Thanksgiving and Advent-ures in Christmas Prep

Halloween rolled right into Thanksgiving and we're still rolling as December arrives. Each year, the holidays get a little more meaningful as Allie gets older and more involved. Her holiday gene continues to remain strong and we're very excited for this Christmas season.

Just before Thanksgiving, Allie had her first dance recital. We've managed to divert her attention from these in the past (let's be honest, they're not cheap), but we let her go for it this time considering the future budget will soon be shared with the growing bump in my belly. It ended up being a great experience. She was a really fun age to do this. She was old enough to know she needed to practice her routine and her cute little group of 7 girls and their super-patient teacher put in a lot of effort and cared about learning the steps while still having fun. They performed their number to a packed high school auditorium on the big stage and none of them seemed phased by it. If only we could bottle up that confidence for when they hit the teen years, we'd be golden.

Rudolph getting ready to run for her dress rehearsal.

But the real question is...is the stage ready for her?

Prancing poses.

Deer me, she's ready.

So proud of herself (and we were too).

The month between Halloween and Thanksgiving was one without running water and counters in our kitchen as Chris and Steve worked tirelessly to remodel it. Talk about perspective to get you in the mood for appreciating all that you have. We got counters and running water the day before my parents arrived for Thanksgiving week. We promptly broke them in with pie-baking and Thanksgiving prep. This kitchen has been a labor of love along with the painting and repairs that Chris is working on throughout the house in the wee-hours of the night and on weekends, and we're thankful and proud of the work he's doing and the help of our family to give our home a face-lift.

This seat looks like a good one to be helpful from. Just consider me your sou-plumber, Daddy.

Daisy decided that they had things under control...and left to go chew on something.

A little more help being offered by Al. This time in the upstairs bathroom as Grandpop hooks up the plumbing.

She's full of help, that one.

Grandpop sent her on a mission to find two specific wrenches, thinking it may buy him some time...

She showed him. Back in 2 minutes...with every wrench in the toolbox. Brilliant.

We snapped a few pictures of our dancing Rudolph after the big show the next day. We hope she can always change this quickly from manual labor to ballet shoes and back.

She ran well :o).

Wesley's first dance recital...his theater etiquette is impeccable...so far.

Smoosh-shot.

We wiped the makeup off and got down to work to make our inaugural pie in our new kitchen for my department's Thanksgiving Pie Fest the next day.

Success.

Still some finishing touches to come, but here's the gist so far.

They do good work!

My parents came into town on Monday and we enjoyed almost a week of visiting. Allie has taken a full two days to come back down to earth after their departure. She emotes deeply, that kid.

Grandpa snuggles.

The lowest calorie turkey ever and its proud assembler.

Sharing stories across four generations.

The results of our pie-making day. Al prefers the abstract design when it comes to pie-toppers.

Following Thanksgiving and Black Friday shopping, we took a trip into DC to see Cinderella at the National Theater. We got there in time for lunch at one of my favorites...

Old Ebbitt Grill.

Here's the bibbidy-bobbidy-boo-crew catching a cup of coffee and dessert before the show.

Lord help us...

I'm pretty sure Al's trying to match my belly in this pic...I'm also pretty sure I've got her beat.

Comfy clothes and fancy shoes make for a happy Allie.

When we got back home that night, we celebrated Grandpa's birthday a day early.

...complete with orange-icinged, pink-candled chocolate cake.

 We decorated our Christmas tree following Al's lead. She insisted that Daddy put her on his shoulders for the placing of the star.

Just about there...

Not quite...

A good dad will take a few branches in the face so his little girl can get it just right.

But who stops at a simple tree-decorating without making it into the Christmas Opening Ceremonies, of the 2015 Games? Not our girl. She insisted that when we decorate the tree, we needed to gather round and say a prayer to remember that we are celebrating Jesus' birth. Spot on. Love it. But this was the most highly directed prayer ceremony you can imagine. The rules as to who got to choose the song and who got to say the prayer, all dependent upon raising your hand and finding the pickle were not for the faint of Christmas heart. But in the spirit of Christmas, we'll choose to focus on the fact that this kid has the reason for the season nailed, and leave it at that.

