Ab’s boys were both in school the week before Christmas, but SJ and I were home. Ab and I decided to spend the day together, taking Selah June and Jules around with us for some last-minute Christmas shopping.

Leading into the holidays, we started facing a constant stream of toy requests from Little Miss. You don’t realize how much stores stage their displays to push crap on you until you walk into them with young children. If you have never experienced this, let me know. I’ll loan you a kid, and you can enjoy some of this particular kind of fun.

Jeremy and I discovered that Selah June would accept the idea that Santa would review photos of the toys she found that she wanted for Christmas. Though we couldn’t buy them because we were too close to Christmas, we could take pictures of them.

Grammy and Grandpa facilitated Christmas cookies the week before Christmas. All the cousins were together, and it was CRAZY!!!

We decided to do easy and went with premade cookie dough. It was too soft for the kids to really work with, so I soon took over the process of cutting them out.

Mom had stations for each of them. It was funny to see what each kid wanted to use the most. Selah June wanted red sprinkles — all the red sprinkles…

Linda and Madison came to Florida for Christmas this year, and it was a great holiday break. I got to spend a lot of quality time with them and with Selah June, and Christmas Day was wonderful with all the kids at Mom and Dad’s.

After Christmas, we went to a beach condo for some much needed R&R. Selah June loves staying at “beach hotels,” and this was no exception. Though the weather has been crappy — lots of fog and rain, we’ve had a great time visiting with Grandma and Madison and learning about shared family history using Ancestry. Jeremy and I are definitely kissing cousins, and Linda and Mom have had a lot of fun tracing all the branches back to Pennsylvania, looking at draft cards, the census, school yearbooks, and immigration papers. There is definitely a singing bent running through the men in Jeremy’s line. And Jeremy is the spitting image of his grandfather.

Selah June has played with Christmas toys, gone swimming multiple times, and watched movies before and after nap time. It’s been pj and coffee weather, and I’m not complaining.

This marked the first Thanksgiving in Mom and Dad’s house since the remodel. It was really really beautifully decorated. Mom outdid herself.

Somebody photobombed my picture…

The kids uncovered the dress-up clothes, and they all came downstairs at once full of giggles. We made sure to capture this one for the memory books. Liam found a Mexican vest that was perfect for him. Winston turned into Martha Washington. Satie was just beautiful. Sebastian was their puppy. Jules was some kind of orphan on the prairie. And SJ was a ballerina with a super long train that made her Elsa. It was right up against nap time, so sweet Elsa soon turned into Bridezilla when her train wouldn’t stay straight flowing behind her as she walked.

The night before I had to leave for CCAS in Chicago, I realized I had left my computer cord at school. Bummer. So I accepted my fate and let Jeremy know I needed to run up to the office for a second. SJ wasn’t about to pass up the opportunity for an adventure, so she ran to her room to “get herself ready.” She came out looking like a 1980s aerobics instructor with water shoes and a baby.

Stylin’….

She ate soooooo much chocolate while we were up there that she made herself sick.

SJ is really into pretend play. She comes up with elaborate schemes involving evil witches and Ursula, good witches and princesses, lots of babies and little sisters, and usually making potions or cooking. She uses her Calico Critters houses, her dollhouse stairs, her ice cream truck… really anything that can serve as a backdrop to the drama.

Daddy was gone one evening, and we decided to video one of her stories. This one involved Barbie being very frustrated at Minnie Mouse because she wasn’t available at the cash register to take her order. Barbie kind of lost her cool and it all degenerated into a cat fight. Police were called to the scene. It was a nightmare.

November 12, 2018

Satie and Sebastian were staying with Grammy and Grandpa because their parents were out of town. So SJ and I spent the day with them as well so that she could have a playdate. They are growing up so fast…

We went as a family to the Pensacola Arts Festival. Giotta was dancing with her troupe in the kids section of the festival. She’s really really good, and SJ enjoyed watching her and the other girls – especially given her privileged seat in the audience.

SJ also LOVED the kid craft section. She painted rocks, made a magic wand, made sand art, decorated crowns… It was the perfect arts festival experience as far as she was concerned. I can’t say that I saw much of the adult section of the arts festival, but I can say that we did our best to socialized SJ to appreciation of the arts as a maker and enthusiast.