343 - Tree...up close and personal

Some images of our tree.

McKenzie's stocking
And now the most important question...
are you an angel or star person??

I made this angel when Mike and I were first together for $20 and often think that I should replace her but I still really like her. I didn't think that McKenzie would notice that she didn't have a tree topper on her little tree...WRONG. Whenever we see a tree with a topper she points out to me that her tree doesn't have one. I forget how observant she is!

342 - Gingerbread house "deconstructed"

McKenzie wanted to help me with my gingerbread house for work tonight.

She had no patience to wait for me to put it together and it to dry prior to decorating so we decorated first.

Then I tried to put it together and had no patience for the "finickiness" of it.

The house turned into a no go and is pieces of pretty gingerbread.

Oh well, Costco sells one already put together for $9.99. Guess where I'm going tomorrow.

At least then McKenzie and I can decorate one and she can see it all put together.

341 - lunch dates

I had two men take me out for lunch on Wed.

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Ryan

and Owen. Okay so they were "little" men.
At lunch Daphne gave me a bunch of hair accessories that Ashlynn is no longer using.
Here's McKenzie with a pony tail in. This is the best shot I could get as she was bouncing around.

340 - Packages, boxes or bags...

The Grinch: It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes, or bags.

Narrator: The the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before.

The Grinch: Maybe Christmas doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas...
Narrator: He thought
The Grinch: ...means a little bit more.

Bonus Post - Santa Photo

We got a call from Kari on Saturday morning that Superstore had a Santa set up for pictures as long as you left a minimum $2 donation.

Took us awhile to get organized but finally we got over there.

Sure enough, there was Santa, no line up and McKenzie jumped right up on his knee this year. Her first words to Santa

"I want a Barbie Car"

not "Hi"

not "How are you"

No not for my daughter...down to business.

That's just how she rolls.

For our $3 donation, we got the photo, the visit and then McKenzie got to pick out a stuffed animal (see last post).

I was very impressed and Santa was very friendly and chatted with her.

No fear this year...she's caught on to this present thing.

336 ~ 339 Catching up

Been a bit busy and feeling rather dreadful...this cold has settled in for the winter I think...so fell behind on posts. My apologies.

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336 - Friday December 10

Cookie Exchange Night - The gals from the bowling team and some friends got together at Kim's house for a cookie exchange. She and her husband have turned the basement into a Tiki Bar. Coolest thing EVER!

Here are some random shots from the Tiki Bar.

This hula dancer reminded me of my Dad. What?! you may say. Well he has a shirt from Hawaii declaring him an official Bikini inspector. I am not even sure there is a hula girl on it but every time I see one I think of him. I have ever since I was a kid.

This picture of Elvis made me think of my mom who is a huge fan.

All in their basement...too cool.

Hand carved by Aubrey.

Our bartender for the evening...Aubrey.

337 - Saturday, December 11

My Christmas Party

So sick but stuck it out. Was an alright time. Not any good pics from the party as it was a fairly bland environment but here are a few of me looking glamourous.

Front view.

Back View.

Full view.

338 - Sunday, December 12

Miss McKenzie looking cute as a bugs ear brushing her teeth for bed.

Meet Pauley the Christmas Dog. Santa gave her Pauley when we went to see him today. McKenzie had her choice of stuffed animals but wanted "Pauley". He doesn't really look that much like Pauley (My brother's dog) but she's happy.

339 - Monday, December 13

Crazy Bowling

Tonight was fun bowling for Christmas. First game was crazy bowling.

Here are some of the nutty things we had to do.

I still managed to get 100! Not that far off my regular bowling scores!

Second game was bingo bowling and it was fast paced and I was dog tired when we finished. Good thing there were only two games!

335 - My daughter the lady...

My daughter actually has pretty good manners but every once in a while ettiquette escapes her...

Shortly after this picture she started shaking her head like a dog with a bone...such a lady.

oops

We are falling apart at the seams here people! I am now 7 days...one week behind on my posting for the 365 challenge. I will keep at it until the end of the year...hopefully only a week short.

