Dance Party!!

Evie has decided that her greatest passion in life is to dance!!! Every time music comes on Evie’s little knees bend, her butt sticks out, her arms swing about and the most spastic dancing bursts forth. I love watching her attempt to keep beat or her desire to make the toy horse dance with her. Brian and I have gotten in the habit of turning on music every free moment we have and turn our boring evening or uneventful morning into a hysterical dance party.

Fun Filled Holiday update

Wow – the Holidays literally flew by but they were the best I have ever had!!! Evie made the holiday season magical and amazing – I really couldn’t have asked for anything more. We spent Thanksgiving with Brian’s family – had the traditional Turkey dinner, which Evie loved and gobbled right up. We then went to my Mother’s that weekend to have another Turkey dinner and once again Evie loved the food and we all ate way too much! The festivities then continued the following weekend in Cooperstown were we went to see the festival of lights at the museum. It was absolutely beautiful- there were candles and lights for miles around and everything was covered in a light layer of snow. There was complimentary Wassail (a wonderful, warm, spiced drink) and bonfires to warm up on and a carousal, which Evie and I rode – she kind of liked it until she saw her daddy and wanted to be with him. There were horse drawn sleigh rides but we opted to skip that due to the stroller and trying to herd three children onto it (Brian’s mother, sister, brother-in-law and two nephews came with us). We decided this would become a new holiday tradition and I can only hope Evie runs up and down the streets exclaiming “Wow” and “AHHHHH” for years to come. We then had a weekend to get the holiday decorations up – Evie attempted to help and our tree was redecorated several times over the following weeks. After the decorations were up, Evie and I would look at them and I would tell her where all the ornaments came from and the story of my village. She would listen intently with an occasional “wow” or “Oooohhhh” thrown in. She loved turning on the lights every night – she would watch with wonder as we magically turned on the lights. Our first Christmas celebration was on the 18^th at my Mother’s house with my step siblings. Evie received the cutest outfits from Aunt Kelli, a wonderful Christmas book from Christy and a couple of presents from Oma & Opa. We ate way too much ham and chocolate torte and I wanted to fall asleep after one glass of wine. Christmas Eve started with my brother, mother and stepdad dropping by for a quick visit and then off to Brian’s uncle house to eat a wonderful meal and more visiting. Evie decided to stay up to 10:00 so Santa didn’t arrive until late but He delivered a wonderful toddler table (set up with a tea set) and several bags of presents. Evie slept in to 7:00 and we all laid in bed together, wondering what Santa brought with lots of cuddles and giggles. I went down first and warmed up some chocolate milk for Evie and put out some snacks and made tea and coffee for Brian and myself. We then brought Evie down with all the lights off except for the x-mas lights and she thought it was so wonderful- she didn’t notice the table at first but did make a bee-line to the presents. She was amazing all morning – she opened all of her own presents and spent a couple minutes playing with each one.  Brian's mother, brother and sister-in-law came over for brunch and brought Evie a princess tent (the size of our living room, which we will have lots of fun with this spring and summer outside) and a crown!  My Dad, step mom and brother showed up for dinner around one- Evie was napping so the adults got to sit and relax and spend some time talking before more present opening- a shopping cart, lots of loud toys and chuck the truck.  She loves the shopping cart - she pushes it from one end of the house to the other - while screaming "WEEEE"!!   We had a great dinner of pot roast and mac & cheese and Libbys famous pumpkin roll for desert.  On Monday we celebrated our last x-mas with Brian's family - up at his Mom's house.  We planned it so we wouldnt exchange gifts - we would just enjoy a really good dinner with our family - prime rib and wonderful conversation made a wonderful end to the festivities. 
The holidays are over and the decorations are put away but I will remember this year as one of the best ever!!!!