Merry Christmas!

first glance of presents from Santa

books, Wedgits, VTech Story Reader, puzzles, tool bench the long-awaited tool bench

making a bird house

reading Cars book

Mac and Lightning McQueen - the now favorite Christmas toy yeaaa!!!! train table!!!

my first train track built on the new table

Thanks for the help Daddy!

Cheese!

Sparky the Elf

The Elf on the Shelf is a wonderful Christmas tradition our family started last year. This year I understood it well and awoke anxious to find silly Sparky every morning. He flies to the North Pole every night to give Santa a report and returns the next morning. Every morning that mischievious Sparky is somewhere different and always up to something. Boy, did he make some messes this year!!!

Visit with Santa

waiting to see Santa at the Cool Springs Galleria in Nashville

Initially, I was very uncertain and didn't want to get too close. Then, he showed me his car and that automatically put him into the cool book. I decided I'd give this "visit" thing a try.

I want a tool bench, a train table, and a Dora tape.

(The Dora tape was an add-on yesterday when I found one of my Christmas presents - VTech StoryReader, and I immediately wanted the "Dora tape." When I was discovered, the present quickly disappeared, and I have been asking for it ever since.)

proud of myself - RELIEF! - Santa finally knows what I want! Afterwards, we had dinner at Red Robin in Mount Juliet. It was delicious!

Sparta Christmas Parade

We went to the Sparta Christmas parade.

There was........

a red train........that I cared nothing about

lots of fire trucks........that i cared nothing about

a beautiful sunset........that I cared nothing about!

and TONS of candy......that I was thrilled about!

It didn't take me long to learn how to quickly gather it,

and of course, I wanted to eat it all right away!

Christmas trees

Gigi gave me a little Christmas tree for my room. We had a great time decorating it. Playing with the ball ornaments was my favorite part.

decorating the big Christmas tree

This is the ornament that I made at Community Bible Study this year.

Wintry Weather

On our first snow day we got a lot of snow, but it didn't stick. It was still enough to make a snowball with the snow off daddy's car. (kind of like those AL snow days) It's been fun to watch the snowfall across the street and see the cows huddle in close together.

This was our second real snowy day. We got almost an inch of snow. It started snowing late in the afternoon and we had fun watching it from the sunroom. It snowed most of the night and I was very excited to wake up to lots of snow on the ground. Of course, it took awhile to get all bundled up, but Mommy, Lizzy, and I had a great time playing in the snow. Then, we warmed up inside with hot chocolate and a big breakfast. It was a great morning!

Got Eggnog?

Got eggnog?

It is a Meek/Taylor family tradition to have eggnog at holiday gatherings. Aunt Kathleen made it at our house this year, and I was lucky enough to get in on the festivities right before bedtime. Fortunately, she made a practice batch before making the grown-up batch, so I got to taste it. It was delicious!

very silly

more please!

And, the race is on!

M: "Dawson, what did you do at school today?" D: "I played on the playground with big trucks. I want a big truck, mommy." M: "Well, maybe you should ask Santa Claus. What size and color would you want?" D: "I want a biiiigggggg red truck." M: "Do you know why we get presents at Christmas time?" D: "Yes.......Because we have been very good." M: "That's right. Who's birthday do we celebrate at Christmas time?" D: "Jesus! He wants a great big red truck for Christmas too!." M: "Oh, really....???? Why does he want a truck?" D: "Because, we are going to race to the finish line. I want a silver Jeep like Becky's. Jesus wants a big red truck, and Becky wants to drive her silver Jeep. And, we are all going to RACE!!!! And, when we get to the finish line, we are going to eat fruit snacks!"

Sunsets

The sunsets in Sparta are breathtakingly beautiful. I have fun playing in my yard in the afternoons and watching the sunsets.