Could There be a Seamstress in our House?

Last week Zoe talked me into buying her a kid's teddy bear sewing kit. As you all know, Zoe is all about anything that has to do with art. As I stood in the store reading about the kit, I promised Zoe that she could work on it after dinner that evening. So, as soon as the table was cleared & the dishwasher started, I helped her piece the pre-fab pattern together & showed her how to start a stitch. Before too long, she was well on her way to sewing her first ever item. After a little help & some extremely good patience, Zoe introduced Snowflake to her daddy. What do you think? Pretty good, huh? (Perhaps, she'll learn how to use a sewing machine - something this Mama never had any interest in!!! And still doesn't!!!!)

PS - As you all have guessed by now, Zoe made it home safe & sound yesterday from her field-trip with her friend. I told her that I missed her & thought about her all day. Her reply - "Sorry Mom, but I was too busy having fun to even think about you!!!"

A Nervous Nelly!!!!

Those of you that know me or have been around long enough, know that I am, for the most part, calm, cool, & collective. Not too much bothers me. I pretty well let things roll off my shoulders & not worry too much. Well, the time has come & I must admit that I am a Nervous Nelly. You see, today Zoe is on her first "official" out-of-town outing with a friend. She was asked by Kylie to go to the Science Center with her family. As you can imagine, Zoe was very excited & has talked about it for days. I'm excited for her too, but yet, very nervous on the inside. Paul & I both gave Zoe the talk about staying with Kylie's parents, not running off, no talking to strangers, etc. (As we did, Zoe just rolled her eyes & stated over & over - I know! I know!) Deep down I know that she will be fine & have a blast. Until she gets home, I'll keep myself busy - cleaning, laundry, grading papers, etc. (Believe me, I have plenty to do to keep my mind off it it!)

Christmas Memories

Christmas Eve we always go to Paw Paw Frank's & Grandma Donna's house. We enjoy visiting with family, eating, & watching the kids open their presents.

Alex, Zoe, Tiffany, & Tristan

Zoe snuggling up to Daddy in her new cheerleading outfit!

Zoe showing off the butterfly she created with her Bendaroos from Aunt Leeshe!

Before going to bed, Zoe wrote a note to Santa, left the reindeer food, sat out milk & cookies for Santa, & put the "Magic Key" in our door so Santa could get in the house.

Santa's note...

Putting reindeer food on the porch.

Milk, cookies, note, & napkins... All for Santa!

Hanging the "Magic Key" on the doorknob.

Christmas morning Zoe found the presents Santa left her & then she opened the ones we had bought her.

Looking through her stocking!

A new book...

Around mid-morning we headed to Paul's cousin's house to celebrate with the other side of the family.

Zoe & Maw

Zoe & baby Gabby!

Then it was on to Paw Paw & Nana's. We had a light supper & visited with my side of the family. It's always so fun seeing all of the cousins & hanging out with them. Zoe had someone follow her around all night - cousin Gracie! (Hard to believe that she'll be 2 in a few weeks!)

Zoe & Gracie!!!

Cookies for Santa

Every year Paul & Zoe make No-bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies for Santa. It's an old family recipe on Paul's mom's side. I'm not really sure who enjoys making them more - Paul or Zoe!

Measuring the peanut butter out.

Watching it boil while Daddy stirs it on the stove.

Smiling for the camera!

Scooping out the cookie mixture on the wax paper.

A BIG scoop!

Loving everything about cookies!

From the looks of the cookies this morning, they are going to be delicious for Santa! After we get home from Paw Paw Frank's & Grandma Donna's Zoe will sit out a plate of cookies & a glass of milk for Santa. I'm sure he'll only leave a few crumbs, just like every year!

Christmas Card & Cookies

Zoe & I plan to enjoy our first day of holiday break away from school - sleeping in, helping Dad at the funeral home, running errands, etc. Tonight though Christmas cookies must be made. This is a tradition of Zoe & her daddy. No-bake chocolate oat cookies. Just happens to be Santa's favorite around our house! For some reason he only leaves crumbs on the plate left out for him! Doesn't seem to matter how many are put on the plate - 2, 4, 5, etc. - he eats them ALL!

