Christmas is coming!

And Santa's sweatshop workshop is in full swing at our house! Christmas card addressing, neighbor gift baking, school teacher & classmate treats, etc.



Just look at the little elves wrapping up packages for Christmas day! {love it}

Callie was upset with me the other day because I wouldn't let her do something or I was getting onto her about something - I don't remember. I was being a mom. She got real quiet & thoughtful for a minute. Then she says, "Mom, would Santa ever put coal in a grown-up's stocking?" I started laughing & said, "I guess he could. Why? Do you think he should put coal in my stocking?" She said yes.

I'm still laughing.

The Nutcracker! {2010}

I love traditions. A few years ago we took our kids to the Polar Express for the first time. I wanted to also do The Nutcracker, but let's be real- the streets are not paved with gold & it costs a lot of money to do all the extra stuff there is to do at the holidays. So a tradition was formed. One year as a family we do the Polar Express, and on the alternate year I'll take Callie (and next time Ellie) to see The Nutcracker. (If Jack wants to go sometime we'll have to talk about it then.) For now we're seeing a local community production. Someday I'll take Callie to a professional production, but for $20/ticket & some narration, the community production is perfect for kids!

The Nutcracker was on Friday night in Boulder City (almost to Las Vegas). I picked Callie up early from school (she was just a little bit excited about that), and she, my friend Abby & I headed to Henderson to do some shopping! I let Callie choose where she wanted to go for dinner. I made a few suggestions, one of them being Pei Wei. She said no to that since that's where we ate last time. Two years ago! Crazy that she remembered that, since we've eaten in Henderson a billion times since then. When I suggested Red Robin she asked if that's the place with balloons. Again, how does she remember this stuff? It's been a LONG time since she's been to Red Robin. Anyway, after a great afternoon of shopping, we headed to Red Robin in the mall & met up with some other friends.

The Nutcracker wasn't as great for me this time as it was last time. For one I didn't get to sit with Callie for most of the show. I would be happy to sit through a professional production of Nutcracker, but most of the enjoyment for me seeing this community production is watching Callie. She LOVED it last time & decided she wanted to be a ballerina. It had been great seeing her excitement. So this year I missed out on that. That combined with the embarrassingly revealing tights on the nutcracker. Seriously! It was like a bad train wreck you can't take your eyes off of! I was so distracted! Plus for some reason all the little girls ended up sitting together & I was cringing in my seat for the first 2/3 of the show because of their {lack of} theater ettiquette. I finally couldn't take it any more & I crawled down the row & made the girls scoot so I could sit by Callie & control my kid!

Callie really enjoyed The Nutcracker & still wants to be a ballerina. She loved taking pictures with some of the cast afterwards & also her friends. We ended the night with a stop at McDonald's. Since none of our friends joined us this time I got Callie a milkshake to go & we headed home. Callie was asleep before we were truly out of Boulder, I think. It was great spending the day with my Callie-girl! It had been a fun day hanging out with Abby too & getting our shop on!

Meet Sparkle, our friendly Elf on the Shelf

Did you know about Elf on the Shelf during the Christmas season?

At the beginning of the Christmas season we received a special delivery. A
nice little elf & a book just about him & his friends! The kids named our
elf Sparkle, despite my persistent suggestions of Eggnog or Jolly or
Mistletoe. Sparkle came to live with our family through Christmas Eve so
that he could watch & listen to everything the children said or did, whether
naughty or nice, during the weeks leading up to Christmas. Then each night
Sparkle would fly back to Santa to report on their behavior during the day.
The night we first met Sparkle the kids were better than they've ever been
in their lives! It was harder & harder for them to remember Sparkle was
watching during the holidays, so sometimes I'd walk over to Sparkle & tell
him something one of the children had done that was really nice. Or really
naughty! That usually led to pleas to not tell Santa & promises to be good
& apologies when needed! After Sparkle would visit Santa during the night
he'd return to our house in a new location. The kids loved to look for
Sparkle each morning! There were some special rules though - the children
were not to touch Sparkle no matter what or he could lose his magic! Also,
they could talk to Sparkle but he could not talk to them. He was a very
good listener though and would hear all about what they wanted for Christmas
or about things that had happened during their day! He could also talk to
adults. Not when the kids could hear though. On Christmas Eve as the kids
were running to their beds they turned back to tell Sparkle goodbye and
they'd miss him until he returned next year! Next Christmas you definitely
need an Elf on the Shelf of your home! :)

Here are some of the places Sparkle watched & listened from:

Did I feel bad about our visitor? Maybe a little. Will Sparkle come again
next year? Absolutely!

One thing I thought was hilarious was that the night I introduced the elf to
the kids & told them about the magic Callie said, "You're wrong mom. He's
just made out of plastic & fabric sewn together. That's not magic!" Of
course I explained exactly how it was magical, but I wonder if she will stop
believing, and not just in Sparkle. His magic won't be the same if she
doesn't believe.