with the Rogers family. We had a great meal that was engineered by Uncle Timmy and we left absolutely stuffed to the brim. Ava was a social butterfly as usual and enjoyed spending time with the Rogers clan. She especially loved Leanna and her husband Josh (who Ava called Gosh), and I am sure their dog Dewey now needs therapy. He was such a good dog with Ava.

On Friday after a horrible Black Friday experience we headed up to KY to stay with my family. On Friday night we hung out at my parents house to celebrate my Dad's birthday (which was the 13th) and stayed until about 1 in the morning playing Mexican Train Dominoes. Then the fun really began as we tried to get Ava asleep in a hotel room. All was well until 4 in the morning when she fell out of bed and cried for the next 45 minutes. I thought we were about to have to pack it up and head home then, but it passed. We spent the day at Nanny's house and enjoyed a meal and some games.

I have spent the rest of this weekend trying to catch up on sleep after the miserable night at the hotel and getting up at 3:45 the previous night for Black Friday. But we are home and I am excited because tomorrow marks the 1st of December. I have some awesome things planned for my 25 Days of Christmas this year and I am excited about all the upcoming events. Hope you all had an exciting Thanksgiving!

She loves rolling her tongue

Smiling at Gosh

Nothing like a free calendar for your birthday!

Thank God for TV at motels!

My Nanny bought us these 3 silly shirts! Mine was supposed to be a Large, but me thinks it was a small! LOL!
Does Muncle Mike look psycho here or what!?!