Monday, December 24, 2012

Merry Christmas 2012!!!

As Mom and I hang out in Connecticut, with Dad joining us in a day or two, I figured I'd share my best wishes for a Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it!

As is tradition, we went and visited with Santa at the Mall...I was tired, and a bit grumpy (Mom has recently referred to me as The Grumpiest Grump That Ever Did Grump...and while I was annoyed at her nickname for me, I must admit, it made me laugh a bit...

Mom and Dad both admit that I almost look too old to be sitting with Santa in this picture...I'm only 4, but for some reason, this picture especially makes me look so much older....Check out these other pics from years past:

2009

2010
 
2011


I sat with Santa (after some vague promises of ice cream or cookies afterwards) and got a nice picture taken....Mom and Dad even had the foresight to dress me in a Christmas-ey shirt (The reindeer one, which I currently actually like a lot) and I think that the picture came out pretty nice....you can see Santa tickling the back of my neck to help coerce a smile out of me. He's a solid guy, that Santa....he even listened to me telling him what I wanted for Christmas this year....as we left, I waved to him and shouted "Merry Christmas, Santa!" He waved back with the biggest smile....after a grumpy start, he always leaves me so happy to have visited with him.

It has been a generally good year for us, and I know it has been a hard year for others....so I am thankful for the things we have....a great family, great friends, my sweet new cat, and anything I could ever ask for to keep me happy and entertained. I try my best to always remember that, I hope you will too...Things aren't always perfect, and there are sometimes tears and angry faces....but at the end of the day, things in my life are pretty good...thanks for being part of it, everyone!

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas....I hope I get to see you soon!

MERRY
CHRISTMAS!!

Saturday, December 22, 2012

A Christmas Gingerbread House With Mommy!

For several weeks, I have been seeing these glorious little gingerbread houses...on TV, out and about at Zoo Lights, and generally in the world, these little guys are everywhere this time of year . Mom mentioned that we'd make one for Christmas together, and I thought "Yeah right...everyday folks like us don't just MAKE a gingerbread house!"

I was totally wrong!

Mom and I had a nice little day together making a gingerbread house!!

She let me use the mixer, (and even taste some of the mix since there were no eggs in it)

After all the gingerbread was made, we cut the pieces to make the house, and using some delicious frosting as mortar, built the house and decorated it with other candy we bought.
Now, of course, the inherent danger in using delicious treats as the entire foundation and all of the decorations is that one would be tempted to eat it all and not have any left over to make the actual gingerbread house...
Well, Mom was smart and got plenty of extras so that we could not only build our beautiful (and theoretically delicious) holiday gingerbread house. I can't tell you how much fun we both had putting it together.
I even talked about it in school during one of our projects where we talked about something fun we did...I love our gingerbread house!!


Thursday, December 20, 2012

Cox Farms Harvest Festival 2012!

Taking a step back for a moment, Dad and I went out to Cox Farms in Virginia for their annual Harvest Festival. It was a gorgeous farm, very big, and a lovely little festival....

The main event was the pumpkin smashing...yep, you heard that right. People brought their old jack-o-lanterns, and the crew at the festival brought a bunch of them up onto a crane, and dropped them from enormous heights onto a wooden table, where they exploded in a gleeful mist of pumpkin guts and water.
I couldn't believe what I was seeing...
But when you saw those suckers hit...it was pretty darn impressive. It was certainly a fun end for them!
I watched so many pumpkins explode, that it made me silly with laughter.
Until, that is, we realized that between overcast skies, and some crazy weather front, it wasn't going to get any warmer....Dad and his friends (who we had met at the festival) discussed the fact that this was the coldest festival that they had ever gone to....it was so cold, I had to call it and have Dad take me home....

I had fun for the little bit of time we were there, and Dad really enjoyed it, but it was too much for me...

Later, I went through the map (which I was obviously in charge of, as seen below) with Mom, and showed her all the things I couldn't go see because of how cold it was...ah well, we'll try again next year!

Maybe on a warmer day. :-/



Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Another Birthday party!

A couple of my friends had a joint birthday party recently, and  I got to join them for the festivities! It was held at a big gym place, and there were lots of cool things to see and do!
I even got to held roll some of my friends around in the gym equipment...what are friends for, right?
I got to do lots of cool gymnastics moves the bouncy trampoline type thing, and get lots of exercise...I think I'd like to talk to Mom and Dad about replacing our boring old carpeted floors with some of this trampoline material...not only do you get from point A to point B MUCH quicker, but GOSH is it more fun!
Also, sooner we can get some of these foam blocks in my room to replace my boring flat bed, the better. These things are GREAT! They're great to crawl around on, and burrow through, yet if you fall on them, they don't hurt since they are made of foam! (Make sure when you fall, your friends aren't under there, though....Ouch!)
It was a really nice party, with some of my favorite people from school...I'm always glad to get invited along, and have a really good time with them. :-)

Monday, December 17, 2012

Getting Gramma Mindy's Christmas Tree 2012

In the morning just before we left Connecticut, we met Gramma Mindy and JustRichy bright and early at the Christmas tree farm to engage in the yearly tradition of helping Gramma Mindy pick her Christmas tree.