Hope you have a Merry Christmas & enjoy some cookies yourself!

We made it home from North Carolina Monday evening just in time for Paul & I both to get back in the car & head to meetings. Overall, our "little vacation" (as Zoe called it) was uneventful, but wonderful too. It was nice to get away & enjoy each other's company. Here are some highlights of the trip:

Casey graduating!

Zoe writing on the graduation program during the ceremony.

Fog coming over the mountains in North Carolina.

Zoe doing a bow-n-arrow (a cheerleading move) in the hotel pool in West Virginia on the way home. (Notice: without floaties!!!!)

And yet, another cheerleading move! Zoe is ALL about cheerleading!

On a Little Trip

Hello from North Carolina!!! We made a mad dash here for a college graduation. We left our house this morning at 5 AM & arrived at our hotel about 12 hours later. Zoe was a trooper in the car, never complaining once. However, as soon as we checked in we headed to eat & then came back to the hotel so Zoe could swim. (Ignore the mismatched floaties, Paul was in charge of finding them & loading them in the car!)

It's been a long day so we are headed to bed! Have a great weekend. Will check in tomorrow night!

Melton the Warm Hearted Snowman

Last night was Zoe's school's Christmas concert. The kindergarten & first & second grades sang a couple of songs & put on a little skit about Melton the Warm Hearted Snowman. Zoe wasn't too thrilled about going because she did NOT want to wear the dress I had picked out for her. Well, after a little tough love, she finally went back to being her old self - bubbly sweet Zoe. So, we did what this Mama loves to do & took a few pictures.

Posing by the Christmas tree in the living room.

And now by the Christmas tree in her newly re-decorated bedroom.

Then it was off to the concert. Zoe was the "bottom row riser leader". (And let me tell ya, she was proud of her title!!!!)

Sneaking a peek at mom & dad!

Singing about Melton...

All the kiddos....

And then we see this face. (Come to find out, her panty hose had ripped!)

A smile for the camera...

Flipping her hair as she sings...

And one last concert smile!

Afterwards we took Zoe's friend Avery & her brother Brendan with us to eat pizza & then to our house to wait for their parents. Soon after getting home, Zoe & Avery decide to put pajamas on. (My kind of girls!)

All dolled up & no where to go!!!!

Art Show

Zoe's school's Christmas program is later this week. Along with it, there is an art show featuring the students' work. Zoe's kindergarten class got to pick out two items each to display. Zoe's told us a little about one of the projects she selected, but tells us the other one is a surprise. If either one of them is anything like the other art projects she brought home yesterday, we are gonna be impressed. (I think the girl's got talent!!!!) Check 'em out for yourself:

Zoe's leaf collection she did with chalk.

Fish & seaweed by sponge painting.

Her self-portrait from paint & crayons.

A fish (her footprint) made from Acrylic Ink.

A raccoon from construction paper & a paper plate.

Zoe's hand monster using colored pencils.

My Little Turkey

Zoe's school's PTO had been conducting a Turkey Raffle to raise money. Last Friday there was an all-school assembly to draw the winning tickets. Each ticket's seller was announced as well as the name of the winners. Zoe was so excited when her name was the very first seller drawn. Little did she know that her name would be announced 4 more times for selling winning tickets. (Kind of crazy that of the 40 winning tickets drawn, Zoe had sold 5 of them.) As you can imagine, she couldn't wait to get home from school & tell her dad all about it. Here she is all dressed up in her Turkey Hat that her kindergarten class made special just for the assembly!

Won't You Help?!