The director of ceremonies, mid-instruction.

Grammy and Grandpop dutifully following orders, I mean 'instructions.'

Once the ceremonies closed, Al wrapped up the start of our Advent season by 'teaching her baby brother about Christmas.' She pulled out her old 'Baby's First Christmas' book, used her best letter-sound-recognition (plus picture clues), and started laying a solid foundation for Wesley while proudly reading to him. He started swirling and kicking in my belly. We get the hopeful sense that this kid loves the sound of his big sister's voice...which is probably a very good thing.

Halloweeen Hit the Mark!

I think that the older Allie gets, the more fun Halloween becomes. As Chris often says, 'She has your holiday gene.' This kid loves a good celebration and holidays top the list. We kicked off the fall celebrations with our annual trip to the pumpkin patch. I remember propping her up against a pumpkin the first time we went, times have definitely changed...

Al and Olivia...never gets old.

She found 'the one.'

And the two...

Seasonal selfie.

 She was very excited to carve her pumpkin...no matter how small and how under-ripe.

Daddy made it happen.

We also toughed out the lines at our community town center's Fall Fest and were rewarded with a painted face and huge smiles.

Rainbows AND unicorns...somebody pinch her.

Pre-blown-up-dragon-bounce-obstacle-thing excitement.

When you work in a high school, you have a few more 'seasons' than others. Homecoming season is one of them. This year, I picked up Allie early from her school and brought her back to Heritage with me so she could witness the madness...Powder Puff cheerleaders (boys dressed as girls in fishnet tights and tutus doing cheer-leading 'routines') and all. She loved it.

After the pep rally, we went to work to help the SCA prepare for the Homecoming tailgate, tailgated, and then headed over to the football game, or as Allie experienced it, the cheer-leading-game.

'What? These are all for me, right?'

Getting all tatt-ed up for the big game.

As if we needed any more excitement, this was Allie's weekend to take home the class dolphin, 'Echo.' So naturally, Echo came to the football game with us.

Here's Echo...right before...

He was tossed aside for 'poms.' (Apparently over the past 20 years, they have dropped the second 'pom'...who knew?)

Allie has taken a huge shine to the cheerleaders and they have been so sweet to her every time we go to the games. She hops out onto the track right along beside them and this time, they lent her her very own set of 'poms' and tried to teach her a cheer or two. She's got the spirit part of the gig in the bag, the moves...are a work in progress.

Al wrote 'all about it' for her homework page about her weekend with Echo.

Pre-K homework pride.

Daisy was mesmerized by her work.

And...

by that...

fake nose.

The last dance class before Halloween is the 'spooooo-ky dance performance' class. (Really, it's a normal class where all of the girls wear their costumes, but Allie has a tendency to add dramatic flair to events, so she renamed it...this probably does not surprise you at this point...nor does the fact that every time she mentioned it, she made ghost noises and waved her hands back and forth to set the scene.)

This year's Halloween costume was Merida, the spunky, headstrong, and fierce princess in Disney's movie Brave (it came down to Merida or Wednesday from The Addams Family musical, but Merida won). We celebrated another Halloween wearing a Grandmom Wintrode original costume. The wig, well that was Amazon, but it turned out to be the most fun $16 I've spent in a while. 

Watch out, she and her arrows are on the loose.

 Allie got good use out of her costume this year. Dance class was on Wednesday, her school's Halloween party and parade were on Friday, and then, of course, Halloween wrapped up the week of festivities on Saturday.

This Merida's all smiles with her sugar-feast.
(Mommy and Daddy are the real Brave ones to deal with the aftermath.)

Allie and parades...like peas and carrots.

That hair...

 Since the summer, Allie has gotten to know our neighborhood crew, and has spent a lot of time playing outside with her buddies. This year, we actually went trick-or-treating in our own neighborhood, complete with a block-party, and an after-party dance-fest. She was on cloud nine...until it was time to go to bed...but we'll focus on the pre-bedtime fun. She had a blast.

These kids could empty our candy bowl anytime. This crew is not short on personality or sweetness. We love it.

After two hours of candy-collecting, Allie and her pup were pretty spent. 

Sister snuggles.

And an extra one for brother :o).