I ran around the rows of trees playing hide n' seek (and also helping to find the perfect tree for her....mostly I played hide n' seek)
It was a big tree farm, and there were lots of choices...but I knew that if we buckled down and focused, we'd be able to find the perfect one....

Wait....before we do that....COME FIND ME!!
I think I see another good one, Mom! Come check it out!
Nope....I just wanted you to come find me again!
I ran to help Gramma Mindy find us, since I didn't want her getting lost amongst  the trees. I was already utilizing my superior finding skills for the tree, and I simply couldn't spare the resources necessary to find a tree AND Gramma Mindy....thankfully we didn't lose her!
After finding, what I declared (and everyone agreed) was the best tree on the lot, JustRichy held the tree, while Dad cut it down. It was the first time he had ever cut one down himself, and he was surprised at how much easier it was than he expected...they even let me get down on the ground to help cut the tree down (For all you eagle-eyed nervous Nellies out there....my hand stayed on the handle, safely out of reach of the blade....and Dad was very careful, and moved very slowly....I was super happy he let me help, and my joy was unmatched. I emerged with all nine fingers on both my hands, so don't get all...WHAT?! Nine fingers!?! TRICKED YOU! I had all ten...silly Nervous Nellies...)
JustRichy, Mom, and I triumphantly carried Gramma Mindy's tree out of the lot, and Mom and Dad even bought a wreath for our door back home! It was an all around successful trip!
What a nice way to end the Thanksgiving weekend....by officially starting the Christmas season! (Take that Hallmark and your fellow "Christmas Stuff Must Be Out The Day After Halloween" stores..."

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Thanksgiving 2012!

Hello all! My apologies for being away so long....technical issues with the blog prevented me from updating after Halloween, and then things just got so busy with the upcoming (and now past!) holidays, that I just didn't have time to catch up....well here I am again!

Where to start!? Well...since it's been awhile, why not just jump right into anothe rholiday directly from Halloween...Thanksgiving!

We traveled to Connecticut to visit both sides of the family, once again...the drive was actually pretty decent, considering we left kind of late. There was lots of cars  on the road, but we got to read books, play iPod games, and listen to music. We also got to plug in the DVD player, and watch some movies, which is always nice. :-)

This trip was a bit different, since my Uncle Mat and Aunt Mallory let us use their place for the weekend. They were away for the holiday, so we got to have a little place all to ourselves this time! We had a lot of fun watching TV, relaxing, and it was nice having a little home base right in between all of our family and friend visits. Thanks, guys!!!

First we stopped off at Gramma Debbie's for Thanksgiving...as is typical, I am told that the food was delicious, but I skipped the traditional Thanksgiving fare, instead feasting on my usual staples...



 I got to see my cousins and play with them a lot, which is always fun....

we went straight to the big bed, and jumped around like crazy people!!
Uncle Steve joined in, and no matter what we did, we couldn't get a non-blurry shot of Brae! She was just moving too fast!!
In the evening, we went to Gramma Mindy's for dinner, and got to see lots of Mom's side of the family! My cousin Hank was there, and I showed him a lot of the toys that Gramma Mindy had for me to play with...
I had made a centerpiece at school out of a box and a pine cone....this is the centerpiece making an appearance at Gramma Mindy's (though it traveled well, and it also made an appearance at the table at Gramma Debbie's as well.)



 I think I did a pretty good job, and everyone was excited to have it on the table!
The evening culminated in a dance party where I showed off some of my moves to the One Direction song I like. Hank even got into the act, too!
We were both dancing up a storm, and I think everyone really enjoyed it!

They even let me do it a second time. How cool is that?!
The next day, Mom, Dad, Gramma Mindy and I all went shopping to get some supplies for our new cat that was coming to live with us a few days after Thanksgiving! We bought lots of great stuff to make her feel welcome (and to also prevent her from pooping all over the apartment) and afterwards we got to go out to lunch at Friendly's (Also the home of some amazing ice cream....as Mom noted, I ate my cone without it ever dripping...beat that!)

In addition to seeing some of Mom and Dad's friends, we spent some more time at Gramma Debbie's before we left, too...
I even performed an encore of my One Direction dance number, this time tapping Nick as my backup dancer...
It was a truly full Thanksgiving weekend...so busy, but everything seemed to work out pretty well! Isn't it nice when that happens!?