Thanksgiving Christmas mash-up

Dear Maya and Emi,

It's been a while since mommy's last post--this time because we've had so much sickness in this house! First almost all of us had some level of pink eye, then all of us except you Emi had a nasty stomach bug, and now we're working through a head cold (Emi and me) and Baba's worst episode of poison ivy ever! I guess we should be happy that we all mostly stayed healthy through the fall and are getting it all out of the way before Christmas (knock on lots of wood!) but it's been a bit much.

Anyhow, here's what we've been up to:

• Thanksgiving with Grandma, Papa Stan, Kelsie, Shawn, Grace, Will, and later Bobbie
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The hobby horse (and reindeer) workshop at the library for you, Maya
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Finally getting our Christmas tree
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Visiting Santa--Emi, you ran right up to sit down next to him so Maya, you ended up not needing mommy to go with you like you'd wanted. My big girls!!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• And finally, decorating our tree!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Okay, now mommy's going to go get some rest. Love you both!

Theater and turkeys galore

Dear Maya and Emi,

Oh, boy. This time mommy let over 3 weeks go by between posts. However, the snow has started flying which means that both mommy and daddy will have slower work schedules going forward. It's the perfect time of year to rest, regroup, and recharge. It's the perfect time for blogging!

Before I share what we've been up to, I want to mention a couple things about you, Emi. Mommy doesn't have a lot of photos of you or events that involve you in this post, but you've been growing in leaps and bounds. About a month ago we discovered that you can recognize about half the letters in the alphabet--and we never even taught you one! We have the Starfall educational website and your clever little brain to thank for that. You're also speaking so clearly lately. Smarty pants!

Okay, back to what we've been up to:

• Uncle Matt's birthday

Maya's 3 dollar store gifts this time were a set of pink birthday tiaras, noisemakers, and a horse nose!

His gift from all of us was a vintage 1980's Mr. T boardgame!

• Mommy took you, Maya, to see Beauty and the Beast featuring one of mommy's models

• A trip to see the Nutcracker ballet at your school, Maya

• A Thanksgiving feast at the firehouse with your kindergarten class, Maya

And now it's almost Thanksgiving and Grandma and Papa Stan (and Tessa) are here. And it snowed. And we all have some time off of school/work. It's going to be a beautiful holiday season with you two cutie-pies. Love you both!