Cookies and Scotch with the Davies

We had the Davies over tonight for some cookie decorating and Scotch tasting…

Date night

Molly spent the night with Grandma and Papa J.  N and I headed out for a lovely meal at Alexander's.

Oh, and the man sitting next to us had on the most fabulous pants…

Santa

N just got back from another business trip and was up most of the night with a headache and tummy ache.  My car was actually getting its brakes replaced and was still at Wheel Works with ALL 3 car seats inside.  I was trying to think of something to do to get Molly and I out of the house when she noticed all the Santa pics on Facebook.  I suggested going to the mall so she could meet Santa and take a picture with him and to my surprise she was into it.

This is the last time I was able to get Molly anywhere near Santa's lap:

I packed up some art supplies and we walked down to Valley Fair.

Yeah, we worked on her smile…

Molly set up camp and about 8 kids in total shared her art supplies while I waited for us in line.  I got several thank you's from other parents since Molly was so generous and offering out pages to other kids.

Right before it was her turn Molly got a little nervous and told me she was simply going to stand next to Santa for the picture.  However, this Santa was good and won her over.  I'm really surprised we got such a relaxed smile and comfortable pose.  Molly has completely shut me down every year prior to this… she wouldn't even consider sitting with Santa.  Hopefully this is the start of a yearly tradition.

Next stop was CPK for lunch… I suspect the real reason Molly agreed to the whole Santa thing.

It definitely warmed up on our walk back and Molly even stopped to smell the flowers.

Teacher and Staff gifts

Molly had the best time handing these out.  I made them for all four Kinder and TK teachers along with the office staff.  She had a huge grin and insisted on giving them out on her own (while I stood back). Not at all surprised considering her favorite part about Halloween is handing out candy rather than trick o' treating.  

Proud mom moment.

Contingency Plan

What's this? Oh a present Molly made for Santa Claus. 

Why? Oh you know... "In case he sees me being naughty this present should put me back on the nice list." 

Yup. 

That happened.

\

Why we don't have presents under the tree...

I came home to discover that Michael had found the reindeer candy cane and got the green ribbon and bell off it. He then proceeded to chew off some of the green ribbon and puked it on our dining room table on top of a birthday invitation. I showed this to Molly to explain why presents don't go under our tree until Christmas Eve. Even then it's paper only or in our reusable stackable boxes.

Molly at school

One of her creations during Exploration:

During PE, she's the one in the middle with her hands on her hips.

Snack Parent

Grinch Santa Hats - green grape, mozzarella cheese (the original recipe called for banana slice, but I thought those would brown overnight), strawberry, and mini marshmallow

Christmas Trees - pita bread with cream cheese (dyed green with food coloring), red bell pepper decorations, mozzarella cheese star, and pretzel stick tree trunk

My little monkey

I was covering a shift in class today and Molly was very insistent I take her picture at lunch time.  

Fantasy of Lights

Granny had picked Molly up from school so I could stay and help with the luncheon.  Once everything was cleaned up I headed to pick them up at Granny's place.  We then met Grandpa and N at Main Street Burger for dinner before heading to Vasona for the Fantasy of Lights.

We pulled up in line at 5:45 pm and could see the entrance.  I don't think we could have timed things better.