Weeklong Celebration Part II

Ho Ho Ho!  We took Santa her list and asked him if he was a Tennessee VOL fan!

Riley has a friend named....Riley in our neighborhood.  Her friend's grandparents were in town for Christmas and her grandmother (a.k.a. MeMaw) invited our Riley over to make Christmas cookies.  Little did we know that she had also made the girls coordinating Christmas aprons to wear for the event!  They were SO cute in those things!  I had briefly met "Memaw" before, but she had NO IDEA just how "up my alley" those sweet little aprons were!  Adorable!

 

We spent Christmas Eve sharing a few snacks and games with our neighborhood friends before Riley had to get busy with her "evening events".  Boy was she a busy girl!

She had to leave milk and cookies for Santa and a carrot for Rudolph.

She scattered the "Reindeer Food" (oatmeal, green and red glitter) she made all over the front yard.

 

 She came inside and read "The Night Before Christmas"

 Then took one last look at NORAD (online Santa tracking) with Daddy

 

Followed by a little Luke Chapter 2.  (We saved the best for last)! :)

 

 She was in bed, quiet for about 10 minutes and called out, "Mama, is it morning yet"?

She woke us up around 6:30 Christmas morning and was honestly a little subdued (for her).  She did manage a squeal when she spotted the PURPLE DSi Santa left for her.  She was THRILLED beyond words with the Pass the Pigs game he left too!

 

Santa is a sneaky guy!  He left me a BRAND NEW, robin's egg blue, ULTRA girly bicycle on the back patio!  I was SO surprised!  I think he finally felt a little guilty b/c I have ridden a BOY'S mountain bike since 1998....YEP, I said 1998

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I haven't named her yet, any suggestions?

 It was certainly a week filled with lots of love and fun!  It was REALLY different not being a stone's throw from family and old friends; but as I told someone tonight on the phone, one of the BIGGEST things I've learned from our move this summer is that FAMILY IS EVERYTHING!  I'm just such a lucky duck because the one God gave me is awesome!

Although I LOVE my new bike, Starbucks travel mug, and electronic label maker (my Rubbermaid storage tubs have NEVER looked better)....these two are what made my first Christmas in Mississippi special!

Our weeklong celebration! Part I

We started Friday, the 18th after I had the pleasure of attending Riley's classroom Christmas party.  We are so thrilled that she is in a school that still allows Christmas trees to be decorated (we contributed a pig ornament), ANY type of Christmas book to be read aloud, and the very same carols we sing at church are belted out there too!  

 

We hit the road around 1:00 and this is what the back of my car looked like:

About 45 minutes into our trip the back seat had a little different look:

God watched over our journey and we had several "fun stops" (you wouldn't believe the fun these two can have at a rest area)! 

We had plans to have breakfast with Granny and Papa Saturday morning.  Riley loved her new jacket and her Legos were a HUGE hit!  A good time was had by all!

After way too many waffles, we headed back to Grammie and Poppy's house to play with Elley, Owen, Uncle Jeff and Aunt Briana while they were in town!

So, our actual celebrating with family wasn't on the 25th of December, but there was enough love in my little heart during those 3 days to carry me through the rest of the year!  I know the song says, "big girls don't cry", but being a "big girl" is HARD WORK sometimes!  Sniff, Sniff! 
Stay tuned for Part II of our weeklong celebration!

Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies

It's not everyday you get to have afternoon tea at the famous Peabody Hotel!  

Today was our lucky day!

The Memphis Ballet held a Children's Nutcracker Tea at Chez Philippe in the Peabody Hotel in downtown Memphis and guess who was in attendance???  Our pig loving, bike riding, farmer-wanna-be ASKED for a puffy dress like Cinderella wears.  Those that know me at all know that while I've always welcomed the individuality and weird quirks unique mannerisms our little farm girl exhibits, I have secretly longed for the "frilly" stage to take hold of her!  I found the puffiest thing I could and brought it home for her.  She loved it and has twirled so much I'm surprised she hasn't gotten sick!

 

So, while there, we enjoyed the finger sandwiches (her fave was honey roasted peanut butter and raspberry jelly) and fru-fru desserts (tuxedo strawberry and gingerbread cookie topped this list).  She couldn't keep herself from adding sugar cubes to her tea!  We marveled at the many choices of silverware and the fact that the menu was printed and placed at each place setting.  MY favorite part was when the waiter whipped her napkin in the air and placed in into her lap for her.  She looked at him with HUGE eyes and said, "well, thank you very much." 

She did a cakewalk, made a card, and reindeer food, and posed endlessly for me in front of beautiful decorations!

A little more posing with the Nutcracker cast members and her friend and neighbor Riley Elise.

Oh, yeah, I went too.  Here's a shot from the "pre-tea photo shoot"