A Budding Star.....

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for...... The debut of our little performing artist. (note: I cut some of this down and edited out the bit in the beginning where Noella is leading the class onto the risers. She steps up onto them, walks all the way to the end, sees me and just keeps going off the other end. Everyone else followed suit. Pretty funny). 

Poor little dear. I don't know why I didn't think of the fact that she really had no idea what to expect. Let's  hope this doesn't deter her from her career as a famous ballerina.....

Noella's Daycare Holiday Singalong

Well, we have joined the ranks of parents with children who have Christmas concerts/holiday programs to attend. I, personally, was looking forward to it. Being someone who enjoys the performing arts, and has a slight background in them - I couldn't wait to see Noella up "on stage" singing her little heart out. She seemed pretty excited about it as well. She's been practicing the songs all month. She's always BEGGING me to let her dance "on stage" somewhere like a real ballerina. She's always "performing" around the house. This was a no-brainer for me - it was right up her alley.

I'm having a very difficult time  uploading my video. However; I won't give anything away until you can see it (unless, of course, I never figure out how to upload it...). Here are some pre-concert shots:

Obligatory family by the tree photo

This was as close to santa as we could get

Luckily, the elf promised she'd send a message back to santa

Cutie by the Christmas tree

Pre-party with her daycare friends. There was a man playing guitar before the show and the kids LOVED it. 

Spontaneous downward facing dog

"Not My Gumdrop Buttons!"

This holiday season has been so overfilled with sugar, it's really starting to get to me. Nothing like having a 3 year old to pull out all the stops for sweets! And this particular 3 year old (well, ALMOST 3  year old) is particularly fond of sugar and will stop at nothing to get "just ONE MORE bite". 

We met up with our reliable friends, Josh, Cate, Ruth and Wesley at their house, to decorate gingerbread houses. We (well, Adam) had good intentions of making the whole thing from scratch but we went the easy route this year: pre-made house with included decorations. Maybe next year (or maybe in 4 years from now?). It was FUN!!!

Dictating where something should go (I don't know where she gets that from)

Mrs. Claus taking a musical break

The girls with their creations. 

They look like proud parents, admiring their children....

Winter Wonderland

We got SNOW! And there's more coming. Everyone (including Zeb) is extremely excited about it!

House with lights and snow. Pretty.

Snow angels... 

Noella and her daddy.

And to top off her retro ski look: her pink aviators and my carhartt cap. 

Borrowing Ruth's skis. 

So much fun!

St. Nick and Christmas Cookies

And last, but not least (to get me caught up to date) I bring you St. Nick's Day: 

Displaying her new prized possessions: earmuffs, slippers and (her favorite in the whole world) a candy cane. 

Something else we were recently up to:(which was actually TODAY. that's how caught up I am): we baked and decorated our first round of Christmas cookies. Boo-yeah!

She has a cold, and wanted to lick all over her favorite candy cane cutter. Don't worry, we re-washed it. 

Gingerbread cookies! 

I got the "fun" part :) 

Hope your holidays are merry and bright thus far!

The Nutcracker

We are establishing traditions all over the place this year. I think we'll have to add "Nutcracker" to the list. You all know of Noella's obsession with the ballet. This attendance only solidified that obsession. 

Pre-show, waiting to get to our seats

Almost ready to begin!

A little intermission dance break (she was very sad that she could not dance in the show as well...)

Our friend, Jessie, came along

Noella's favorite character was Clara (the little girl who receives the nutcracker as a gift). She loved the Sugar Plum Fairy's costume, and was very tickled by the dancing mice. She talked/whispered to me the ENTIRE show asking questions and telling me (with each new character presented), "mom, I wish I had a costume like that".

How Lovely Are Thy Branches

This is one of my favorite things to do over the holidays. It makes it so much more special to see how excited it makes Noella just to go through the Christmas box. She couldn't stop talking about them, rearranging all the decorations, creating pretend "presents" for us..... This kid LOVES Christmas. I guess it's not her namesake for nothing!

Pretty cute package under our tree!

A New Tradition

I really hope our friends, Josh and Cate, realize that any future Christmas tree cutting ritual is now ruined because of how much fun we had on this one. We met them early last saturday morning to drive up towards Mt. Bachelor where we would find some snow to tromp around in and saw down our family trees. It couldn't have been more perfect. 

What made it even more perfect was them having a kick ass camper van, where we could go to warm up, eat carmel rolls, drink hot chocolate and laugh and chat. 

Cate brought her old childhood sled along so we could pull the girls along in the snow. Noella and Ruth had a ball riding on it, pulling it, piling it with snow..... I'm telling you, this couldn't have been more fun for Noella. It helped that the girls were at such a great age to participate. 

Noella and her buddy, Ruth

First taste of snow

Snowman

Teamwork

Noella, doing her best 80's hairband lead singer impression, while eating carmel rolls

Telling funny stories

Aren't these two the cutest?

Earning their hot chocolate

Ruth pulls Noella, as she surfs the snow

Thanks for a wonderful time Josh, Cate, Ruth and Wesley!