Early Santa Visit

Me, Mommy and Daddy visited Santa Claus this past Sunday after church. The line wasn't too bad and I was sitting with Santa in about 20 minutes. They took a couple of pictures with me and Santa and this is about the best I could smile for everyone that day.

Mommy and Daddy asked Santa if I told him what I wanted for Christmas. Santa said "she said something, but I'm not sure what. She was talking very softly". Before I saw Santa I told Mommy and Daddy I was going to ask for a Christmas Tree and a kitchen set.

We'll see what happens . . . . and see if Santa thought I was a good girl this year.

Snopocalypse 2010

Me and Mommy outside for the first snowflakes of the season

Daddy and me catching snowflakes with our tongues (yummy)

Little did we know it would turn out like this . . . .

I know, it's not a lot of snow, right?

This is Tuesday afternoon. I didn't have my camera with me at daycare on Monday to take pictures of this mini blizzard that started coming down. The temperatures have been in the mid 20's for the last couple of days and the teens at night. Snow, cold, wind. That led to the nightmare commute that Mommy and Daddy had to endure on Monday night. They tried 2 different ways of getting to my daycare from downtown Seattle. Mommy leaving at 3:00 and Daddy leaving around 5:00. Mommy finally got to me at 7:30. We picked Daddy up later at 9:00.

Mommy said the highlights of her trip was the "party" bus she was on. A lot of good people with good attitudes that were on a bus that at one time traveled approximately 5 blocks in the span of 2 hours.

Daddy said his highlight was getting off a bus after 2 hours and hiking for about 2 miles in the weather to find a kind bus driver that was using his bus as a taxi.

I didn't mind the wait for one of them to arrive. I had a nice lady at daycare that was going to spend the night with me and 3 of my friends if it took Mommy and Daddy too long to get me. Mommy did get me (only 1 hour after closing) but the nice lady spent the night at daycare anyway. She had to go the opposite way to get home. After hearing the stories of the other parents she decided to just stay there.

Whew! What a day. Bonus: Mommy and Daddy stayed at home on Tuesday for the "snow day" :)

Memphis Trip 2010

A month after my trip to Kansas was my trip to Memphis to see Neenee and Pappy, Mimi, Aunt Heather, and my cousins Sam and Ben. Turns out Halloween took place while I was there. What luck!

This is our annual "eating vacation" so we had a lot of good food while we were there. Ben and Sam also showed us the best place to go trick-or-treatin'. Their neighborhood. We got a ton of candy there!

A cup, some gum balls, what else do you need?

Me and Daddy love us some Steak and Shake . . . Mommy likes the shake part

Me, Ben, and Sam inside Zoo Boo

On our way in to Zoo Boo at the Memphis Zoo

Kickin' back on the plane trip to Memphis (don't I look older than 2 in this picture?)

3 Generations with one being a fairy :)

Mimi and me reading one of my favorite books

Well, it looks like it's been since July since I last blogged. Just wanted to post a few pics of my somewhat recent travels to Kansas and Memphis.

First up Kansas where I got to see my Great Grandma, Grandma and Grandpa, Uncle Kenneth and Aunt Lila, and Aunt Gloria and Uncle Lawrence

The weather was great and I saw lots of animals while I was there. Take a look.

Me and Grandpa takin' a ride

Petting the pretty horsey

A family tradition at Great Grandma's house

Me and Mommy in the buffalo field

Mommy's Journal: My latest project

I am so very proud of my latest project. The inspiration came from a couple of different sources. The first one was a few years ago when Chris and I were flying to Denver to visit my family. We were sitting in a row of three seats and our seat partner was a 7 year old girl who was traveling alone to visit her dad. She was very organized and very prepared to keep herself busy during the flight. She had a small wheeled carry-on bag that she kept under the seat in front of her and as soon as we were safely up in the air, she pulled out her case and it was jamb packed full of treasures. The best little gem that she pulled out was a portable chalkboard very much like my new little project that you see here:

It kept her busy for most of the flight. Over the years, both Chris and I had mentioned several times that we would like to find a little travel chalkboard like the one that that little girl had on the flight, but we never ran across anything like it. A couple of weeks ago, we found a travel case that contained dry erase crayons. Since Sophia loves to draw, we thought this would be a great thing to keep with us in the car to keep her occupied... then came the 80 degree weather and 90+ degree temperatures in the parked car, hence melted crayons. Yulk!

This inspired me to do a search on the internet to see if I could find someone who sells this portable and pliable chalk board. I found one source on Etsy.com which is a great website for anyone who wants to buy or sell handmade items. I am particularly drawn to the creative jewelry that I have found through that site, but I digress...

I decided to do a little more searching and WAH LAH, I found this site with step by step instructions on how to make my own Chalk Mat with Storage Pocket. No more melted crayons! Simple, simple, simple. Thank you Maggie Reno for posting this.

As you can see, it folds up very compactly. To the right of the chalk cloth surface are two vinyl pockets. One to keep a damp sponge in for erasing, and the other to hold the chalk. I was so excited about this project that I didn't have the patience to wait to get a sponge before I took these photos.

Sophia and Chris helped me pick out the fabric and I was able to complete the project in a few short hours while Sophia was napping. I just made it today and Sophia has already spent quite a bit of concentrated time drawing on it. She even demanded that she use the back of it as a place mat while she ate dinner... good thing that I made it out of laminated cotton so that it could be wiped clean. hmmmm... perfect to take with us next time we go out to eat. I think I have a few gifts to make now...

Walkin' in Mommy's Shoes

Bear with me while I catch up on my posts... There's been a lot going on and quite a few pictures to share too. I am going to back date my posts so they are in chronological order. I bet you'll see some changes in me too over the last few months... I think my last post was when I was in the hospital. Now look at me. I'm TWO and walkin' in mommy's shoes.