A Playful Holiday

Grace and two of her pals from our weekly playgroup. Kate and Noah (and his little brother Micah), along with Grace, celebrated the best way ever - by playing and crafting together. Their friend Tova was sick and couldn't come, and Grace kept asking where she was. As you can see from the photos, my child isn't that shy in front of a camera...and neither are her friends. Grace gave her pals a little sofa blanket with a mush-a-belly pal. I think they both loved them. Kate laid all over it for the longest time - and Noah went over to join her.

Plum Tuckered Out

I just plain wore Grace out...after a day of playing with her friends, she slept through the last minute gift-buying at Hobby Lobby.

Celebrating at School

Grace's school had a pajama party the last day of school before the break. Much to her delight, she was able to wear her pj's all day. At the party, they made the cutest gingerbread houses. Grace was such a little perfectionist. I had a great time watching her figure out the doors, windows, yard, etc. She loved, loved, loved it. She couldn't wait to show it to daddy when she got home. Then, she spent the next few days eating it a few pieces at a time.

You better watch out...

Grace danced her Christmas routine to "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" (the tap part). She is going through a stage of not really liking ballet. I think it is because of the time (Monday during nap!). But, she has never once not wanted to perform! She loves getting up and dancing in front of everyone!

Christmas Cookies - A Family Tradition

One of my favorite holiday memories growing up is baking and decorating cookies with my family. Each holiday, we would bake a ton of cookies. We would have enough to give as gifts, take to 3 different school classes, church and, of course, to eat at home. I remember assembly lines in the dining room. I can remember how cool dad's cookies looked compared to our messy creations (our being my brother, sister and I). My mom mostly just baked, made icing and over saw....and cleaned the entire time.

I have loved sharing this experience with Grace. When we moved to Austin, we started making the holiday cookies together. Her in her high chair, eating dough and playing with cookie cutters...Now, she is totally hands on with the entire process. She wants to measure, mix, roll out, cut out and decorate!

Christmas Fun!

Grace and I both love to do crafts, so Christmas time is a lot of fun around here. This year, we decorated ornaments, made a gingerbread house (through school), decorated cookies and tons of other things. One of her favorite activities was making a rice crispy snow man!









Here are some photos of her making ornaments: