Sunday, December 26, 2010

Christmas Eve & Day 2010

Eve
We started out the evening with the traditional Brown family meal of chicken fondue, crescent rolls, and apples with dip. 

Then we cuddled up on the couch, read the Christmas story from Luke and sang Christmas carols while Matt played his guitar.

We left cookies and milk for Santa, and Willa went to bed.  Willa played along, but I'm not sure how much she really understood.

Matt and I turned into little elves and filled the stockings and pulled out presents.  We were excited to pull out Willa's gifts and fill the stockings.  Matt left around 9 pm to work all night (of course).

Christmas Day

Willa woke up at her normal 7:30 am time, but I had to keep her busy for a couple hours until Matt got home.  She didn't mention Santa so it was no big deal.  We just hung out upstairs and read books.

When Matt arrived we went downstairs and opened presents.  Willa was very excited.  She ran around and squealed and talked a lot about Santa.


Willa's big Santa gift was a wooden kitchen.  She adores it.  We spent the rest of the day relaxing, napping, talking to family on the phone, and eating a big ham and cheese potatoes dinner.

Friday, December 24, 2010

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Advent Dec 21, 22, 23

Day 21:  Play in the Snow Take a walk and play at the park
I thought maybe we'd get some snow during December, but that hasn't happened.  It warmed up to 61 degrees so Willa and I put on our sneakers, walked to the park, and played like it was summer.

Day 22: Go to the zoo and admire the Christmas lights and ice skaters
It was cold for Memphis (41 degrees) so we bundled up and drove downtown to the zoo.  Matt and I were a little disappointed by "the best light show in Memphis."  Toledo zoo and Temple Square do way more lights, but we still enjoyed being outside and walking around and seeing the lights.

Day 23: Go to the Christmas story time at the library
We hadn't been to story time in a long time.  It was fun to be in our old stomping ground in Cordova.  We ran into friends we hadn't seen and of course saw Ms. Sharon, the librarian, and the zebra statue.  We need to go to story time more often.

Advent 18, 19, 20

Day 18:  oops, the day got away from us and we never did the advent tree

Day 19:  make a Christmas craft

Day 20:  lay under the tree and sing Christmas carols
We laid in the dark with the tree lights on, sang some carols, and shook jingle bells.  Matt continued the activity as I started dinner.  He pulled out his guitar and played carols for Willa as she ran around shaking her jingle bell.

Friday, December 17, 2010

15, 16, & 17

Day 15:  Bake cookies.  Eat some and give some away.
We made chocolate chip cookies.  I thought Willa was a bit young to actually decorate sugar cookies and enjoy it for more than 1 or 2 cookies.  So we made my favorite.  We gave some away to friends from church.

Day 16:  Open an early Christmas present.
We had FHE late this week (Thursday night).  For our activity Willa opened an early Christmas present...a bowling set.  And then we played.  She loves it, but prefers to knock down each pin individually with the ball while she holds it.  We'll have to work on learning the real way to bowl.

Day 17: Make a Christmas craft
They're actually foam penguin door hangers, but Willa wanted to put them on the tree.  Is it obvious which one is mine and which is hers?  I think she did pretty well for a 22 month old.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

days 11, 12, 13, & 14

Day 11:  Turn on Christmas music and dance
I videotaped Willa dancing, but I cannot get it uploaded.  I'm giving up.  She's such a funny, little dancer.

Day 12:  Watch the Nativity DVD
It's 5 minutes long and Willa LOVED it.  She loves all things baby Jesus.  We watched it 4 times at Willa's request.

Day 13:  Write Santa a letter and then visit him at the Bass Pro Shop
With my guidance Willa asked Santa for toys and treats in her drawing.  Matt had the day off so we all visited Santa and then went out to lunch.  Willa was scared of Santa and wouldn't get close to him.  But she was willing to take the candy cane and eat it up.  She is still talking about being "scared of Santa."  Winter Wonderland at Bass Pro Shop is fun.  Go if you live close to one.

Day 14:  Eat off of festive plates all day
This is an easy one and was actually fun.  Willa got a kick out of the paper reindeer plates.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Advent Days 9 & 10

Day 9:  Make Christmas cards
I pulled out paint and glitter.  Willa had a grand old time despite feeling rotten from a cold, and surprisingly, she didn't make a big mess.

Day 10: Buy presents for the girl from the Angel Giving Tree
I told Willa we were going to the store to buy her angel from the tree a present. Willa picked out a doll. I picked out a few other things. Willa kept saying baby for angel. Then we dropped the gifts off. Willa gave the doll to the lady without protesting. I think she sort of got the idea that we were buying gifts for another little girl.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

advent 2010 - days 5, 6, 7, & 8

Day 8:  Find the perfect Christmas Tree
We went live this year for the first time.  We think it's pretty much perfect. 

