Our visit with Santa Claus at the UT Club

Grandma and Pops invited all the grandkids (and their parents) to join them to visit Santa at the UT Club.  It was really fun!  We weren't sure what to expect with Harper and Santa.  If you rewind to last year, we forced Harper in Santa's lap where she screamed and cried hysterically.  She didn't like the bearded creeper.  This year, both girls loved Santa.  They stood in line to meet Santa, decorated cookies, wrote letters to Santa, made ornaments and ran wild outside. The boys didn't want to sit in Santa's lap, but Claire and Harper were in love.  We had to force them to allow the next kids in line their turn. 

Pops, Grandma and the girls

Christi, Chris and Charlie

The girls with Santa - all smiles, no tears

The family pic with Santa Claus.  I still can't believe I got Daren to be in this picture!

Claire decorating cookies

Harper decorating cookies

This picture cracks me up because the kids were pretending to be Spiderman. They were scaling the walls to capture the spies.

I snuck this picture when neither knew I was taking it.  Harper LOVES to snuggle with her Grandma.

Harper's Christmas performance

Harper's school put on a wonderful Christmas performance.  Beginning with the infants, each group performed a Christmas song.  Harper was so excited for all of us to come.  She told me that I had two rules, 1. "You are not allowed to talk until I am finished."
2. "You need to clap at the end."

Grandma, Pops, Daddy and I packed in a pew at her crowded chapel.  I was so excited to watch her.  You see, Harper hasn't had very many performances in her little lifetime just yet.  The morning began with Harper refusing to wear her Christmas clothes, so I wasn't sure how the performance would go.  While very bold at times, Harper is much more shy than her older sister.  Harper did a great job!!  She sang the song twice, and if you are patient enough, the second round of Rudolph is better!  I loved every minute of watching my silly, sweet baby girl perform.

Here is a link to watch Harper sing "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" :
http://youtu.be/QqxlCl6OChc

Singing "Rudolph."

I love this picture because this is the exact moment where she found Grandma, Pops, Daddy and me.  Her face says it all!

Mid performance - her class

The next day was her pajama party at school.  She's sassy and ready to go!

What a beautiful little girl!  Santa loves you too, Harper!

The boys kicking off the Christmas season

Christmas season was kicked off by my sweet nephews.  Their church Christmas performance was at the beginning of December and it didn't disappoint.  The boys did a great job singing, and we all LOVED watching them.  My personal favorite is included as a video clip below:

"Do the Shepherds Need Shades?"
http://youtu.be/6OSU2Y4Jsic

Holding up their candles to "This Little Light of Mine"

The boys up close and singing

A group shot

The best birthday gift ever!

It's final!  And, on my birthday... Best gift of all!!

35 and holding...

35 snuck up on me this year!  I've never been one to care about my age.  I still feel like I am 20 years old.  My students often remind me of my age when I mention Vanilla Ice, roller skating parties or ET and they've never heard of any of them.  That's when I realize that I am not, in fact, 20 years old anymore.  I had a great birthday.  We did lots of celebrating and it was fun.  35 was a fun birthday and I look forward to a lifetime of more celebrations...

Family birthday party with 4 of my favorite people in the world!

Birthday date night with Daren at Paggi House did not disappoint.  AMAZING!  Thanks to Erin and Evan for such a wonderful gift.  :-)

We met the Gisslers post-dinner for some drinks.  We had a lot of fun with them!

Daren gave me a birthday party at Pinot's Palette.  It was a blast!  We painted and drank wine.  For someone as unartistic as I am, this was really a BLAST because I walked away with a decent painting. 

The painting crew ready to paint!

Our masterpieces!

A semester in Kindergarten

So far, Kindergarten has been an incredible experience for the Claire Bear.  I really can't believe she has completed an entire semester.  She has done very well both academically and behaviorally, earning greens almost every day for her behavior and 4s on her report card.  Her teacher is AMAZING!  She truly loves children and has each kid's best interest in mind.  We feel so blessed.  She sends a newsletter every Tuesday to the parents.  In it, she includes what she calls "outtakes," or pictures of our kiddos while they are in class.  I love that she does this.  It makes me feel included in Claire's classroom and in her learning.  Below are some of my favorite Kindergarten "outtakes" :

Taken in September: This is Claire and Katherine, one of her best gal pals, holding hands walking into school one morning. 

Halloween time: Claire's teacher sent us a picture of the class's green hands after a project they completed in art class.  Claire is on the right.

November: One of Claire's classmates speaks Italian at home.  Her mother came and read a book to them in Italian.  Claire is in awe. 

Claire making patterns during circle time

Claire and a friend learning to put numbers in order all the way to 100!!

Thanksgiving turkeys!!

The Kindergarten Winter Party - no parents allowed!  Claire's amazing Kindergarten teacher sent us all pictures of the event.  :-)