The Santa Photo!

Flanna and her cousin with old Saint Nick.  Super cute, don't you think?  

Share and Create Family Traditions

Robi's grandfather "Pop" was a train mechanic for most of his adult life, so we've tried to instill in Flannery a love for trains passed down through the generations.  Here she is, playing with our train at the foot of our Christmas tree.  This remote control train set (it's Geotrax brand) has been so wonderful, because it's rather sturdy,  the track is easy to put together, the train can go forward or backward, it's easy to control, and the batteries seem to last forever in the train and controller.  I wish we had more pieces of the track to stretch our train in a wider circuit around the tree--we may have to see if Santa can give us a hand with that wish!


Speaking of Santa, Flannery and her cousin went to see Santa Claus to get photos taken yesterday, and I had NO idea that Flannery was going to ask him for "a baby doll that really peepees and really poo-poos." I really really really reeeeally didn't see that one coming!!  She had been asking for a D.S. for 6 months, so I was just shocked.  And now I have to do some research on which doll that "really pees and poops" is the least annoying in terms of clean up.  The things we have to research as parents.  :)

Anyway, these little Christmas traditions, like the Christmas train and pictures with Santa, bring me such joy.  I love creating predictable and sweet memories for my daughter and niece, and for all my beloved friends and family, really.

What traditions from your childhood do you hold on to?  Have you created any new ones of your own?

The Nutcracker Ballet

Yesterday, we saw the Triangle Youth Ballet's performance of the Nutcracker at a local theater.  It was beautiful!

This was Flannery's first real theater experience, and she really seemed to enjoy it.  When the Sugarplum Fairy danced, I caught Flanna imitating her ballet arm movements from her seat.  So cute!

And after the performance, the dancers came down to the floor and signed autographs for everyone, which was such a treat!  Flannery asked us if one day she could be in the Nutcracker.  Wouldn't that be fun?  We may have to look into ballet lessons.

Flanna and the Sugarplum Fairy

Flannery with Clara

Flannery with the godfather 

What theater production do you just love?

A Day in the Life of a Fairy Princess

Usually, fairy princesses wake up fairly early.  6:30 or 7 a.m. is prime wake-up time for young fairies.  They typically flit around the house in a small huff until they are fed a few tiny morsels (fairy princesses never eat more than 4 bites per meal...unless the meal contains syrup or pizza, in which case fairy princesses can occasionally beckon forth an amazing appetite) and given some novel or sparkly item to engage their attention.  Because fairy princesses are social creatures, do not be surprised if your home is suddenly full of dancing, twirling fairy princesses around midday--this is the natural order of things.


Once the twirling and dancing have tired them out, fairy princesses typically need a bit of a snack.  If you present them with a nutritious meal first, they will begrudgingly take a bite of each item on their plate.  But if you offer snow ice cream for dessert, they will ask for seconds of heaping sparkling icy goodness.

Snow Ice Cream =
Snow + 1/2 cup sugar + 1/2 cup vanilla creamer

By no means are you to provide fairy princesses with seconds of snow ice cream.  This will only lead to a drop in their communal spirit, after which point, you will need to distract said fairy princesses with a trip to a beautiful spot in nature.  This trip in nature will rejuvenate fairy princesses and restore a natural balance within their spirits, which will be evidenced by more twirling and even more dancing.  Then, the fairy princesses will attempt to fly. 

Flying will tucker them out, and eventually, the fairy princesses will follow you back home, where they will listen quietly to a book about fairies or princesses.  After a nice book, fairy princesses will often spot a glittery costume that would look just perfect with a veil, and might transform themselves into fairy princess brides and fairy princess flower girls.  Should this happen, back away slowly and quietly, and go work on your Christmas cards for an hour or so while your fairy princesses are occupied.

How do you find time to do your Christmas cards?  Seriously, I've written maybe 10 so far, and I feel so behind!

The Earliest I've Ever Put up a Tree

This is the earliest I've ever put up my Christmas tree. We usually travel at Thanksgiving, and then I put my tree up a week before we leave to travel again for Christmas, and then I get home after the New Year and feel guilty about keeping the tree up forever, and then I finally take it down mid January.

But not this year!

This year, I'm going to enjoy this tree for a few weeks before we travel for Christmas. I'm going to turn all the lights off in the living room and sip hot cocoa and listen to Christmas music in my pajamas and just stare at the tree.

(I promise I'm not 70 years old--I just like pretty things--and hot cocoa--and pajamas!)




Anyway, you can see that Flanna helped out a lot! (First, by putting every ornament on the same one branch.)



This was just too cute to move right away. But I let my OCD tendencies get the best of me and had to spread them out after a few hours.

Flannery was thrilled to be allowed to use the step-stool to decorate, and even though I kept having visions of her leaning into the tree and taking a face dive straight into the pointy icicle ornaments, she was amazingly careful, and no ornament or 4 year old came to any harm, whew!



Some of my favorite touches on the tree this year are:

the new icicle ornaments I got for a crazy bargain at the end of last season (they add so much shine!)




the tiny bird ornament I've had for 2 years now. It's simple but so cute.



and this special rose bell ornament that used to belong to my Grandma Norma before she passed away. Five years ago, I would've scrunched my nose up at those pink and mauve flowers on a bell, but it just so captures her love of all things pink and shiny, that it makes me smile to see it now.





What special objects do you treasure? And when do you normally put up your Christmas tree?

Share and Create Family Traditions

You're probably tired of hearing me go on and on about the joy that sharing family traditions brings me, but I just had to share this sweet experience. One of my favorite traditions is the holiday visit with Santa Claus. Our local mall has a really great Santa. He's so jolly! We were lucky enough to have my niece visiting with us this weekend, so we took the girls to see Santa a little early in the season. Both of the grandmothers, my hubby, and my sister got to go with us, too, so it was fun to share this tradition with all of them! It was a wonderful visit...not crowded at all, and we topped the day off with dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, which is an old tradition my friend Kelley and I used to share back in Boston. Fun!

During her chat with Santa, Flannery asked for a giraffe with a long neck and a new Baby Alive. Then, on the way out of the mall, she threw a penny in a fountain and wished for a pony.

I love the hope and magic of four year old wishes!








What makes the Christmas season magical for you?