(I know we need to start weaning Willa from her binkie, but first we are tackling potty training. That's enough fun for the moment.)
Next up...decorations.

Day 7: Watch a Christmas DVD
This DVD was a door buster at a Christian book store. I thought I'd try it since Willa loves her nursery rhymes music DVD. Willa likes it and I don't mind watching it with her. It's 30 minutes of religious Christmas songs with videos of little kids and real animals and objects.
 
Day 6:  Choose a name off the Giving Tree at the mall
We went to the mall and picked a girl Willa's age.  Willa had fun picking the paper off the tree and handing it to the lady.  Buying the gifts will be another day.  We also passed Santa while we were there so we stopped and waved to him.  Willa liked seeing him and told me how he was going to come down our chimney and leave presents in her broken toddler speak, but she had no desire to get any closer.

Day 5: Add the 3 wise men to your nativity and talk about them
Willa has quite the nativity.  And she plays with it everyday.  My mom bought all three Little People sets for her last year.  It worked out really well to give her a few pieces at a time.  I think she had more fun and definitely understood the Christmas story better.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Advent 2010 - days 3 & 4

I already had to change things around a little.

Day 3:  Buy a new Christmas book and read it (a hundred times).
Willa added that last part.  I love the Bug Book series by David Carter.  If you're looking for a cute pop up book, check out the Bug Books.  We already had two of them.  Jingle Bugs did not disappoint.


Day 4:  Go to a Christmas Parade and take a family picture for the "Joy" photo ornament.
It was the perfect day for a parade.  A bit chilly, but warm in the sun.  Willa loved the parade and loved the sucker she got that turned her tongue blue.

We were talking to Willa about Santa while he was approaching to get her excited to see him.  She spotted him (or so we thought) and opened her mouth as wide as possible while grinning and got so excited.  We started laughing because we were shocked that she was actually thrilled to see Santa.  Then she said, "horse."  There were 10 or so real horses after Santa and she was thrilled to see them, not Santa.  ha-ha.  She didn't care one bit about Santa.  (She did thank Heavenly Father for Santa in her prayer tonight though and left out the horses so she must like him a little.)

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Advent 2010 - the whole list

I decided to copy and paste the whole list on the blog just in case I need it one day.

1. Add Jesus, Mary, & Joseph to your nativity and talk about Jesus’ birth
2. Make paper snowflakes and decorate the window
3. Take a family photo, print it, & put it in the “JOY” ornament
4. Go to a Christmas parade (Lakeland 11 am, Arlington 2 pm, or Bartlett 4 pm) - don’t forget to bring hot chocolate
5. Add the 3 wise men to your nativity and talk about them
6. Choose a name off the Giving Tree at the mall and buy presents for that child
7. Get a new Christmas book and read it.
8. Make and mail Christmas cards to grandparents, aunts, and uncles
9. Bake chocolate chip cookies. Eat half and give half away.
10. Listen to Christmas music and dance in the morning.  In the evening go to a Christmas concert.
11. Go to a Christmas Parade (Germantown 2 pm)
12. Watch The Nativity church video about Christ’s birth and in the evening take a walk or drive to see Christmas lights and decorations
13. Eat with festive plates all day
14. Talk about Santa and write him a letter
15. Visit Santa at the Bass Pro Shop
16. Go to the zoo and admire the lights and ice skaters – don’t forget the hot chocolate
17. Take a bubble bath with festive bubble bath. Make Santa beards.
18. Make a Christmas craft in the morning.  In the evening go to the Botanical Gardens to see the lights and snow.
19. Record a video
20. Sing Christmas carols and lay under the tree looking at the lights
21. Open an early Christmas present
22. Make Christmas snack mix
23. Go to the Christmas story time at the Library
24. Read the Christmas story from Luke 2 around the fire pit
25. Merry Christmas!  Call and wish JoJo & PaPa and Grandma & Grandpa Wetzel a Merry Christmas.

* Extra:  Play in the snow (I printed it and tucked it behind the tree just in case it snows)

Advent 2010

I am totally copying my friend, Sharon, this year and starting a new tradition of doing an advent calendar that is full of little holiday "assignments" for Willa.  I've been planning it for weeks and am really excited about it.  The assignments are a mix between religious and secular.  I pulled out Matt's call schedule and my (nearly empty) calendar and planned some fun stuff.  So far it has been a hit.


Day 1- Add Jesus, Mary, and Joseph to your Little People nativity and talk about Jesus’ birth.
We set up her nativity minus Jesus, Mary, and Joseph (and minus the wise men set. That will come another day) over Thanksgiving weekend.  Willa was so excited to add baby Jesus.  We had Mary ride the donkey and Joseph walk to Bethlehem (across the room) and then added baby Jesus once they got there.  She's been carrying baby Jesus around and feeding him milk the last two days.


