Christmas 2012 was good

All for the purposes of going back in time (and ultimately catching up!)... Christmas 2012 was awesome!!!!

Every year we have a "family" ornament for the tree that is typically purchased/acquired during our "family trip" that typically occurs to close out the Summer of that particular year. For 2011, the big trip was Hershey Park (because we had free tickets) and the ornament was a glass Hershey bar. For this year we went to the Baltimore aquarium and it was this dolphin in honor of the dolphin show that was previously a paid extra but is now F-R-E-E.

We have previously gone to the aquarium but this year was special simply for the fact that Miss A really remembers it now rather than it being a partial memory within a bit of randomness that she might recount on any given day that makes her seem like she is a "crazy person" who makes things up all the time. (Anyway.)

The cute little dolphin ornament hanging on the tree!

And for one more, Miss A also gets an ornament for her to commemorate the year. 2011 it was Dora the Explorer that was purchased at Hershey Park but this year I picked up a very well priced (read: CHEAP!) glass ornament of Hello Kitty at a local Home Goods. Miss A was THRILLED to have it be her personal ornament and it was a bit of a battle at least every other day to keep her from picking it off the tree (secretly) and hoarding it in her room like everything else she likes very much.

Miss A with her Hello Kitty ornament. On the back (that you cannot see) I wrote her name in sharpie and '2012.'

O Christmas tree!

It would be nothing less than an understatement to say that all of us Ellwoods are anything less than really excited about Christmas this year.  Last year was very fun and exciting but this year is the first one that Miss A just "gets" all of the excitement and festivities. Unlike many families, we don't do the Santa Claus thing but we still partake in plenty of other rituals of the Christmas season.


We got our tree up last weekend - a little later than we intended for Miss A's sake - but she was dazzled with the event just the same.  Miss A has an ornament on the tree for each of her Christmases and here are the two we have from last year and the year before:

Both ornaments above were handmade - the first one was by me and the second one was made by Miss A with my assistance out of air-dry clay and then painted with tempera paints I had leftover in the studio. 


We didn't do a handmade ornament this year (but I think we will return to it next year because I think it adds a little bit of something extra) but this year's ornament WAS handpicked by Miss A herself.

The ornament actually came from what was the first of what we hope will be many annual trips to Hershey Park earlier this year. The cool thing about the ornament is that it has a bit of a story that goes along with it as we snagged it at the end of a day where Miss A rode her first roller coaster (over and over again!) and when the huge rainstorm started and ended up flooding the area where Hershey Park is located. Miss A and I got separated from D when there was mass hysteria when the rain started coming down and Miss A and I sought refuge in the Christmas ornament store just inside of the gates at the park. Funny thing is that it's the only store I told D that I wanted to hit up before we left for the simple fact of getting an ornament to commemorate our trip to the park! Miss A and I were able to stay there long enough to pick out an ornament for her and one for the whole family...

 ... and then we headed right back into the storm to try and find D and get to our car and get out of there. The rain had come down so quickly that we literally had to both run and wade through standing water and if it sounds like it was chaotic and like mass hysteria then take it that way. I'm not coming even close to overdramatizing it.


It's awesome to look at the ornaments we have and remember the time we had at Hershey Park and I think that's why I like Christmas tree ornaments so very much. I've tried to make a point of getting one any place we travel to but I've done such a bad job at it and I'm going to make a point to do better from here on out.  


Miss A has been completely enthralled with all things Christmas and I swear it's because of her that D and I are just that much more excited as well. We've tried our best to make the whole thing as "kid-friendly" as possible by not having it be a situation where she is not allowed to touch things like the Christmas tree or the nativity we put out.

We have a regular nativity set but the one that we are using this year is one I picked up for 50% off last year at Family Christian that is so much more kid friendly than the Willow Tree one that I have and love so very much. I highly recommend the What God wants for Christmas set since it has little boxes that you can open up on days leading up to Christmas until the set it complete which go along with scripture readings of the real story of Christmas. We're trying our best to keep Christ in Christmas the best way we know how and in a way/on a level where Miss A gets it as well.


Hard to believe but we're finally so close to Christmas that tomorrow is Christmas eve but I'm getting so excited that it still feels like it is just a touch too far away!! :) Last evening D took Miss A shopping and she almost spilled the beans to me about what she picked out for her gift to me because she is just so excited. Only one more day for both her (and me) to wait. 

Here's to a wonderful 2011

We, the Ellwoods, are very busy folks.  When we aren't teaching at school, we're going to school.  When we aren't going to school, we are talking about getting ready for school (Miss A starts preschool this year!).  And when we aren't completely and totally preoccupied with everything of school, we are biding our time until it's time to go back to school. (Thank the good Lord for being teachers and having the great blessing of nice long holiday breaks!)

