Christmas, New Year's and Holiday lights at the Zoo

There was a nice side-effect to Katie learning about Santa - she likes to wrap gifts. Our gifts were wrapped and under the tree as they were brought into the house this year. Very nice. :)


This Christmas was much more pleasant than last Christmas. And much more appreciated than last year. Last year I wasn't in the Christmas mood but I made up for it this year!


Katie's too most loved presents this year were her new DS and her Easy Bake Oven. Are you aware that the Easy Bake Oven cooks with a light bulb? Can a light bulb cook? I'm scared... for my stomach...because you know she's going to make me eat this stuff, right? Actually, we have made sugar cookies in it and they were actually a little overcooked - I'm not sure how. But I did not hear the same thing about the chocolate chip cookies she made with her cousin while I wasn't around.


Katie is ringing in the New Year with Papa this year while JC and I spend New Year's Eve downtown. She's very excited - and I did check with Papa to make sure that he would stay up. Apparently the zoo has a New Year's Eve celebration but she wasn't even going to ask Papa about that - she just wanted me to know. I have a feeling I know what we're doing next year.


We did the zoo Holiday lights last night - that's what the pictures are from. It was fun - although very cold. But the lights were great! Better than the last time we went.

No Katie, there is no Santa Claus

Well, it happened. The question I've been dreading (and lying about for a couple years now) but this time it was followed by "tell me the truth". Okay, now I have a problem. I had a problem lying before, but wasn't point b lank asked not to.


So after reminding her what the real reason for Christmas is, we talked about how Santa is a wonderful story and is in our hearts during Christmas making us want to be happy and giving to others. In other words, I winged it. And then shed a few tears. lol The end of an era.


There are a few more notes to this, there always is with Katie. When I said that Santa was a wonderful story she was still trying to figure out if he was real or not so her response was "stories are fiction". Then after our talk she sat up straight and looked at me with a shocked look on her face. When I asked her what was going on she started discussing the year she got her play kitchen and how it was "huge". She was surprised that we, mere humans, had been able to pull that off (my words, her sentiment). Well, at least she showed some gratitude. :)


Oh, and we also discussed how you do not tell younger children and if they ask you direct them to their parents. Yeesh. Don't need to be responsible for a disbelief epidemic.

My Pastor's Blog

http://www.danmarler.blogspot.com/ This blog is my Pastor's blog. It is definitely worth a read. He's both intelligent and humorous, a great combination. If you do go to his blog, our church's link is on it. You can actually listen to some of his sermons from the church link.


I know I haven't been on alot. I do miss blogging, but there seems to be so much going on these days that it's hard to find time. I will try to post some pictures and stories this weekend. We've all been very busy - who isn't? - and I just haven't found the time. But I will update. What I'd really like to do is turn my When I'm Queen blog into a bible, etc. discussion blog. Just not sure how to start, but I haven't dropped the idea.

I'll be back!

School's starting

Katie is eight now. And as I watch her sitting near me watching Design Star, I realize that I'm seeing a glimpse of what she's going to be as a teenager. She's so beautiful, even if I am a little biased, and so smart. There are things she comes up with that I just take for truth because she's so confident in what she's saying. I assume she learned them somewhere, though I'm not sure where.


I'm so proud of her. Half of me wants to stop time so she's always my little girl and the other half of me can't wait to see what kind of person she turns into. I have to admit at the moment, the half that wants to stop time is pretty strong right now. But I know I'm going to lose this one. Here comes third grade!!!!

How funny is that?

Just when I'm looking forward with dread to Katie entering puberty, Parenting School Years has an article about it. Someone's looking out for me. At least this is starting at the end of the school year, I wonder if I'll see a big difference in her by the start of the next school year?


Okay, I'm going to go hide under my bed now. I'll be back soon.

Miscellaneous

One of the things that Katie has gotten into lately is archery. She's pretty good at it from what I've heard, though I have yet to see it. But I know she hits the bullseye alot because she comes home with pins/medals for doing that. ** Okay - update ** I did see her shoot her bow at the family reunion and here is a picture.

She wants to find a martial arts class as well and I have to say, I have some mixed feelings about this. I mean, who do you think she's going to practice on? I'm preparing for bruising.


Katie is taking communion for the first time the Sunday after this one. She's not making her "1st communion" because we don't belong to a Catholic church, but she's taking it for the first time and has studied for a while to get to this point, so she's very excited.


Okay, now for the disturbing news... at least for me. This morning when I came downstairs, Katie and Cynthia were talking and Cynthia told Katie to tell me about her bumps. While I'm wondering to myself if I have the kid's version of benedryl (my mind went straight to allergic reaction), I hear Katie say, "You tell her." I thought that was odd, so I said, "What bumps?" My daughter looks at me at this point and lifts her shirt. REALLY? She's just turning 8, is this supposed to happen? I didn't even check her out at that point because the thought of my not even 8 year old starting to develop could not/would not register in my mind. So I had a mom of the year moment and told her to pretend that they weren't there. LOL


Don't worry, I came home from work and had an actual talk with her. I just needed time to process. LOL But really? 8? Is that normal? I'm going to go hit google....

Hello out there...

I'm going to attempt to get back into blogging. Not necessarily because I want people to read my blog - because when you only blog every six months, who can expect that? - but because I seem to be unable to keep a written record of Katie's doings unless I blog.


So in a nutshell for the moment, until I can get back on - hopefully tomorrow? - and add to it. My daughter is now without her two front teeth. She lost them around Christmas time. Well, she lost the second one, she kinda had the first one knocked out. Now, you have to understand that it was loose to begin with. That's my story and I'm sticking with it. I was helping her out of the shower and had her towel in my hands ready to dry her off. I decided to mess around with her and said, "I'm gonna get this face first!" and proceeded to "dry" her face - basically just rubbing it in the towel. Then I heard - "ow! my tooth!" Ooops. Down one. She lost the second one of it's own free will ... and with a lot less blood. Did I mention oops?


Okay, I'm going to leave you with some pictures ... although they'll probably be at the top 'cause that's how they load and I'm too tired to move them around tonight. I'll be back soon.