Day 2 - Make paper snowflakes and decorate the window
Willa was a little young for this one.  But she had fun telling me which shapes to cut and then opening them up and pointing to the shapes on the snowflakes.  She has basically ignored them since they've been on the window.  The scotch tape was more fun to play with than the snowflakes.  I like to look at them though.

After Willa completes the "assignment," she earns a piece of a magnetic nativity for the refrigerator.  I printed this one off, mounted each piece on cardstock, laminated them, and then added magnets.  It turned out really cute.  And better yet, Willa really likes it.  The link has pdf files of the individual pieces if you want a copy. http://lds.about.com/od/visualmusicalaids/a/adventcalendar.htm

Kids make the holidays so fun!

Sunday, November 28, 2010

thanksgiving

Matt worked Thanksgiving day.  Surprise, surprise.  He went in at 8 am on Thursday morning and got off on Friday around 10 am.  He's doing his pediatric radiology rotation right now so he's at a different hospital and they don't do a night float rotation there.  So for two months we have to deal with a crazy schedule, 24+ hour calls, and overnight call every 4th night.  Man, I am so glad his entire residency isn't like this.

We celebrated Thanksgiving on Friday with a big, traditional Thanksgiving dinner with our friends, the Dyals.  They hosted and cooked the turkey.  They moved their big dinner to Friday so Matt could be with us.  How nice is that?  We, of course, ate too much and had a good time.

Willa and I spent the actual Thanksgiving day at home, but we did a few things to make it special.  Willa took a shower with me which she LOVES and then we put on comfy sweats.  I spread out a big blanket in front of the TV and we had a picnic on the floor while we watched the Macy's Day Parade.  We ate summer sausage and cheese and crackers.  We had dip and apples.  And we had chocolate milk with straws.  Willa was in heaven.  She is an avid milk drinker but she hadn't had chocolate milk before.

In the afternoon, Willa took a great nap and I Christmas shopped on line.  When she woke up, we pulled out the Christmas decorations, blasted Christmas music, danced and decorated.  Willa loves the decorations.  We only have unbreakable ornaments on our tree so she got to play with all of them and hang them on the tree by herself.  She preferred to put 3 or 4 ornaments on one branch instead of spacing them out evenly.  And she liked to group similar ornaments together.


After decorating, we made pumpkin cookies to take to the Dyals.  I measured and Willa "helped" me pour the ingredients in the mixer.  Several spoonfuls of flour and sugar ended up on the floor and counter.

Pictures?  Of course not.  But I still wanted to write a little narrative so I could remember our special holiday.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

trick or treat

Willa was a cat for Halloween.  She adores cats right now. You want to get her talking?  Then bring up the subject of cats or better yet, show her a real cat.  Meow.



We had a busy Halloween weekend.  Friday night we went to our old ward's Trunk or Treat.  Saturday night we went to a Halloween party at a fellow resident's house.  And Sunday night we went trick or treating around the neighborhood.


Willa very quickly caught on to the idea of trick or treating and loved it.  She would repeat "Trick or Treat" and "thank you" on command.


At the Trunk or Treat, she happily walked up to the first person, said her lines, and got her candy. But then she threw a little tantrum because I wanted her to move on to the next person, and she wanted to eat her newly acquired pixie stick. I gave in. She dumped most of it on the ground on accident. There were maybe 40 "trunks" to visit but we only got half way around the parking lot. Willa just couldn't understand why I wanted to move from person to person without eating the candy. She would visit 3 or so trunks and then insist on eating another piece of candy. But who could blame her? She hadn't seen so much candy in her life.


We went to a few houses as a family on Sunday and then I went back home to pass out candy.  Matt and Willa continued around the neighborhood.  I am happy to say we ran out of candy (and started passing out some of Willa's collection).  Last year we had one trick or treater.  But I guess our new neighborhood gets into the spirit a little bit more.  After Matt and Willa got home, a few more kids came to our front door.  Willa thought it was great fun to be on the giving end as well.

(Moe - I was so burnt out of Halloween when I finally pulled out my camera Sunday night.  Sorry.  These are the best pics I have of Willa the Cat. And I didn't bother with make up even though I specifically bought Halloween make up to draw a nose and whiskers on Willa.)

Monday, November 1, 2010

NC - Day 3

We spent Saturday on the lake.  The sun was warm, but the breeze was chilly.  It was a perfect fall boating day.

The leaves were gorgeous from the lake.




The little girls had a great time.  They loved standing in the front of the boat in the wind.



They loved driving the boat with "PaPa" (as Willa calls my Dad).



And they loved fishing (for about 2.5 seconds).