Ugly Sweater Party...ish

I worked hard at arranging the ugliest Christmas clothing ensemble I could for our little family of four this year.  We were headed to a party for the members of our summer pool community and it said "Ugly Sweater Optional."  Who wouldn't join in THAT fun?  After borrowing significantly ugly items for a number of neighborhood sources, we were ready to party.  And we were lookin' ugly. Tim's sweatshirt was radiating colorful Christmas lights, I wore red feathers atop my 100% cotton turtleneck and one-of-a-kind bell adorned boot socks, Squirt was sporting a terrific red snowman sweatshirt with red pants, and Dude had on a questionable winter t-shirt.  We walked in to a group of fashionable, attractive and NOT at all ugly party goers. Awesome.  As 20 additional normally dressed guests arrived, we hid further and further into the corners and continued to fill our glasses with adult beverages.

FINALLY, when we began talking about departing for the night, another appropriately ugly couple arrived.  We cheered out loud and greeted them with Christmas blessings.  Given our enthusiasm, Squirt asked if the man in the ugly sweater was Santa.  See below.  He was not, but Santa did arrive soon after.

 This hunk o burnin' love belongs to me ladies.  And yes, Happiness IS indeed a furry friend.

 This is the face we get from our little questioner of all Santas.  She did buy into this one.

 Dude does not question Santas.  They could be 100 pounds with a black beard and I don't think his trust would waiver.  

 
Mile High Us, at our finest friends.  I hope you had an occasion to don an ugly Christmas outfit this year.  And I hope you weren't alone in your festivities.  

Our Little Poet

Dude's school goes hog wild over Halloween, but for Christmas we were invited to a completely benign of all Christmas spirit poetry reading.  Niceish.  I sat down with the other 2nd grade parents, a bit anxious about what was to come.  All the kids were lined up in two rows, waving at their respective parents.  I was blessed with a stand up, full arm, booty shaking wave.   Mr. Olsen explained that each child would be reading a a poem they wrote while the others sat quietly and listened.  26 children.  Whewww.  Luckily, in between, they sang three songs to break up the quiet space.  I did record some of the singing to demonstrate Dude's affinity for singing in the highest pitch possible. ON pitch, mind you, but definitely 1st Soprano in nature.  Despite my fears, Dude and the other kiddos did a fabulous job of listening and staying squirmy statues.  I was quite proud with the end result.

 Our lifelong friend, Holden.  Check out the studly ensemble!

 Dude's newest bud, Isaac.  I love watching my son grow genuine bonds with other littles.  It warms my mama heart, big time.  

 This child friendly beverage was coined Frogscottle by his teacher.  He came home for four days leading up to the poetry reading, telling me about the benefits of Frogscottle.  Simply put, it makes you fart, or so says the legend.  Come time to drink it, Dude was giddy and nervous because, of course, he believed it would truly make him produce an extreme amount of flatulents.  

     Dude's poem about his favorite color, green.  He's held to this favorite for quite a few years, so I think it's gonna stick.   

And now, the performances for your audio visual enjoyment.  

    

Our Little Star

It's easy to let blogosphere time fly by during the holidays.  We've been having a high time over here. Aside from a ping pong killer cough Squirt and I have been volleying, we're all healthy and happy. Before I highlight Christmas, we need to backtrack a bit.

Squirt's darling Lutheran Preschool puts on an impressive series of Christmas nativity performances (I believe there are 5 or 6 total so as not to overcrowd Bethlehem).  The costumes are priceless.  Our little Blondie was a shining yellow star.  They performed a number of songs, she looked out at the crowd, sang when appropriate, smiled her cheeky smile, waved and waited her turn to get off stage.  Easy shmeazy lemon squeezy, as my kids would say.  This was a very new experience for us parentals as our only preschool experience thus far was Dude standing backward the entire performance due to the bright light and yelling out for them to turn it off. Granted, he sang and did all the correct motions, just facing the wrong direction.  

 She insisted on the cowgirl plastic boots.  It added character to Bethlehem.  

 Our dear friend, Molly, posed as a chicken.  She referred to herself as a "Honker," which was enjoyable.  

 Cookies and juice in Miss Claire's classroom following the big show.  

We're blessed to have a Dad who values this stuff and makes our baby girl feel uber special.  She'll be in 6th grade and warding us off before we know it, so we're doing our best to eat up this stuff. There's nothing quite like the simplicity of this age.  Good job on your star performance sweet cheeks. We're so proud of how naturally you shine!

Perhaps the Cutest Date Ever

Squirt and her new found joy, Miss Molly, have a 3 year old bond that causes us parents to both clench our hearts and widen our eyes.  The cuteness is beyond measure, as is the spunk and boldness of personality.  They have each found their match.  Dara and I decided to take the girls on a Monday Christmas date.  We chose a ride on the Light Rail to Union Station, downtown Denver.  Neither had ever experienced the excitement of our Light Rail and Union Station was just remodeled, making it a lovely destination rather than gloomy and non-destination-like.We had tea and crumpets (not really, but it sounded charming) at Union Station, visited the book store, hung out by the giant Christmas tree and visited the ladies room approximately 4 times.  3 year olds have to empty their bladders every 4 minutes. It's really quite obnoxious.  We then took the shuttle to Larimer and had lunch at The Market before we headed back home on the train.  

