Where O Where . . .

Has our camera gone? I know it made it into the car when we left Canada, but haven't locted it yet. I'm not too worried yet as we haven't looked to carefully. Probably in the car.

For now here are a few quips

Getting out of the car in VA after being in Canada (it was at least 60 here):
"It's beautiful!"

Tonight while watching football:
"Santa, candy. Sit in Santa's lap" - She saw a Santa on tv

After watching a borrowed Dora DVD:
"Baby Jaguar. Save baby jaguar."

Distressed about not finding her "make-up" I asked her where it was:
"Grandpa Robey's" - The first time she's differentiated between the two sets

She asked for her necklace after church. I asked her where it was:
"Toybox" - I took her with me and started going through the toybox in the nursery. She walked to a toy next to it and pulled the necklace out of a little cubby in the toy.

Carriage Ride

Finally time to blog. Steve, Lily, and I went on a carriage ride provided free-of-charge by L-burg. After the carriage ride, we walked a few blocks to have Lily's picture taken with the Grinch. Lily was much more comfortable with the Grinch then with Santa.

She and the Grinch were having a discussion about who all the presents belonged to. THe Grinch wasn't talking just pointing, so Lily was doing the same. The Grinch would point to the presents and then to himself. Lily would point to the presents and then herself. I did get some video, but it is too large. Sorry :(

13 days?

Is that a record or what? The last two weeks of school before Christmas break is hectic for a Kindergarten teacher - well really any teacher. It was nice having Steve home that last week to be with Lily. I didn't have to drop her at the sitter's anymore.

Lily loves to make mommy and daddy coffee with her play dishes. Last week, we asked her on video (haven't uploaded it as our internet connection at home is a bunch of hooey and the file is on our home computer) where the coffee was from: Tim Horton's or Starbucks? For those who don't know - Timmy's is a doughnut chain in Canada. Here answer was quite emphatically - Starbucks! To her defense though, she will usually answer with whatever the last choice is. So if the question is Starbucks or Tim Hortons, she will answer Tim Hortons.

We are in Canada for Christmas until Friday. We woke up this morning and Lily promptly said, "Daddy WAKE UP. Daddy WAKE UP." When he didn't move she proceeded with, "Mean Daddy, Good-bye." Heading upstairs to Grandma and Grandpa.

Christmas Questions?

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? It depends if it's real eggnog or not. I like the stuff from the grocery cooler without the alcohol.

2.Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? That's a big debate in our house right now. We have a bit of a pass in our house this year, but we will have to make a decision for next year. My family never pretended Santa was real. We talked about St. Nick and we still got presents from Santa, but we always knew it was Mom and Dad.

3. Colored lights on house/tree or white? Just white.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? No, but I would it I had some!

5.When do you put your decorations up? New Year's Day or somewhere around then. THe year we were expecting a referral from China we left the tree up until we received our referral. There was a chance we would get in Jan. 1 or so, but it ended up being Feb. 2. We then took a picture with our tree and the picture of our new daughter!

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? Yikes, I like it all. Except my husband's family makes Christmas pudding - not sure exactly what it is, but it ISN'T my favorite.

7.When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? See above post about Santa! I have to admit I was the spoiler a couple of times announcing in Kindergarten that Santa wasn't real!

8. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Growing up yes - if we were home. We spent a lot of time on the road since we never lived near family.

9. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? Traditional Hodge Podge now. Before Lily it was red - matching our Living Room.

10. Snow. Love it or dread it? If it is going to be cold, I want snow. Otherwise I could do without.

11. Can you ice skate? Yes, if I am using hockey skates as the toe pick on figure skates always trips me up.

12. What is your favorite holiday dessert? Sweet Potato Casserole. It isn't really a dessert, but should be!

13. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? I am by far used to giving. This Christmas someone chose to give us an anonymous monetary gift to help us have a good Christmas. I have to admit that was hard for me at first. It was very emotional as we are used to being on the giving end. PA school has stretched us in many ways, but learning to receive (take help/etc) has been one of the biggest lessons. I tell myself that I cannot do everything on my own and that I need to allow other's the blessing of giving to us.

14. What is your favorite Christmas song? Sleigh Ride - I have so many memories from playing the song in band. The real song - not versions made easier for younger musicians - is hard, but SO much fun to play!

