The Cookie Man

We had our cookie decorating rehearsal this week. The key is getting into the headspace of the snowman and the tree in order to help the cookie meet it's full potential.

We will use these skills later to dress up a huge gingerbread man, or what Ryan calls "The Cookie Man". These turned out beautifully.

Ryan kept saying "Not too much. Not too much". Which was totally ironic.

And hilarious.

I liked my googly eye Rudolph the best.

Murmel

Our Elf on the Shelf came back! We think Murmel went to Party City the day before Thanksgiving to brainstorm hilarious antics for this year, because he has been at the top of his game. For real. 

Here are some of our favorites, including the mini frames and TP tree.

Marshmallow jacuzzi was fun, because we got to eat all the marshmallows before school that day.

He decorated the dollhouse for Christmas and brought Baby Jesus to see it.

He had a wild party one night with green elf milk. Ick. He must be an Irish elf.

He brought Grinch pills to help cheer us up on grumpy days.

He survived another ambush by the Villains.

He stocked us up with baking goods and aprons for Cookie Day.

He created his own behavior rainbow scale just like in Kindergarten. And put himself on red, of course!

Mom's favorite was when he threw a fiesta.

Even my chey-wau-wau was invited!

Selfies

These are our first official Selfies. Mom said these are the thing to do on Facebook. You take a close-up picture of yourself and post it to the whole world. The key is to capture a moment when you are doing something amazing, like a handstand in your sports bra, or standing in front of the Taj Mahal. She says Duck Face is the most flattering expression. So here we are, in the amazing Target parking lot, 2013. 

Busted Lip

We've reached the stage where we are getting incident report calls from school on a daily basis. Things like "Ryan was going down the slide and his friend was waiting at the bottom to bite his leg.", and "Ryan was running while looking back over his shoulder and tripped over a truck, busting his lip. It was bleeding for a long time but he seems fine now."

Buddy was so proud of his big lip. He loves to recount all of his daily boo boos.

Mom said this one was a doozy, he completely tore the frenulum connecting his upper lip to his gum line. We figure when this heals it will give him a bigger, toothier smile.

It really is just a matter of time before we start seeing broken teeth or broken bones. As long as he sticks with the basics like easy-to-fix arms or legs, that's okay.

And we'll keep giving him ice cream to ease the pain.

His favorite is "blue" ice cream, even though he can't quite decide what flavor that is, exactly.

I'll take chocolate, thank you very much!

Big Boy Bed

We said goodbye to the crib for the last time. Ryan seems happy with the transition to his toddler bed, but confused by the freedom.

He has been great so far about staying in bed at night, probably because we keep chanting "SANTA IS WATCHING YOU. NIGHT NIGHT". I love the new arrangement because now I can wake him up to go hunt for Murmel with me in the mornings!

Push and Pull

 Apparently my alter ego, Elissubeth, has been doing my homework. And she has an edge. This assignment was making a list of things that I can push and pull.

 Things that I can push: I can push a button. I can push a swing. I can push my brother.

 

And smile about it.

 

Things that I can pull: I can pull a wagon. I can pull a rope. I can pull hair.

Sometimes just using my words to express frustration at Mean Girls isn't enough. Mom witnessed me standing up for myself against a mean girl this week. She was speechless at my confidence and refusal to back down. I didn't pull the girl's hair, but I made it perfectly clear that I am not taking any crap from her. Ever.

Chey-wau-wau

 

I was thrilled to find the Wish Egg when we got out all of our Christmas tree ornaments. Mom found it on the tree after I had gone to bed, and realized that I had secretly documented my wish to Santa.

Santa is supposed to see the wish when he brings toys on Christmas Eve. But, just in case he misses it, I put a picture and note on my door. You can never be too careful with your most treasured wishes.

Ready for Christmas

Matching "gingerbread cookie man" pajamas: Check. Christmas tree covered in 5 strings of lights: Check. Christmas music blasting from the speakers: Oh yeah.

Now we just have to convince Ryan to hang ornaments on branches higher than the very bottom level. He thinks we are supposed to decorate the tree from scratch every day, then take all the ornaments down at night to "clean up".

It's hard to convince ourselves that 82 degree days are normal for December. Wearing short sleeves and shorts is weird when we are learning about the North Pole and snow. Maybe if Mom cranks up the air conditioner in the house we can pretend it's cold enough to make hot chocolate.

I love teaching Ryan all about Christmas. He seems to like it so far, especially the songs: Jingle Bells.

Light Switch

 Ryan's new favorite toy is the light switch:

On and Off and On and Off.
And his new favorite way to get around the house is Froggy Style:
Ribbit.

Santa

 This year I asked Santa for a "sewing machine, walkie talkies, and scented markers". Ryan just smiled and said "CHEESE!".

Thanksgiving Vacation

Our second annual weekend trip to Orlando after Thanksgiving was a success! We started with a perfect day at Seaworld. Mom and Dad were hesitant to see the orcas since the documentary Blackfish has been so controversial.  

This boy had a great time. Mom said she could stare at this face all day.

We were sad to admit that the killer whales were amazing in the show.

The infamous Tilikum is performing again. He is the giant with the floppy dorsal fin. It was kind of like watching elephants at the circus- they are enormous and thrilling to see, but you leave the show wishing they had a bigger pool or at least a chance to swim in the ocean. 

We didn't get to see polar bears or beluga whales because they were part of the Polar Express exhibit, which had a 30 minute wait time. That is exactly 29 minutes longer than this guy is willing to tolerate.

Antarctica was okay.

The dolphins were serene and beautiful.

We were exhausted by the end of the day, and ready for some hotel pool time!

And cinnamon rolls as big as our face.

Mom tried in vain to get the perfect Christmas card picture in front of every holiday decoration that we passed. In the end, she will probably use the Publix shopping cart hug picture, because that is her favorite.

On Saturday we hit Magic Kingdom, where Ryan got to see Woody!

But the MVP award goes to Snake.

Ryan picked out this rubber snake from the buckets and shelves full of Mickey Mouse ears and Lion King gear.

Then he walked Snake. Everywhere.

We think Snake helped Ryan tap into his inner bad boy...

until he met Tinker Bell and had to say "Pixie Dust!" one hundred times for pictures.

We'll try to forget all the Christmas card poses,

and think about the awesome race cars instead!

I got to drive my own car- Mom just pressed her foot firmly on the gas and I swung us erratically from one side to the other again and again. It was so much fun! And I probably need a neck brace now.

After dominating the race course, I was totally confident in my ability to get the sword out this time.

Then Ryan wanted to show off just so he could mess with Mr. Roid Rage.