Visit With Mr. Clause

This was our first year that we had the kids meet an “official” Santa in costume.  The twins had an encounter when they were 10 month old, but this was the first year that might be remembered.  We went to Bass Pro Shop, and we had to come back to redeem our ticket to see Santa because the line was several hours long.  This was a highly anticipated moment for all three, and I think it was everything that they had hoped it would be… but it was kind of a joke!  Santa reminded me more of Grumpy from the seven dwarves, than a jolly St. Nick, and they had all of fifteen seconds on his lap with a bunch of shouting from the photo lady (not me, the other photo lady) to soundtrack the experience.  Gabe didn’t get to tell Santa about what he wanted, because he was never asked, but we told him that Santa already knew his wishes.  Kind of funny actually.  But, at least it reinforced that the big man does indeed exist.  And the memory of his grumpiness will serve to better ward off naughty behavior?

  

Smarty Pants

Sometimes, Ariana knocks my socks off with just how amazingly capable she is. I sometimes lose sight of this because of her inability to communicate what she knows.  Boy, does this make me feel… guilty.  Guilty for not giving her the credit and the targeted instruction that she deserves until my awareness catches up to her ability.  It also makes me feel proud.  Proud that my little girl is a beaming beacon of accomplishment, despite the hindering circumstances that are a part of her every day journey.  And it makes me hopeful.  Hopeful that this girl will continue to rise and shine, and that every year will mark countless more achievements, and that she will knock the socks off everyone she meets.

Gabe went through a stage about two years ago when he loved the “Letter Factory” DVD, and he learned all his letters and phonics from that DVD in a very short period of time.  Since Isabella has turned two and has adopted an interest in the letters and their sounds, I started rerunning this movie.  I was happy to see that Bella had learned almost all of her letters and their sounds after a few viewings of this movie, but I can’t say that I was all that surprised, seeing as how Gabe was that age when he accomplished the same feat.

With that said, I started singing the little jingle that’s from the movie that goes, “The ‘A’ says ‘aaaah’… every letter makes a sound, the ‘A’ says ‘aaaah’” and so on, throughout the entire alphabet.  Without going into too much detail, it didn’t take long for me to realize that Ari can  proudly pronounce many of phonics and probably knows most, if not all of them!  Ari can tell you what sounds the A, B, D, E, I, J, L, M, O, P, T, U, V make!  With some extra tries, she can get N and comes very close to H.  Seeing this, I have been trying to get her to say other words that include these consonant/vowel sounds, and so far, she has said “bird (bid)”, “ball”, “apple (appuh)” and “all done (ah dah)”.

If that’s not enough to make your skirt fly up, she can identify nearly every animal and almost all of her colors (sometimes a little inconsistent, but still)!  Not only that, but she has several books memorized, and has come up with some hand gestures that correspond to parts of the stories that she can anticipate prior to hearing them.  Ari has, using her augmentative communication device, started using two word phrases independently and appropriately in context, which she uses to get her needs met (i.e. “want that”, “want more”, “want drink”, “want turn”, “want read”, “want play”, “Stop!”, “Want help”).

This girl makes my world flip. :)

One more year until she goes to real, mainstream Kindergarten!

Our Christmas Photos

I am in love with my holiday photos, which were a collaborative project between Love E Photography ( loveEphotography@gmail.com to book) and our sweet friend, Susan Munroe. 

                 

"Tangled" Soundtrack

We took the whole family to see the new Disney movie, "Tangled" last night. Here is just one of a million reasons why I fell in love with it (and cried through the entire second half):



Another reason is because baby Rapunzel reminded me of Isabella. :)

In the Spirit

The month of December is filled with the magic of Christmas, and that includes the magic of knowing that we can make the smallest little changes around the house or in our routine, and it is received with raucous exclamations of joy from our little ones.  The stockings were hung, and everyone acted as though they were already brimming with goodies.  The cheering of “Christmas socks!  Christmas socks over the fireplace!!!” was the sound we awoke to the next morning. 

The kids helped us pick out the Christmas tree; playing amidst the pre-cut forest with their sippy cups full of hot chocolate in hand.  And that tree stood undecorated in the living room for almost a week before we trimmed it, but when we finally got around to stringing the lights and hanging our ornaments, it came to life.  And when the kiddies awoke to the finished spectacle the next morning, they greeted that tree like it was an entirely different creature.  Like it was magic.  And while in years to come, we will probably want to have their participation in decorating the tree, seeing their surprise and glee made this year one no less worth remembering.

 

Our process of fulfilling our annual holiday traditions has begun to unfold.  We sent out our Christmas cards, and are still even in the process of sending out a couple more every week, as we remember names and discover new addresses.  I think they turned out lovely this year. :) 

And we didn’t forget to bake the ceremonial 300 cookies either; ritually spending the entire weekend mixing, rolling, dipping, cutting, baking, decorating, and bagging the Sugars and Gingers, as we refer to them (actually Jake has his own humorous name for these – and I can’t write it because it just doesn’t look right).  Who would like to wager a guess as to what that name would be?

The work was well worth it, because it was truly a labor of love.  It was an excuse to drop by unexpectedly at friends’ and neighbors’ homes to chat and wish them a happy holiday.  It can be one of the few ways that we tell some people how much we appreciate them each year.  It is a way of connecting our home to those of others – to let them know that they are in our thoughts even if we may not see them again till February.  And they were yummy… and that is reason enough too.

  

I forget how much time and energy is required to create the beauty of the holidays.  But that is the most wonderful part of it all.  That we do put our time into the things that matter – the simple things, the family moments, the charming and the splendid.  So much time goes into all of this that we have none left for the things that shouldn’t consume our time.  Sorry dry cleaning, you’ll have to wait till next month.  I have cookies to deliver and Christmas lights to gaze upon in wonderment with my loves.

Do tell, what are some of your favorite traditions for this most special season?

Love E Photography

As many know, I love to take photos.  Love to make capture something beautiful and have a way to save it forever.  To hold a moment and recall it in a way that the memory often has trouble living up to.  So I turned what I love into a little bit of a business, which is what they always tell you is how you should choose your line of work.  With that, I am formally announcing Love E Photography, with my blog site which can be conveniently found at www.loveEphotography.com .  My business has been in full swing as of this holiday season.  I am currently booked through the end of 2010, but beginning January 1, I will be open to scheduling more sessions.  You may contact me at loveEphotography@gmail.com with any inquiries or to book a session. 

Love,

E