15. Candy Canes. Yum or Yuck? Yum! If they are peppermint. Not real fond of the weird flavors!

16. Do you attend an annual Christmas party? Nothing formal, but always lots of food.

17. Do you dress up for Christmas Eve or wear PJ's? We haven't really done much on CHristmas Eve because of our travels.

18. Do you own a Santa hat.? Yes.

19. Who do you normally spend Christmas with? We alternate between Steve's family and my family.

I will post another more post - more of an update later today!

N*ked

Had to post this. Lily went down to bed late and I heard nothing, so I thought she was asleep. I turned the corner and low and behold I saw Lily in NOTHING but her shoes (on the wrong feet). She was putting her diaper in the diaper pail. She ran to her room and jumped into bed and under the covers completely and utterly n*ked - well except for the shoes! I took a pic, but it borders on not being internet appropriate, so . . .

ps yes I know that last sentence is a run-on

pps she had put her pjs back in the right dresser drawer

One of those "all over the place" posts

Enjoying some of the lights at the Hubers

Playing in the snow before Cici's

Taking mommy's pic with the cell phone (it doesn't take pics)

Life has gotten away from me to a point in the last week or so. Kids are ready for Christmas. Teachers are ready for Christmas. The Woofs are ready for Daddy to be done and home for a month. 2 finals down, 2 to go! He will be home the day after tomorrow. If you are reading this before Thursday evening pray for peace and sleep for all of us!

Last weekend Steve was unable to come home with it being the last weekend before finals. Going up there wasn't really an option either as we wouldn't see him except to go to church on Sunday morning. My parents helped me fill my Saturday though. I spent the morning in Bedford helping my mom decorate their Christmas tree. Lily helped some (putting all the ornaments on the same branch). When do they grow out of that? Then my mom got tickets to The Virginia Christmas Spectacular or The Living Christmas Tree as they have renamed it. Dad watched Lily and I got to go with mom. WHen we were leaving the church it was snowing. All of us went to Cici's for dinner. Dad let her try a little lemon juice. That is the first part of the video. We finished our evening with a "Christmas tree lighting" at the home of family friends, Jim and Cindy Huber.

I have recently starting using a SAD lamp. I got it off of Ebay for a less than retail, although more than I would have liked. They go quickly and sell well! I have only been using it since Friday of last week. I think it is really helping. My counselor said that if it was going to work I would most liekly start to see results in only a few days. I know school isn't any easier, but I am handling the stress SO much better. The best part about this is that it is a drug-free treatment. Only time will tell if it is really working, but it must be as Christmas time is one of the most stressful times for teachers!

This evening Lily got ahold of our pre-paid cell phone that we keep for emergencies (instead of having a "real" one). She was yammering away. I took a little video (the second half of the video) and took a couple pics.

Probably the biggest news for us is that Lily is starting at a daycare in January. Both our sitters had to back out for personal reasons and we felt that we needed to put her in a place that would ensure a little more stability for her. She is starting at Branches Early Learning Center. She will be in the 2 1/2 yr old class. It seems to be a good place and I have heard many good things about them from others. I think Lily will enjoy having "school" in the morning. In the afternoons, they have more free play and other activities.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

PS Thanks Aunt Kim for the new outfits. They fit wonderfully. It was like an early Christmas for the both of us. Lily insisted on trying on several outfits when we got them Saturday from G and G Robey. The outfits in both pics are hand-me-downs from Lily's cousin Hannah who will be 2 in January. I find it very amusing that she is still getting hand me downs from girls who are younger than she is. She is definitely still our little peanut!

Lily's pics

I wanted to get another set of pictures done with the guy that did our family portraits in Aug 2007, but I just never got around to it. Too busy. So when I had a day off (day before Thanksgiving) and a coupon, I took her to Sears. Not too shabby. Now, we waited an hour from the time we arrived until they actually took us back.

I wouldn't suggest doing pics when EVERY SCHOOL in the area is out for Thanksgiving. The service when we returned to order the pics wasn't that great either. In fact, the session ran into lunch and Lily's nap. That's why I didn't order the day of the session. They were a little miffed that I wasn't looking at/ordering that day. Anyway . . .

Click here view the pics.