I'll start by apologizing for the redundancy of subject in the photos below  Molly and Squirt will be a common theme, but they're photogenic enough that I figure you'll survive.  We gifted Molly with her Christmas present at the beginning of our day.  It was essential that Squirt's baby Stella had a twin, so Molly now owns her very own Stella.  This only added to the cuteness that was our date.

 We arrived right in time for our train, but again, 3 year olds have to pee every 4 minutes.  After taking care of that exaggerated need in an office building that typically does NOT allow train passengers to use their private restrooms, we missed that train.  By 10 seconds.  The next one ended up being out of service, so nearly an hour later we finally got on a train.  Luckily, it was 60 degrees and one of the bench areas was vomit free. 

 We stopped at famous Denver hotels along the way to admire their Christmas decor.  Stellas got quite the cultural whirlwind their first day on the town.  

 Half an hour of wait time for our home-bound train meant hide and seek for all.  

 We also danced. (The man in the background thought he found a genuine ballerina in my daughter.  He was a bit obsessed and not in a charming way).  

 And we were just darn cute.

  We're so grateful for our new duo, both the little girls and us big girls.  Dara is one of those women that becomes an immediate blessing in your life.  

I hope you're having memorable Christmas dates in your busy schedules too.  Happy week before Christmas friends.

Ho Ho Ho Around Here

The weather outside has been far from frightful, but December has been rather delightful.  We're in full holiday mode around here and are loving every minute.  I can't remember the last November/December that have felt this calm and enjoyable.  Perhaps that's because this is the first year I haven't been gainfully employed.  Yes, that might just be it.  

I have some catch up to do here, so I'll smatter you with a conglomeration of photos from the past month's happs.  

In exchange for heading to the hills to cut down a tree, we headed to what I was assuming was a magical "parking lot" filled with rows and rows of beautiful, affordable, plush trees ready to take home.  I was correct about the plush and beautiful part, but the rest turned out to look like a sketchy used car lot filled with evergreens.  The immediately non-trustable trucker hat gentleman lead us around the lot, refusing to give us any prices, until we found THE tree.  She was gorgeous and for the steal of a deal price of $145 (which he wrote down and showed to us),she could be ours.  We both laughed.  Loudly.  I informed him that Whole Foods would suit us just fine and we would be happy to bring our Christmas tree business there.  He began stuttering and ran off to find "the boss."  The boss, a nervous little man who barked orders to the Christmas tree orderlies, then brought us up front and had "our tree" brought up so he could strike a deal.  He decided on $85.  Tim laughed again and told him we wouldn't spend a penny more than $50.  Another "boss" decided that they would allow it this one time so we could see how fresh it was.  We would be back he said with assurance.  Ok sketchatrons.  We certainly won't, but thanks for the pretty tree.  She does look grand.  

 While we waited for the used tree salesman to "write down" our price. 

 While we waited for "the boss" to haggle a new price.

After those shenanigans, we headed down the street to the go karting track, Dude's fave.  He got a round in and I got some Dad approved photos of the process.

 Love.  This. Shot.  

 "You see Squirt, that will be you in 4 years.  The shifter and the g force and the checkered flag...." That's what I hear.  

 Dad invited Due on the roof for some man time.  Dude could have stayed up there all day.  

One Saturday night we ventured downtown Littleton (one of my favorite charming little spots) for dinner and the Light/Santa Parade with our newish buds.  I'm so thankful for these lovely people. Dara and Molly have become staples in our life.

 Joy joy joy.

We stuck around to meet the man himself.  Squirt has no fear of the jolly, bearded gift giver.  Nor does Dude.  Below, he's saying something like, "Ya know, I would like a magic button that makes the Ninjago guy go from green to black and like I will fly to Saturn and find home building power.  And maybe a robot too."  Santa's face during his speech is rather priceless.

 This comical shot was a perfect vision for what the Santa experience was like for Dara's family.  Jacob is sitting, arms crossed to the left.  He's over Santa at the tender age of 8.  Caroline was ALL about it and Molly is not so subtly burying her entire body into the safe arms of her mother.

 Squirt, in her Sunday best....oh but wait.  We dont have any dress shoes.  So she chose plastic cow girl boots.  I think it only added to the outfit.  

 I've never been good at hair.  I tend to look the same from day to day.  But I refuse to give when it comes to my baby girl.  Not bad huh?  I was impressed enough to take pictures so I could give myself visual pep talks when needed.

 You can see the beautiful red locks on my childhood Cabbage Patch doll, so rudely CHOPPED off by my sweet angel.  AND my daughter refuses to call her by her birth name, "Victoria."   She changed it to "Olivia."  Not cool.  

 Mom, Daughter time in the morning is cherished by both of us.  We were racing cars along the window sill.  How could I resist these shots?  

Tim's step-sister, Aunt Steph, is enrolled at Colorado Christian University in their nursing program and is moving here!!!!  We're stoked to have her in town.  She's a goof ball, just like her mom.

 

The end for now.  I hope you're taking it all in this holiday season.  May the materialistic, marketing gods NOT put you in a crabby trance and may you find time to read a book, fall asleep by your Christmas tree, find an occassion to wear an ugly Christmas sweater, light evergreen scented candles, and reflect on the gift given to us at Christmas.