Zoe's First Day of Preschool

Well, after much thought and much constant begging from Zoe, our little girl had her first day at preschool last week! 

We started the morning off right with Zoe's breakfast of choice - a blueberry waffle, cheese and banana pennies just like Grandma had made in Delaware. 

Zoe was so excited to be going to school.  She walked right into her class, took off her coat and was ready to go.  She wouldn't have given me a second glance if I would not have chased after her to give her a big hug and tell her how much I loved her. 

I stayed and talked to her teachers a few minutes which gave me a few minutes to watch my baby on her first day.  She acted as if she'd been in this class the whole year.  It was so hard to believe that this was the same little girl who used to cling on to her mommy for dear life and would cry and make herself vomit to get mommy back.  It's amazing how much can change in only two short years.  This time it was me who was about to cry when leaving, not her. 

Two Christmases

While techinically there is only one true Christmas, in our household every other year we often feel like we have two Christmases.  We alternate every other year in going to Delaware to spend Christmas with Grandad and Grandma and this was our year to be there.  So the Saturday prior to our departure up north, we had a Christmas celebration with the Caudle side of the family.  Then on Christmas day we celebrated with most of the Shellenbarger side of the family in Delaware.  Needless to say, D&Z were quite spoiled by Mom, Dad, Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and Santa! 

Kyle, Dylan, Zoe and Alec

This took many attempts to get a Christmas photo for Nana of these four.

Zoe with her "hairdo" and pocket book full of princesses from "Aunt Pickle", "RD", Kyle and Alec. 

Dylan finally got a Wall-E!  And has carried it around ever since!  Now maybe he won't bug Alec to bring his over every time he comes.

Zoe got her doll house!  Thanks Nana and Bop! 

This is the highly desired Landfill from Toy Story 3 from Nana and Bop to Dylan.  Dylan loves it and I love this toy too because it is amazing how much time he will spend playing with this toy. 

Now off to Delaware....

Making a gingerbread house (I cheated and bought a ready to make kit) with cousins Nicole and Daniel on Christmas Eve.

Everyone is proud of their creation and I think they all enjoyed doing this.

Dylan and Zoe putting out their stocking on Christmas Eve night for Santa.

Dylan decided to sample some cookies before picking the right ones for Santa.

Cookies left out for Santa - Check!

Stockings hang by the chimney with care - Check!

Reindeer food spread on the lawn - Check!

Bedtime!

Well, well, Santa came to Delaware for Dylan and Zoe afterall!  And he brought Dr. Bones!

Daddy escorting Zoe and Dylan down the stairs at Grandma & Grandad's house Christmas morning.

WOW!  There is a Santa!

 

Santa brought Zoe some pretty princess dress up jewelry.  I just flash fowarded about 12 years!  Yikes!

Time to go selling, mateys!  This has to be the coolest pirate boat ever, Santa!

Stockings!

There were so many presents under the tree for Dylan and Zoe that it took hours to open.  I can't even begin to display all the photos nor could I capture them all.  Thanks to Grandma, Grandad, Uncle Ivan, Uncle Mike, Aunt Chelsea, Uncle Ray, Aunt Ann, Uncle Zane, Aunt Sue and cousins Nicole, Daniel, Nathan, Kennan, Malcolm, and Grant for some great toys!  These two kids had a very big Christmas! 

And in spite of all the toys, D&Z did make sure to sing Happy Birthday to Jesus and Dylan told me that "we give at Christmas because Baby Jesus was given to us."  Pretty profound for a four year old. 

Dylan's Preschool Christmas Program

Dylan dressed for his performance

This morning was Dylan's preschool Christmas program.  It's very short (as you can imagine it has to be with a group of 2-5 year olds) but it was so sweet.  My boy came down the aisle of the church right on cue carrying his stocking as part of the things that answer a question about "What is Christmas?"  He even stopped and backed up a bit when he realized he passed by me, Daddy and Zoe.  Then when it came time to sing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" I was so proud of him.  He stood up there on the front row and sang his heart out.  So much so you could hear his voice ringing out over all the others.  Dylan loves to sing and his passion came through loud and clear.  He knew every word and sang on key! 

We practiced our songs this morning and practiced keeping our arms still while we sing.

The preschool gets crazy and you have to get there early to get a seat.  So I had a whole bag of tricks to entertain Zoe while we waited, but she really preferred Daddy's blackberry best of all.  Hmm...

Here's our little guy walking down the aisle with his stocking.