Still... with all of the hustle and bustle of the regular school that still isn't over yet for us... the 2010 calendar year is done for and here comes 2011.  Last year we had every intention of sending out holiday mailings but as with so many other best laid plans, things didn't pan out.  We should know better by now to stop putting the carriage before the horse. *shrug*  We'll learn.  Because what it comes down to is there's never a good time like the present to start doing the things you always should have done in the first place.  And for all of these reasons we're kicking off 2011 doing just that.  We give you our happy new year mailings.  An emerging photography talent I've had the great blessing to be introduced to did the portrait for us and I took care of the graphic design work - because why pay for someone else to do it when I can do it all myself?

For those of you folks who love to print pictures right off of this here blog, hold your horses! :)  Some beautiful specialty metallic prints (my new favorite thing because of what the process does for the colors!) are en route to your mailboxes as you read this.   Just give the wonderful postal service time to catch up with itself and take a breath from the holiday rush that was and your 5x7 will be in your hands and on your fridges before you know it. But we just wanted to post this here for you to enjoy as soon as possible just the same even if it is just in digital format. (See the post date?  It happened the moment the New Year rolled in!  Clever, eh?)

Thank you all for uniting with us and making 2010 so memorable and wonderful.  Let's do it again, shall we?  To 2011, we say, HERE WE COME!!!

Just a tad early

This year the executive decision was made that we would celebrate Christmas day yesterday.  We don't do the Santa thing in our house and really have tried to gear it towards the birth of our Savior so it worked out nicely to be able to have Christmas yesterday morning so we could go to church right after we did a little gift exchanging and had a delicious breakfast.

We've been talking about Christmas for weeks now and Miss A has gotten excited about it because of both Jesus and "my advent" (as she calls it).  We got one of those calendars with chocolates in them and she gets a chocolate at the end of every day to help count the days down.  Since she's just a little more than two and a half, she's still learning about it all and trying to figure it out but we're excited to report that she's gotten the most important part of it down - which is realizing the importance of the birth of Jesus.  Miss A gets all excited when you mention His name and even knows exactly who He is in the nativity...

Every year Miss A has gotten stocking gifts and then three gifts under the tree to symbolize what the wise men brought to Jesus.  This year one of her gifts was her own Craftsman tool bench that I actually picked up months ago for a mere $12 from my favorite local thrift store.

We thought it was brand new because it looked sealed and the box just looked a little beat up but as it turned out, it was missing the battery-operated power tools and had only the manual ones.  *shrug* Honestly?  Miss A isn't missing them too much and has plenty of imagination power to make everything else that came work just fine. Oh... but DON'T call it her tool bench because in her mind it's a new kitchen.

Miss A's second gift was a very special doll.  I am forever in search of Asian baby dolls that actually look Asian and are pretty (many end up looking like aliens or far from Asian) and I've thought that I would have to pony up and buy one of those super expensive American Girl dolls that are close to $100.  (*sigh* I don't like that idea but I would budget and save for it if I had to.)  Thankfully I will have to do no such thing!!  One of my favorite doll companies in the world (I used to work at FAO Schwarz in college) teamed up with Walmart and created their own version of the 18-inch dolls that are very much like American Girl dolls AND they have one that is of Asian descent that is so much prettier than the American Girl ones.  YAY!!!!!!  I saw it at Walmart last week and it was a real steal at not even $30!!!  And it was a big hit with Miss A...

 

And seeing as how well it went over, I'm already scheming about how to get her some matching outfits with her doll for upcoming birthdays and other occasions.

And for the third present this year, well... we're waiting on that one until Christmas day with family.  We've got only half of it here and we decided to hold off on opening that until it can all be opened together.  It was a very blessed early Christmas for us this year though and we loved being able to go to our home church together.  Miss A was especially excited about getting all dressed up in her sparkly shoes AND koala hat...

God bless us everyone indeed.

Attention Attention!!

We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming for a special message from our sponsors in honor of all of those amazing fathers who visit our blog regularly (that means YOU gentlemen named Grandpap, Great-PapPap, Great-Granddad, PopPop, and Papa)...

Sorry we can't be with all of you fathers to celebrate the day but hope this made it a little more fun for you! We love, miss, and cherish you all. D will give Miss A a super big, extra special hug and kiss to make up for all of the ones you can't share with her yourselves (yet).


And just because it's father's day, here's a little extra bonus video that hasn't been featured on our blog yet... Enjoy!

Best. CHRISTMAS. EVER!!!!

What a wonderful Christmas!!! We went up to Pittsburgh this year since it was D's family's turn this year and we had such a great time.

We were greeted upon our arrival by Grammy and Grandpap who took A over as soon as they could. She, of course, was delighted to see them. Here she is with her Grammy...



