Hometown Christmas Weekend

Versailles kicked off the Christmas season in town this weekend with their Hometown Christmas festivities.  We went on Friday evening for the lights, Santa and carriage rides.

I love this picture!

We ate at Sideliner's first, then walked to The Square for the festivities.  Santa was very busy listening to all of the boys' and girls' wish lists.  The line was super-long, so we decided to just walk close to Santa and see what he was doing.  Vera was fascinated with him, but not at all afraid.  Santa is watching!

After talking with some friends and babysitter buddies, we decided to get in line for the wagon ride.  The line was long, and it was chilly.  Vera passed the time by checking out the lights, the fountain, people watching, and running around like a maniac.

We spotted Uncle Brian, who was helping with the horse rides.  Vera hung out with him for a while too and got a front row view of the horses and carriages. 

The ride wasn't really long, but it was fun to cruise around town in the dark and see all of the lights.

On Saturday morning, we went back to town for more events. 
First, we went to Wick-It and made a candle Christmas ornament, which turned out pretty cute!

We walked to Kristina's house for the parade.  It was the shortest parade I've ever watched, but Santa was at the end on the fire truck.  Another reminder that Santa is always watching!

After the parade, we walked to the old fire station for more activities. 

Vera the firefighter and also firefighting dogs.

We got some free Sweet Shop rolls and then got in line for Santa.  Vera walked right up to him and told him that she wanted Ariel for Christmas.  No hesitation and no crying.

We moved on to the face painting.  Vera chose the butterfly design, sat really still, and was really excited about the finished product.

Vera the butterfly.  The glitter was a mistake, because as you know, Adam and I hate glitter.  Vera, on the other hand, was so happy to be a butterfly!

The butterfly was so sleepy.  She fell asleep watching Toy Story when we got home.

After a nap, a snotty nose, a messy pizza face, and simply being two years old, this is what the butterfly looked like that evening.  It lasted until about 7 that night when we decided to do some scrubbing before bed.

Santa is watching!

We've been talking about Santa Claus a lot lately, mostly because Vera has been pushing our patience.  She chronically has a hard time listening, even after we ask calmly and politely 4-5 times.  We're also trying to work on the crying.  Daily, we have some sort of crying episode and dramatic production over things like eating breakfast, fixing her hair, putting on a coat, getting in the bath, getting out of the bath, getting dressed, going potty, washing hands, going to bed... I could go on...

She's also been awfully ornery too.  Here's what she's been up to...

Adam was gone one evening, and I walked in the living room to find this.  Not sure what she was trying to do.  I'm guessing she just couldn't resist the cords hanging within her reach.

One day this week as I picked Vera up from Patty's, she insisted on having her crayons from her diaper bag.  She was jabbering the whole way home.  I was extremely tired (from no sleep the night before) and not feeling the greatest, so I was glad she was content.   When I went to get her out of her car seat, I discovered why she was so content. 

The picture doesn't fully illustrate just how much crayon was all over the pants.  I didn't have the energy to be upset about it.  I just told her that it made me sad, that we only color on paper, and Santa is watching!

The only thing Vera wants for Christmas this year is this:

I have no idea how she knows who Ariel is, but anytime you ask her about Christmas, she's sure to tell you about how badly she wants Ariel.  We got a toy book in the mail about a month ago, and she spotted this inside.  I guess that's how she knows this thing exists.  The toy book was open to this page for several days straight, and it was a serious crisis when we "lost" Ariel in the book.  To me, it doesn't look that cool, but if that's what she really wants....   I remembered to snap this picture from the ad before recycling the toy book.  (Side note to our family:  Please don't run out and buy this for Vera for Christmas.  She's already sat on Santa's lap and told him all about it!)

Vera thinks, at this point, that she's entitled to Ariel.  We keep telling her that she needs to be a big girl everyday because Santa is always watching!!

Baking with Mom

Last weekend, it was cold and dreary so I decided to bake some cookies to warm up the house.  I asked Vera to help me make some pumpkin cookies.  She was thrilled to stand up on the stool and help.  Her job was to dump the ingredients in the mixing bowl.  She also helped count cups and spoonfuls as we measured. 

Vera's first batch of cookies.  Hopefully she continues to enjoy baking and has many more successful batches!

Happy Autumn!

I really love fall.  It's nice to have crisp mornings and warm sunny days.  I also love fall decorations, and watching nature's beauty as the leaves change.  However, it's sometimes bittersweet because I know that when fall comes around, winter is knocking on our door.  It seems like it got cold really quickly, or at least faster than I was ready this year.  It also seems that the leaves were really late to fall this year. 

We finally went out last weekend to rake leaves and jump in them.  We'd been talking about jumping in leaves for a few weeks, but it never seemed like we had enough to make it worth our time to rake. 

We ran out of daylight very quickly, and it was really cold by the time we were done.  Vera had to wear mittens because her poor little fingers were frozen. 

She had so much fun picking up small bunches of leaves and making her own small piles all over the yard.  It was quite counterproductive for her mom and dad, but she had fun!

Such an imagination!

I love Vera's age right now because she's so imaginative and innocent.  It's really fun to play with her.  For example, about a month ago my mom and I made this fleece blanket for Vera's bed.  (It's super-warm and snuggly!  It turned out really nice.) 

We had some scraps left over, and Vera has been playing with the square "patches" nonstop.  In fact, when we got home from making the blanket, Vera slept with the patches in her bed that night.  The next day, one was missing and after ransacking the bed, we had to call grandma to see if we left it at her house.  Grandma had to dig through her trash to check, and came up with nothing.  These patches have gone to doctor's appointments, been washed, served as blankets, pillows, bandages, eye patches, and many other pretend items.

For instance...

This is a McDonald's toy Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, and she was sleeping tonight.  I found her tucked in just like this.  Pretty cute!  I've also found mermaids covered up just like this.

Vera and I were playing doctor tonight, and she used two of these as bandages on my legs.  This one was my pillow to lay on.  She actually made me lay my head down on this.  Too funny.

Adam and I keep saying that Vera doesn't need anything for Christmas because she's more than content playing with random trinkets and scraps just like these. 

Trick or Treat 2013

The chicken costume was a hit.  I bought it at a garage sale in April for $3 and I got it out a few weeks ago to be sure it fit.  Vera was thrilled to put it on.  Immediately she started saying "Bock! Bock!" and trying to "peck" us. 

Shake your tail feather!  :)

We had a lot of fun this year for trick or treat.  Adam taught Vera the jingle "Trick or treat, smell my feet.  Give me something good to eat."  Thank goodness he didn't teach her the rest.  She thought it was fun to sing the song as family and friends greeted her at their door.  We made the same rounds as last year.  Grandma & Grandpa's, where we also saw Aunt Mandy, Uncle Jeff, and Mr. Blake the peanut. 

Later we stopped to see Uncle Steve (and Aunt Lindsey, who we missed) and Patty, and Kristina.  Our last stop was at Grammy & Papa's where we saw Uncle Brian, Aunt Mindy and Bailey the pirate. 

Thanks to everyone for the nice treats!  On our way home from trick-or-treating, Vera asked if she could do it again.  She also asked on Monday and Tuesday if she could go.  I don't think she'll be forgetting what it means to go trick or treating. 

These are silly glasses that Patty bought as a treat for Vera since she's been doing such a good job with her school work.  Happy Halloween from our little spook!