Christmas Activities

Last weekend Kate and I made our first Gingerbread House. Kate kept busy by decorating the Gingerbread man and snowman with lots of candy while I put the house together. It was a fun activity that we will have to start as a tradition.

We also went to our church's Children's Christmas Party. The kids ate pizza and made lots of Christmas crafts to take home. Everett was able to stop by on the way home from the airport and joined us for the activities.

Christmas pics

Christmas Cookies

After an afternoon of Christmas shopping, we decided to make Christmas cookies. Last year Kate was too little to really enjoy it, but this year she was very excited to be able to help Mommy. She put on her apron and was ready to stir the cookie mix. She loves to help in the kitchen whenever she can. She loved pressing the cookie cutters into the dough. By far her favorite was sprinkling the sugar onto the cookies and then eating the sugar stuck to her fingers. Her favorite cookie she made was the "Holly" cookie shaped like a holly leaf.

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving with family this year. Kate and I enjoyed a delicious dinner at Aunt Becky and Uncle Andy's. We were stuffed!!! Later on that evening we drove to Fairburn to eat supper with Everett's parents. Kate is becoming a picky eater as she gets older. She's like any typical toddler and would rather eat junk food than vegetables. The only thing she enjoyed for Thanksgiving is my carrot souffle (which she would not eat if she knew it was made of carrots) and apple jello salad.

Thanksgiving Feast

JP's Pre-K classes always have a Thanksgiving Feast. They line the long hallway with chart paper and create a Thanksgiving feast of healthy snacks and juice. It is quite something to see 9 PreK kids eating their feast in the long hallway. I'm so thankful to be able to be at school with McKinley this year. It is so special to have him greet me every morning with a smile before he goes to his room, see him in his classroom when I pop in to get kids for therapy, and spend Aunt TT and McKinley time together once a week after school when I take him home.

Weeeeeee

Kate does not have a swing set, so she finds her own ways to stay entertained. She pushes herself to a certain boundary she's not supposed to cross in our driveway that slopes upward, lifts her feet, and then soars backward.

Stanfield Family Fun Day

Our Stanfield Family Fun Days began when we realized we needed to set aside family time with our hectic schedules. It's not always easy to do family activities when parents have opposite work schedules. This month's activity was simply an art project. Kate loves art projects. Everett was not too thrilled at first, but soon it became a competition between Mommy and Daddy who would make a better turkey.

US Airway Flight

Kate loves her Great-Nanny Sanders. She had been mentioning Great-Nanny Sanders almost daily and talking about going to visit her. Everett had to use up vacation days, so we made a last minute trip to see our family in Kentucky. We could have driven, but we thought we'd see how Kate would do flying. The first picture below summarizes how the experience was. Looking back, it was not that bad. It actually made the trip go by quicker and Kate did not have to sit in a carseat for 8 hours. In one long weekend, Kate's travels now include Charlotte, Louisville, and Philadelphia (We had to to get home, but was not bad at all. It was beautiful flying over Philly this time of year). We've learned the next time we attempt it to: take a direct flight if possible, take lots of activities, give crackers during the flight while descending, and a little bit of cold medicine to make her sleepy did not seem to hurt!!!!

Trunk-or-Treat

Kate and McKinley are two peas in a pod. Kate wanted to be Tinkerbell for Halloween and McKinley eagerly agreed to be Peter Pan. Kate was so excited to finally be able to put on her Tinkerbell costume and ballet slippers to go trick-or-treating. She loved putting on a little blush and some of Mommy's lip gloss to add that pixie dust shine!!!

Our church had a fall festival with a trunk-or-treat. She loved being around all the kids and trick-or-treating at the cars that were decorated.

Ever since we bought her Tinkerbell costume she's been telling us what she wanted our costumes to be. She wanted Mommy to be a witch and Daddy...a butterfly! Kate was a little disappointed that Mommy did not dress up as a witch just as she wanted. Everett was forgiven because he had to go to work. We just said he was a US Airway mechanic and that satisfied her.

Halloween Party

Aunt Becky, Uncle Andy, and McKinley put together a little Halloween party that must now become an annual event!! We ate pizza, the kids played with Halloween playdough, and we made lots of Halloween crafts that Nanny Gross put together for all the kids. After eating delicious Halloween cupcakes and a Rice Krispy Pumpkin, the kids decorated their own pumpkins.

Princess Pumpkin

Thank you Uncle Brian for my Potato Head Princess Pumpkin. I loved making my Princess Pumpkin. I wanted to name her "Pumpkin", but Mommy encouraged me to name her Princess "Jack-o-line".

Groucho Marx

This blog is for Uncle Brian. She loves her Groucho Marx glasses you got her, but I had to draw the line when she wanted to go to sleep in them!!!

Farmer's Market

Everett's work days are changing again, so we thought we'd have a Stanfield Family Fun Day while we had a chance. We decided to go to the Farmer's Market to buy pumpkins this year. I've never been and loved it. Kate was not that impressed with the big pumpkins, but latched onto the tiniest pumpkin she could find. Anyone who knows how Kate always has a tiny object in her hand at all times will appreciate that!!!! She held that little pumpkin all the way home.

Potty Training

Kate was quite a stubborn one to potty train. M&M's, dancing, singing silly potty songs, and high fives just did not seem to faze Kate. All it took was a coincidental moment at Aunt Becky's and a fancy feather boa. Fancy Nancy, aka Kate, just needed a more fabulous reinforcer. We now have a variety of colorful feather boas added to our collection for our potty-trained little lady!!!!