Happy 2017!

My friend Marcy kindly pointed out that it has been weeks since my lost post! The holidays were such a busy time, and life has just started to settle back to normal for us. Here are some random photos from my phone from the past few weeks....

We had a relaxing day at home before all the Christmas festivities started up. We treated ourselves to "fancy ice cream" (i.e., the make-it-yourself frozen yogurt bar).

We also made and decorated cookies for Santa.

 We spent Christmas Eve with Jack, Marsha and Trula.

 Christmas morning was a quick present-opening at home, then the drive up to Hayward to see Mike's mom and the Rohde cousins.

 Once we got back home, Mike and Rose worked non-stop for almost two weeks to finish the Disney Lego castle she got for Christmas.

 She got so many Lego sets for Christmas that she has an entire "Lego city" in our living room!

I'll hold off on sharing our other exciting news for my next post. Stay tuned!

more Christmas photos

A couple weeks ago we went to "breakfast with Santa." Here are the official photos from the event!

We also are FINALLY finished not only with shopping for gifts, but also with wrapping them.  The pile looks ridiculous next to our tiny little tree!

I can't wait to bake cookies and relax tomorrow. My mini Christmas break is officially here!!!

winter solstice ceremony

My parents came to town this weekend because my mom, for the last few years, has been wanting to attend this winter solstice ceremony: http://www.drummingthesoulawake.com/14th-annual-winter-solstice-blessing.html  Mike wasn't super excited about it, so he volunteered to stay home with Rose. Cousin Janet joined us as well. It was long performance/ceremony/celebration/thing, so I'll just post a couple photos of us waiting for it all to begin.

crackers and carols

Rose's classroom at "school" had a holiday concert last week. It was so cute!!!

Kai, Maggie, Jad, Eden, Michael, Isabella, Ethan, Elliott, Vivian, Neveah, Lucille, Rose, and Oscar

Rose was so focused on looking cute that she forgot to do a couple of the moves :)

Ms. Sam and Ms. Elyse (not pictured) helped the kids put on a great show!

 

Shaking the "jingle bells" was a huge hit!

I couldn't stop smiling throughout the whole thing. Such a proud parenting moment to attend Rose's first concert! :)

The Christmas season

We finally got a cold snap, so we're getting into the Christmas spirit!

We got our Christmas tree out of storage in the garage. This year Rose asked why it had shrunk! Maybe next year we'll have to get a real (full-sized) tree.

We have also been eating a lot of the pomegranates that are in season! (Note the juice freckles.)

We are also starting to bundle up in multiple layers!

mini-me

And today we even saw Santa!!!!!

Rose was super excited to give him the snowflake she had made especially for him, and to show him a photo of the ginormous Disney castle Lego set that she is hoping to receive.

She even got to go with Grammy on a sleigh ride with real reindeer!!

She was just a little disappointed that they didn't fly today, but the "helpers" explained that Santa wants the reindeer to save up their energy for Christmas. 

 There were cookies to decorate...

...and even a special appearance by Elsa, who promised to bring some snow tonight. (Thanks a lot, Elsa.)

Before we left, Rose reminded Santa one more time about the fancy lego set she wants.

Thanks to Grammy and Grandpa for inviting us to such a fun morning with Santa!!!

belated Thanksgiving update

I haven't blogged for awhile, so thought I'd add a few photo updates today.  :)

We spent Thanksgiving in Appleton visiting my extended family. I brought a traditional pumpkin pie and a not-so-traditional chocolate layer cake.

My parents contributed the turkey and gravy, with my cousin Alice organizing all the rest of the delicious yumminess.

We spent most of black friday at the Appleton Children's Museum. (Technically called the "Building for Kids," which just sounds ridiculous to me, so I have renamed it in my head.)

Rose got a magnet doll set as a souvenir and spent countless hours making up stories for whomever would listen. Gigi was a great sport!

Then on Saturday we stayed for cousin Aiden's second birthday party, before making the long drive home. It was a quick trip but a lot of fun! (I'll leave out the part about Rose getting bit by a dog. But it ended up with us staying at a hotel and swimming, so I guess there's a silver lining to everything.)

November transitions

I'm still not ready to talk about the election and all my feelings about it. So, instead, I'm choosing to post about a MUCH happier transition:

Rose is THRILLED to be in a booster seat!!!!

She was so proud when she walked into daycare this morning. She sought out every teacher who works there, to make sure they all knew that she is grown up enough for a booster seat. Feel free to give her a high five yourself the next time you see her! :)