A December Picnic

It is not very often that the snow melts, the sun comes out and the
temperature rises to a pleasant degree. In Cincinnati. In December.
Such an occasion occurred today, the last day of 2010. We were
determined not to miss the opportunity.

We piled in the car, packed up some food and went to our favorite
park. We had no winter hats, no mittens, no coats. In fact, T.J. and I
had iced coffees rather than the warm java we usually have in
December. We all had smiles and excitement for our day together.

We had a picnic of salads and chicken sandwiches and ate outside as a
man flew a kite on the open lawn before us. We found small piles of
snow despite the 65 degrees outside and showed Elliana the joy of
making and throwing snowballs (primarily at me, but I loved it just
the same.) We watched Elliana jog a significant portion of the 1.6
mile trail we went on, and walk most of the rest of it. We laughed at
the echos we created while standing in a tunnel. We added more
memories to our fantastic year together known as 2010. All because of
a December picnic.

And a Merry Christmas was had by all...

Christmas has come and gone, and a very merry Christmas it was! We are blessed with an abundance of family to celebrate the joyous season. Our Christmas festivities began on Sunday, December 20th and proceeded all week until the 26th. Grandparents, cousins, nieces and nephews. Aunts, Uncles and great grandparents too. Our week was a constant reminder of the importance of family, fun and laughter.

It was a wonderfully busy week. New memories were created and possibly new traditions were discovered. A few of my favorite joys are listed below:

The joy of watching Elliana dress up as a princess and twirl in circles while she says "Ana (what she calls herself) princess! Ana pretty!"

The joy of watching Elliana start tearing off her clothing in anticipation of putting on her new "tree-bah bah dress" (Tinkerbell) and Princess Belle shoes.

The joy of watching Elliana marvel at her new presents and dance with excitement.

The joy of watching Elliana's excitement as she set out cookies and milk for Santa on Christmas Eve.

The joy of watching Elliana vaccuum alongside Mommy and getting so excited that her vaccuum was actually picking up things!

The joy of watching Elliana and her cousins ignore the toys around them and find fascination with a box instead.

I love my family and am grateful for the abundance of family this holiday season.

"More Christmas show, please!"

On Saturday, we took Elliana to the annual Christmas play at our church. The play is a modern day rendition of the story of Christmas and the birth of Jesus. Before the play, Elliana was happy to indulge in a few Christmas cookies with Grandpa Jim.

We took a quick family photo and then prepared for the festivities.

Of course, when Grandma and Grandpa's laps were open, Elliana chose to sit with them rather than sitting in her own seat. She climbed up on Grandpa's lap and prepared for the show.

Throughout the show, Elliana clapped, danced and sang along to the familiar songs. The star that lit up above the crowd captured her attention more than anything else and she eagerly pointed to it and commented on the beauty of it.

After the performance, Elliana clapped and smiled long after the play ended. Despite being up past bed time, Elliana continued to talk about the show with eagerness and happiness. And, has since requested "More Christmas show, please."

Gingerbread, toddlers and candy, OH MY!

Growing up, my mom was a first grade teacher who truly put her heart and love into her students and classroom. One of my favorite parts of being the daughter of a teacher, was the annual gingerbread house decorating party that my mom hosted for her classroom each year. For days before her classroom party, my mom would be up to the wee hours of the morning making icing, cutting graham crackers and taping milk cartons to prepare the supplies her students would need. Helping my mom with this each year became one of my favorite holiday traditions.

My mom has since retired from teaching, but now that I have a child of my own, it is important to have the Christmas tradition I loved so much to live on! Last week, Elliana & I hosted what could be our first annual gingerbread house decorating party for our friends. 6 toddlers, 5 mommies, one baby and one amazing Nana (my mom) to lead us in our house construction, assembly and decorating.

The kids did an amazing job! Creativity shone through and each child seemed to come up with a unique house despite all of them having the same ingredients. I admit, my daughter never actually added candy to her house, but rather ate the ingredients and candy that I was "helping" her apply to the house. But, I could tell she was having fun nonetheless. In fact, she kept telling me "Mommy, Ana (what she calls herself) fun!"

