Nor'easter

When we wished for a white Christmas, we didn't know we were going to get a blizzard! The storm is known as a "Nor'easter", or what I like to call "Nor'awesome"!Playing in the snow was fun once I got into all of the snow gear from Nana. Nana told Mom that she bought me a "pocker", which was very confusing to Mom's Southern hearing. She told Nana she was grateful for the pocker, even though she had no idea what it was. Later we realized it means "parka" in Boston-speak. Mom is still giggling about that one! Playing in the snow can be exhausting work, so Kalyn and I took plenty of time to rest while being invisible to the grown-ups inside her princess net.Being snowed in can pose a challenge to finding activities that entertain a busy girl like me. We were able to practice our Rock Band skills (Mom says I am gifted on the drums),build a gingerbread house while practicing scowly faces with Dad, watch Toy Story 3 a dozen times (while Dad tried to book new flights to get us home),and go sledding!Kalyn was a professional, teaching me how to carve out a good trail to maximize speed on the ride. Then Aunt Julie blew us both away with her championship legs-up technique!

Santa

Have I mentioned that I adore Kalyn? She was my favorite part of the whole trip! Christmas morning was super fun, because Santa brought my presents up to Nana's house. I must have been a very good girl this year! One of the best surprises was the dancing Mickey from Aunt Joy and Big Mike... and the plumber's view of my pull up. Santa brought Aunt Julie this wicked snow hat. She said it is sure to help her catch the man of her dreams at the dog park! We laughed, but that beast was nice and warm when she was shoveling snow out of her driveway later in the week. Dad said this Christmas was just like the old days... growing up in the hood. The grown-ups laughed at us after all the presents were opened. All those surprises from Santa, and we wanted to play with a box. The best part was when Kalyn and I made "snow" out of the styrofoam. She even let me use her snowball maker.The perfect ending to the day was Papa's Mickey Mouse pancakes and Nana's yummy roast dinner!

Christmas in Boston

What a great week! While we may never discuss the nightmare travel experience at the end of our vacation, the time we had with family in Bean Town could not have been better! The Aunties hosted Christmas Eve dinner after Mass, complete with Kalyn's adorable place settings.We had good times talking about Joy Joy's upcoming wedding, but were sad to find Big Mike stuck in Cleveland with pneumonia. I reassured everyone that his "moo-no-mia" was getting better on "anti-bio-gics". He was there in spirit... and on Skype!
To prepare for the feast, Kalyn and I helped Aunt Julie make cookies. We took a break when she got out the mixer.Dad had an especially good time this week relaxing while the girls did the cooking. He tried to hang out with me, but I wanted nothing to do with either of my parents since I was with my idol, Kalyn. He spent some quality couch time with Nana and Papa, and his new boyfriend, a sweetheart named Ben.

Happiest Season Of All

December is officially my favorite month of the year. It's a time for Christmas parties with my friends and learning to play Beatles Rock Band. It's also a time for getting awesome presents from my Georgia family! This week we got a big box from my new favorite person, the UPS man (I call him the "PMS man"). He brought my presents from Marmee, Poppy, and my cousins. The box made Mom very happy when she found the homemade fudge, Mrs. Hastings cookies, and banana bread... then it made her cry when she found the sweet box from Poppy. I loved my Barbie vet, kitty cat in a crate, and puppy in a carrier (his name is Buster and he sleeps with me now). But, the best gift in the whole huge box was at the bottom of my stocking: princess lipstick. It's my new obsession.
Mom tried her best to get pictures of me with my new toys, or a short video of me saying "thank you". The only shots she could catch were me with my new lipstick. I will literally stand in one place for several minutes applying the beautiful gloss over and over and over. Even Dad is having a great time with the new toys. To my Georgia family: THANK YOU for the goodies! We loved them!

Holly Jolly

We are having such a great time with Murmel! At night she flies to the North Pole to tell Santa if I've been naughty or nice during the day, then she comes back to my house and plays with my toys until I wake up in the morning.Today I found her coloring with my markers. Mom and Dad are always surprised to find what mischief Murmel has gotten into... but their favorite part of this holiday season is watching my reaction to Murmel in the mornings. Mom found that it's impossible to capture the adorable moment on camera. I usually sneak up on her (as if she is going to jump up and run away), and then yell for Mom and Dad to come see the Silly Elf! Mom and I had another baking day last weekend, to get ready for our Christmas parties. We made lots of cookies (I helped!), and Dad was gracious as our official taster.
The best part of baking is the picnic afterwards.
Even Murmel snuck a little cookie while everyone was sleeping!

Murmel

This weekend we went to see Santa! I was very excited to ask him for princesses and a castle, but I turned into Shy Kelsey as soon as he talked to me. He was nice, he let me stare with my Serious Face for a long time. It was confusing afterward, because I thought he was supposed to give me the toys immediately. Mom asked Santa to send his toddler-friendly-touchable Elf to our house to live with me until Christmas Eve. So, when I woke up from my nap, the Elf was waiting for me outside! We read the story about my Elf and how he flies to see Santa every night to tell him if I've been a good girl.
Then it was time to pick a name for him. I thought about "The Elf" or "Elfie", but then quickly settled on "Murmel". It made Mom and Dad laugh because it was such a random choice, but I stuck with it. I picked the name from one of my favorite books from Cape Cod. Then I made the executive decision to turn Murmel into a Girl Elf. I get very upset when my parents accidentally refer to her as a he.
Later that night Mom had trouble finding Murmel... Apparently someone had been playing in the kitchen cabinets.

Decorating

I love the holidays! Every day there is a new surprise! This week I helped Mom and Dad decorate the Christmas tree. Then we put up Mom's Mom's Nativity Scene. Mom is very sentimental about it, so she doesn't like for me to hide Baby Jesus with my other toys. She lets my friends (like Dora and Rudolph on the right) visit, as long as they bring Jesus a gift, too. My favorite new tradition so far has been decorating cookies. Mom cut them into fun shapes, then she let me go wild with the sprinkles. We played Christmas music to get the creative juices flowing, and I made this face every time I recognized a song. "Holly Jolly" and "Frosty" are big in our house.
Mom was laughing at my focus and intensity. Let's just say that I take decorating VERY seriously. Notice the clenched left fist and facial expression... She didn't catch any video, but you can imagine how much fun I had emptying 3 bottles of sprinkles onto this single batch. Dad said the cookies were as beautiful as they were delicious.