We had a number of different Christmas outfits on hand but it was hard photographing them as A is exactly the age where she has a hard time sitting still if left to her own devices. Here she is on Christmas Eve just before we headed out to Granddad's. She was having a hard time sitting upright on the slippery leather recliner!



Grammy and Grandpap entertained A before Christmas Eve dinner or was it the other way around? She had everyone redfaced from laughing so hard. Grandpap's kisses on her neck with his tickly beard made it hard for her to not laugh.



Here is everyone at Christmas Eve dinner just before we dug in! I was able to set the camera up so that the timer went off immediately after Granddad's camera. I don't think I could do that again if I tried! See Aunt H on the right? Next year she'll be adding another little one to the bunch!




One of A's most favorite presents of all this year was actually a duplicate of something she already has. Her security blanket is a fluffy yellow thing from Target that I found on clearance a while back for $2 because it had lost it's original packaging. She attached herself to it IMMEDIATELY when I brought it home. D and I have both learned the incredible value of such a thing and were able to find them at another Target and bought one for A so that we always have an extra. Here is A opening it up and burying her face in it - what she ALWAYS does when she sees it.




A was charming everybody! Even cousins M and D couldn't resist her cuteness! They spent a ton of time playing with her after all of the presents were opened.




The next morning (Christmas day) Granddad stopped by Grammy and Grandpap's to say hi and we were able to get a much better picture of him and A together.





It's another of A's Christmas outfits! This one came from Grammy and Grandpap and was so comfy. It was like pajamas and came with the cutest matching headband.




A was AWESOME and enjoyed being passed around to each and every relative. Aunt T from Pensacola especially loved holding her.




Here was ALMOST everyone. Amazing that it was only almost because look how many people are squeezed in the picture!!! D's family is so huge!!!!




And, finally, here is little Miss A on Christmas morning with her Christmas stocking that Grammy made and filled with all kinds of goodies. A is wearing a little union suit pajama outfit that came complete a hat all the way from Canada!

Giving thanks, again, for the first time

Yesterday we were up bright and early to hit the road towards Richmond to spend Thanksgiving (our second - remember?) with my brother and his family...

I brought lots of toys and amusements for the ride and BabyA was all decked out in her elephant hat (that finally fits her). She actually slept for most of the way AND for during my attempt to tell her my "life story." <= Apparently, nobody in the car wanted to hear it as D turned up the music when I announced that I was going to tell it. We were greeted warmly with lots of excitement from our nieces especially and lots of yummy food from Aunt E, Uncle B, and Aunt E's mother who was in town for the festivities.




We also got to meet some neighbors/friends of Uncle B and Aunt E who came over for appetizers before the meal was served in the late afternoon. D was in heaven as they brought with them a gourmet cheese platter that was TO DIE FOR.




Despite the implication (that we don't feed our own child and force her to dine on whatever toy within arm's reach) of this picture, Amelia DID partake in the Thanksgiving meal! But she is still teething and insists on gumming on any and everything around her.




And, finally, all of the ladies together. There was quite a bit of estrogen in the house and we REALLY outnumbered the guys and they had no choice but to be banished out of the dining room when the feasting was over to do such dreadful things such as watching FOOTBALL.

The Thanksgiving before the Thanksgiving

In an effort to make things nice and fair, we alternate holidays so that nobody can fuss about anyone getting more time than anyone else. When one side of the family gets Thanksgiving and New Years, the other side will get Christmas and Easter. The following year each side will swap holidays and so on and so forth.

This year, my side of the family had Thanksgiving and New Years. The plan, was of course, to spend Thanksgiving with Nana and PopPop wherever they were planning on being but when we found out that GG was going to be down at Nana's house and that Thanksgiving was going to be up at the lake in PA, we decided to give Thanksgiving celebrations to another member of my side of the family - Uncle Brandon and his crew down in VA! Uncle Brandon and Aunt Elizabeth were so kind and invited us AND our dog down for dinner and we happily accepted the invitation. Trouble was, Nana really wanted us to be with her! So... we came up with a solution that solved all problems - we planned on TWO Thanksgivings!!!

It worked out nicely.

1. We got a chance to see Nana and PopPop AND GG while she was in town
2. We get to eat TWO delicious Thanksgiving feasts (and we didn't have to cook either one - HA!) (Well, we contributed side dishes but that hardly counts, right?)

Here are some lovely pictures that I took with PopPop's Nikon as I left my little rebel at home (stupidly) thinking that it was unncessary for me to bring it! It's hard to believe that I spend some of my time being a professional photographer. Seriously! I would have missed all of these great moments...

Tomorrow is our second Thanksgiving and despite the fact that we've definitely had our fill of feasting already - all of us Ellwoods are REALLY excited to eat again! We've got so much to be thankful for having enough family to be able to have two entirely separate Thanksgivings. :)