As you can tell, we all took our work seriously by the deep look of concentration on the faces. In fact, I wonder who was having more fun, the kids or us moms.

Since the party last week, every time Elliana passes her gingerbread house, she points to it and says, "Ana friends do this!" and a big goofy grin covers her little face.

Mommy & Elliana with our finished house.

The Gingerbread Gang!

And so, as I look back on the work, the preparation, the fun and the friends, I can't help but get excited as I am already looking forward to next year and the many traditions we are beginning.

Festival of Lights - 2010

T.J. and I have always made the Festival of Lights a holiday tradition of ours. It is magical, beautiful and sentimental. Our first Christmas together, T.J. asked me to marry him after our date to the Festival of Lights. Seven years after that night where T.J. asked me to be his wife, it was a special treat to bring our daughter to this lighted tradition of ours.

Before we even walked through the front gates, Elliana was "oohhing" and "aweing" at the lights. "Oohh, pretty lights!" was repeated over and over out of our young one's tiny lips. Elliana loved the "light tunnel" shown left and ran back and forth beneath the dome of lights. My pictures simply couldn't capture the magic in her eyes but I sure did try!

Elliana was thrilled to see a reindeer and get her photo taken, but it was Santa who truly stole her heart. I look forward to this tradition for many years to come and to watch the "magic" of the season capture each one of our hearts along the way.

Winter Fun

The cold days of winter have begun to set in, so to the mall we went
and look at that grin!
My little girl is no longer a baby. She asks for the toy store and I
of course say "maybe."
She runs in the play area like the biggest of kid. And of the play
waterfall on her butt she did slid.
And so I write blogs while I watch my girl play, I can tell already,
it's a marvelous day!

Elliana visits Santa

Last year, Elliana was less than thrilled with her visit with Santa. I am pleased to announce that this year was just the opposite.

On Saturday, we went to the library for some Christmas songs, crafts and of course some quality time with Old Saint Nick. As soon as Santa emerged from the back room, Elliana's face lit up with excitement and she began asking to go see him. Elliana patiently waited in line and smiled from ear to ear when she sat on his lap. The rest of the day, Elliana referred to her visit with Santa and each reference brought a smile that melted my heart.

This morning, before leaving the Cincinnati Museum Center, we made a quick stop at the Holiday Junction. You can imagine both of our surprise when Santa walked through the door. Elliana ran straight into the arms of the jolly old man and he picked her up with a huge smile.

I can already tell, that Christmas will be a lot of fun this year.

A wonderful day

Just a few short weeks ago, Elliana and I spent a marvelous morning at the Zoo. That morning I decided to embrace the final days of warm weather (already unusual for Mid-November), packed our lunches and hit the road. It was practically like our own personal zoo as we saw no field trips, and very few other people. Elliana got an up close look at the animals as we talked about each one, and even allowed Mommy to take a picture or two.

When we passed the Carousel, Elliana began her usual repetitive requests to ride the ride. So we did. Once. No, twice. Well, actually we rode it three consecutive times without even having to disembark. It was our own personal ride! Elliana even got to ride the shark which she had wanted to ride all summer, but was always too crowded. "Elli like shark" my munchkin said as she pet him. Elliana may look just like Daddy but she has Mommy's love of sharks! :)

We rode the "choo-choo." Elliana was excited to see the early stages of Festival of Lights decorations throughout the train circle. "Tree light...oohhh...pretty!" she exclaimed as she saw the workers hanging Christmas lights.

And then, as if our day wasn't already incredibly perfect, we drove downtown and met Daddy for lunch at Sawyer Point. We ate our picnic lunch while watching the boats go by and an older man fish in the Ohio River. Elliana told Daddy about our morning and then we walked to the playground where we all laughed and played.

I continue to marvel at the joy and laughter that my family brings to my heart. The giggles of my little girl, the smiles of my husband, the simplicity of everyday things done together.