Dylan's friends, Connor and Bethany, walking down the aisle

Dylan's friend, Gavin.  He talks about Gavin everyday and I'm learning why.  These two are both little hams. 

Dylan's buddy, David, walking down the aisle with a candle.

The performance

Dylan singing his heart out and looking at me!  I'm so proud of him.

Dylan singing loudly.  I hope he wasn't too loud for his friend, Angelina, who is beside him.

What a cute mess!

Cook's Preschool Christmas Program 2010

Cookies with Santa

Our MOPS group held a Cookies with Santa fundraiser.  The kids were all able to sit on Santa's lap, make crafts, and enjoy some cookies.  What a great way to spend an afternoon!  (And yes, I do have an inside scoop on Santa!)

So what did Dylan and Zoe tell Santa they would like this year?

Dylan wants Dr. Bones Color Shifter Lab by Hot Wheels.  While not at all something Mommy really wants for Dylan, Dylan has been consistently asking for this from Santa since Thanksgiving.  With that in mind, I think Santa may just have to deliver.  After all, Dylan is not asking for much from Santa.  And he did ask Santa to bring Zoe a doll house.  You have to love his heart!  What a sweet little boy I have!

Zoe is requesting lots and lots (and she circles her hands in the cutest little motions to show lots and lots) of doll houses, princess dolls and princess stuff.  Zoe is tough and can hang with the boys, but she is 100% girl through and through.  I think Santa couldn't resist her charms nor those big blue eyes and dimples so I'm foreseeing Zoe's wish list being granted. 

Oh the magic of Christmas!  BELIEVE!

Zoe Bug enjoying a cookie!

Cousins!

Bliss!

Cute Mess!  Got a little bit too much water.

Christmas Portraits

We have struggled for years to get Christmas portraits done of Dylan and Zoe together.  I'm so excited to say that this year was a success!  I can still hear David telling me now "I've thought you should be the one taking our pictures of Dylan and Zoe all the time."  Thanks David for all of your encouragment and I'm glad I finally had the courage to do it! 

So this years Christmas portraits are from Reflections by Amanda.  It was a quick shoot, but we captured some adorable faces!

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I can't believe how fast the time has flown from Halloween to Thanksgiving to NOW.  Christmas is only 11 days away. 

This Christmas season has been so fun, but as always just flies by way too fast.  I'm listening to Dylan now singing "it's the most wonderful time of the year..."  That's what inspired the title for this blog. 

The kids are really into Christmas this year.  Dylan was into it last year, but this is Zoe's first year really understanding it.  Dylan knows tons of Christmas songs - in part because I'm always singing them to the kids or we always seem to have Christmas music playing in the background.  Dylan is insisting that we bake a birthday cake for Jesus to have on Christmas.  Zoe is insisting she has "found Jesus" when she spots him in the manger in our nativity set.  I try not to laugh, but it is a bit comical when my two year old Zoe shouts "Mommy, I found Jesus!" over and over again.  Dylan had asked for a Bible so I bought the "Early Readers Bible" for him as an early Christmas gift and he loves looking at the baby Jesus and hearing about him.  So the true reason for the season is very alive in our house and at the same time Santa is a big part of the festivities. 

Dylan has actually questioned the existence of Santa which deeply saddened me, but I've slowly recovered.  For now Dylan does seem to believe there is a Santa Claus.  He's a very logical thinker (reminds me a lot of his Daddy)  and it's amazing how he can put two things together at barely four years old.  I'm not ready for him to lose the childhood magic that comes with Santa just yet. 

We have an Elf of the Shelf that came from Santa this year.  The first night we had him, Dylan and Zoe started fighting over a toy and I told them "Tilly is watching you."  Tilly is the name that Dylan and Zoe gave to our elf.  Well Dylan looks at me and says "Mommy, the elf is a toy.  He isn't telling anyone anything."  Geez!  Thankfully I have a very creative older sister who is helping me through some of this "logic" of Dylan's. 

This is the first year that Zoe has not been at all afraid of Santa.  She just can't get enough of seeing him.  She talks about Santa all the time.  She asks to go see him everyday.  Zoe just loves Santa.  We've had two encounters with Santa so far, but my girl is wanting more and more.

We have a lego advent calendar this year and Dylan and Zoe both love it.  Each day they look forward to spotting the number of the day and opening their little lego gift.  Then they can easily spend a half hour or more playing with the lego gifts and the backdrop scene. 

Oh, it is truly is the most wonderful time of the year!  I'm so blessed to be able to spend each day with Dylan, Zoe and David.