celebrations and miscellaneous everyday-tions

It was parent's night at Lauren's dance class this week. Moms and Dads were allowed into the dance studio to observe and cheer on the little ballerinas. I wasn't able to go but Matt was so I armed him with the camera. (he takes better pictures than I do anyway.)

Lea and Lauren demonstrate perfect posture.

Miss Katherine, the beautiful dance teacher, is in black.

Lea, Lauren and Abigail

new tap shoes

(the sticker shows which shoe is the RIGHT one)

Half the class is ballet and the other half is tap.

Wednesday, Tyler had his school Christmas Program. The Kindergarten class acted out the Christmas story and the pre-schoolers sang Christmas songs. Tyler is in the front row, white shirt, and smack in the middle. He did wonderful. He sang and he also mimicked the conductor by waving his arm up and down to the beat. It was adorable.

Today, Thursday, he had his school Christmas party.

They decorated foam stockings...

Before they could decorate the Christmas cookies they had to listen to a story.

Tyler DID NOT want to listen to a story first.

He put on his pathetic-grumpy face.

Mrs. Hoffmann sat down beside him and whispered some magic into his ears. Whatever she said worked because Tyler paid attention to and Enjoyed the story time.

Finally, he got to decorate the cookies.

He was serious about the sprinkles. (I hope no one else wanted that color.)

After decorating the cookies it was time for the Christmas (aka SUGAR) Feast.

...marshmallows, grapes, pretzels, decorated sugar cookies, popcorn, and Happy Birthday Jesus cake... Tyler ate every last bite except for the grapes (he's not a grape man for some reason.)

After the party, and a 2 hour nap, Tyler and I picked up Lauren and Lea from Art Club.

We came back to our house to play.

Tyler and Lea took a break from cooking to pose for a picture.

and now for the miscellaneous

(in three parts)

Part One:

check out the gift from my Mom's Club Secret Mom.

We do a Secret Mom gift exchange where we anonymously exchange a small gift every month.

My Secret Mom ROCKS!

It's a Handbag Hook. So stylish.

Part Two:

my Grams, aka GG, sent me this Awesome T-Shirt today.

Her card said to wear it with pride in honor of my Dad (who would have been ecstatic about the Ducks playing in the Rose Bowl this year.)

Here I am proudly wearing the perfectly fitting t-shirt.

(THANK YOU GRAMS!!!)

Part Three:

I wouldn't have taken a picture of this but since Matt said this was definitely "the best chicken noodle soup I've ever had" I couldn't resist.

Yes, it was that good.

Instead of the parsnip I used a potato and I added a diced orange pepper since I had it in my fridge. I also seasoned the chicken with my favorite seasonings (garlic salt, pepper, Adobo and Cavender's All Purpose Greek Seasoning.)

Yes, It was that good. =)And that concludes the celebrations and miscellaneous everyday-tions.