Cute Kenzie story instead.

I asked McKenzie what she wanted to get Daddy for Christmas and she chose tools. I told her I would take her and she could pick them out all by herself.

The next day, Mike was bringing her up to my work. They passed where he works so he pointed it out to her. She informed him that he needs tools at work. She further informed him that we were getting him tools for Christmas.

Doh! Forgot to tell her to keep that a secret! Live and learn.

I brought up a memory of one of my dad's birthdays. I must have been about 7 or 8. We had gotten him running shoes.

I don't remember if I had a bad habit of telling people what we got them or not but I do remember knowing I HAD to keep this a secret. We wrapped Dad's gift and I was taunting him about it and he comes out with "Oh you got me shoes, thank you"

I was too young to know that you could tell what something was sometimes by the shape of the box and that he had just guessed. I burst in to tears and ran to Mom stating over and over again that it wasn't me...I didn't tell him.

I remember being so scared I would get in trouble. Well, they calmed me down and explained that Dad had guessed (guess he knew for sure by now) based on the shape of the box.

That opened up a whole world of possibilities and I remember that Christmas was the first one where I knew what 80% of my gifts were before I opened them. I would sit under the tree..."Barbie, My Little Pony, Barbie..."

Ah memories!

334 - McKenzie's 3!!!!

Someone in our house had a birthday on Monday...

...these are my attempts to get a "nice" birthday picture of her.

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Attempt 1
Attempt 2

Not bad.

I was trying to get her to stand with Paulie's picture here since she talks to him and says hi to him all the time. Didn't quite work out but I am so happy that I have a pic showing how much hair she is getting...only took 3 years!

Okay Mom, I'm kinda done. Let's go play.

3 years old but still my baby girl.

333 - Butter Knife

McKenzie didn't really want to eat dinner last night. Then she saw Maks get to eat with a fork AND a knife. She finally decided she wanted some food but when I brought it with just a fork she informed me she needed a knife too.

She had a lot of fun cutting her "smashed" potatoes.

332 - Ahhhhhh

Sick as a dog, long day, relaxing in a hot bath with a good book...

...ahhhhhh!

331 - Visiting Mommy

Daddy had arranged a playdate for McKenzie right up by my work. The stopped in after to take me to lunch.

Such a sweet smile!

Ahhhh

330 - A pinch and a punch is the first of the month

Last night we watched Frosty the Snowman...again. McKenzie is obsessed with him. Any snowman is Frosty. She has to hear stories about him and watch him every chance she gets.

Then Santa sent McKenzie an email. It is the neatest thing and we did it last year and she loved it. It is very personalized with photos and information just about her and she was bouncing and glowing watching it.
Santa sends an email video from his workshop.

If you would like to see McKenzie's here is the link.

Santa's Email

329 - Tuesday November 30

McKenzie asked to do crafts on Tuesday night so we broke into the wooden Daisy Duck Mike and I got her for her birthday. She had fun colouring Daisy and I was very impressed with how in the lines she did.

She had this unique style of holding Daisy up and down and colouring her. She tried laying her down but prefered her up this way.
Such intense concentration.

328 - Cheerleaders

We had a few cheerleaders at bowling last night.

Krysta's girls were there.

And, of course, what do I do when around a little girl with long hair for any length of time...
...I french braid.
It's like a compulsion. I should have that checked out. I love to play with hair so much and that makes it all the more cruel that McKenzie has always had so little. It is starting to really thicken up and get some length but boy has it been a process.

327 - Drawing

McKenzie got whiteboard crayons for her birthday so after her nap we spent some time drawing on her whiteboard.

Here is her portrait of Kaeden.

The artist at work.
Her artwork reminds me a lot of the characters my brother used to draw when he was little.

This is a star with chicken pox...too bad she doesn't have more imagination.

After drawing we decorated the house for Christmas.

Now to finish my shopping and I will feel ready for Christmas...27 more sleeps!