Amy is a new blogger at Lots O Kidz. She is currently doing a very unique fundraiser that all of us need/should participate in. Why? Because it costs us nothing! You see, Amy did a post the other day about being Thankful. In that post she asks readers to leave a comment and for every comment left, she is going to donate $1 to the Starfish Foster Home in China. How cool is that? Amy set a goal of $1000 by the end of November. Could anything get any easier? Head on over here & leave Amy a comment letting her know what you are thankful for this holiday season. And best of all, you will be helping her reach her goal of $1000 to help those children left behind who are just longing for their forever families.

It Happens Every Time!!!!

I don't know why it surprises me because it happens every time. You see, Zoe loves cheerleading. I mean everything cheerleading. She just can't get enough of it. Whenever we go to a basketball game, she is enthralled with the cheerleaders. She watches their every move. So often when we get home from a game, she immediately goes to her room & becomes Zoe the cheerleader. Sometimes she puts on one of the two real uniforms she has, or she'll just make a uniform out of whatever clothing she finds first.

So, why would I think last Saturday would be any different?! We had attended Cousin EJ's college game & then made it to Cousin Caleb's jr. high game. Zoe was really loving Caleb's game because Cousin Bethanie was cheering.

Shortly after arriving home, I'm coming out of the laundry room & sure enough, I turn the corner to only be greeted by this:

Zoe the Cheerleader!!!!

Looking for a Christmas Card? Look no further!

Okay, those of you that know me, realize that I have a passion for our Christmas card. Every year I search on-line for a unique but perfect photo card. I started looking a little early this year. And did I ever find the perfect card!!!!

I just happened to stumble across this etsy shop & boy, am I glad I did. You must check it out for yourself. The quality of work is unbelieveable. Breanna is so easy to work with & very fast. In fact, I had a proof within 12 hours. I did end up asking her to reduce the size of our card once I realized I had enough credits at Sn*pfish for printing all 300 cards that we send out. That wasn't a problem either. After sending Breanna the e-mail, I had the final proof with the size correction within 2 hours. Now how's that for service?! (By the way, you can either use her printing service, or you can have them printed yourself.)

Anyway, I'm not going to tell you what card we chose, but just know, that I will post it on-line closer to the holidays!!!! Until then, go check out her site for yourself. You never know, you might just find your perfect holiday photo card!!!!

Gotta Love How She Thinks!!!!

So yesterday Zoe & I went to cousin EJ's college basketball game. As we are watching it, Zoe leans over & asks: "Mom, is EJ in 8th grade?" I explain to her that he's a sophomore in college which would be the same as being in 14th grade. She was okay with that.

Later as we're driving home from the game Zoe says: "You know, Mom, if EJ was younger, I'd probably marry him!"

Got me thinking......perhaps that's why she was hoping he was only in 8th grade!

(Don't ya love the crown: the price tage thing-a-majigger & all?!)

Miss Todd

Zoe decided last week that she wanted to turn her playroom into a classroom. She loves playing school so it sounded like a great idea. (Plus, it made for an easy agreement for the room to get cleaned!!) I told Zoe that I would pick up a few things for her "classroom" at the teachers' store. She requested a calendar chart with the months of the year & numbers for the days. She also wanted some sticker charts & stickers.

We set her "classroom" up the other night & she has been "teaching" every day since. She reads to her students, sings songs, teaches the letters of the alphabet, & even teaches a little bit of math.

Here's she singing the months of the year song!

(She's really into it!)

A few of her interested students!

The students' sticker charts....

So, last night, Zoe asked her daddy to join her in her "classroom". While they were in there playing, this is the conversation I hear between the two of them:

Paul - "My feelings are kind of hurt that you didn't want to turn your playroom into a funeral home."

Zoe - "Well, I want to be a teacher like Mommy."

Paul - "Why can't you be both?"

(Zoe doesn't answer!)

Paul - "You know, Zoe, we could clear out that closet over by mom's scrapbook stuff & make that into like a funeral home. That way you could play funeral home director like me in that room just like you're playing teacher like mom in this room."

Zoe - (After a several seconds of thinking about) "Um, no. Not gonna happen!"