Monday, December 29, 2008

A Bushel of Fun

A fun afternoon with Christina, Annabelle, and Preston (oh how I love them!):

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Allison got a real treat this afternoon: she got to see her first rainbow. After a couple of unusually warm December days, we had a lot of wind and rain this afternoon. We were treated afterward to this:



Christmas Day!

Christmas Day was so much fun. I sat in the chair watching Allison before everyone started arriving, and I told C how happy it made me just to be able to sit and watch her play.

Here's just a few snippets from our fun day:

Santa's Letter to Allison

Peeping to see what is underneath "that big blanket"

Getting the kitchen in order

Winning the Lottery

Allison's new BFF

Finally, a powdered donut break

"Twas the Night Before Christmas

On Christmas Eve, we had a wonderful time visiting and having dinner with The Lewis family and friends. As usual, Allison had a grand time. It really is a shame that she doesn't like daddy's friends (HA)!

Playing Elevator with Mr. John:

A sweet, sweet time with Ms. Cindy:

The first Christmas Eve that we ever had with Allison, I started the tradition of opening one present on Christmas Eve, and everybody gets the same thing: a new pair of pajamas (or in C's case, a pair of pajama pants). Allison was so excited this year about getting to open her gift - she could do it by herself, you know. She also got a special treat of a new Christmas stuffed animal to sleep with. She has slept with her new reindeer each night since.

Monday, December 22, 2008

Dear Santa, Please Potty Before This Pitstop

Allison informed me this afternoon while we were getting ready to go see Santa Claus that Santa would not be using our bathroom because it was "messy, messy, messy." (She's been watching too much "Frosty the Snowman"). She came to this conclusion because there were two cotton balls that had fallen off of the counter and were laying on the rug.

Thank you for your input, Molly Maid!

Ho Ho Ho Time!

We finally took Allison to see Santa Claus tonight....as in for her to actually sit on his lap. She has been admiring him from a distance since he arrived at the local mall back in November.

She has been refining her response when asked "What would you like for Santa to bring you?" Besides the camping trip, Allison has now decided that she would like for Santa to bring her a baby doll. She was very excited when we told her late this afternoon that we were going to go see Santa so that she could tell him exactly what she would like.

Now, I was a little nervous. Allison's previous encounters with Santa have not been exactly pleasant. Tonight was different. I have to tell you it almost brought a tear to my eye to see her joy and excitement.




And my personal favorite (it just makes my heart MELT):

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Getting My Jingle Jam On

On Friday evening, our friends John and Cindy Lewis invited us to the Top of the Rock Chorus' Annual Jingle Jam. Top of the Rock is a women's barbershop chorus of which Cindy is a member.

We have been to hear Top of the Rock sing several times, and I never get tired of it. They are really quite phenomenal.

Besides getting to hear the chorus sing some great Christmas music at Jingle Jam, we also got a wonderful meal and were able to participate in a silent auction to help raise money for the chorus to go to the international competition this coming year.

Top of the Rock:


John and Cindy Lewis:

I always wanted to be a Rockette!

...but since that obviously didn't happen, C did a wonderful thing for me by taking me to see the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular last Thursday. Let me just say, it was really SPECTACULAR!!! I loved it!


After the show was over, C took me out for a lovely dinner. Thank you, C. I had a great time.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Speak No Evil!


I promise. She did this to herself.

Monday, December 15, 2008

Deck the Halls!!

Come on in! Welcome to The Rickard House as part of BooMama's Christmas Tour of Homes.

Come on in to our living room. Here is our Christmas Tree that I love to decorate. I changed it up a little bit this year, but overall, I like it:

I never quite know what to do with my mantle, but I decided to display Allison's Christmas pictures. That was all fine and dandy until I couldn't put my fingers on her Christmas picture from last year. My very favorite pics are the two on the left:

I took the minimalistic approach to Christmas in my dining area (that sounded like I know what I'm talking about - don't kid yourself):

Finally, I have a lovely tree in my kitchen where I stick my hodge-podge of ornaments. Allison loves this tree, and I love it being in the kitchen. That is our gathering place:


Thank you for going on our tour. Merry Christmas from our house to yours!

P.S. I almost forgot a quick-and-easy recipe. And it doesn't get any easier than this:

Girl Scout Cookie Thin Mint Knockoffs
1 pkg of mint chocolate chips
1 sleeve of Ritz crackers

Melt the chips. Dip the crackers. Dry them on wax paper.

It doesn't get any easier than that, and they are "slap your mama" good!

And friends of mine, did you really think you were going to get the Peanut Butter Buckeye recipes?.....Not on your life!

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Showin' A Little Love

C even got into the spirit tonight and gave Frosty a big hug!

Christmas with a "Capital" C

We made our annual venture to the state capital tonight to look at Christmas lights. It always looks so amazing. Allison LOVED it!



Pure JOY

This was Allison's face last week when Santa walked up to our car as we were driving around looking at lights. She has talked all week about Santa giving her a candy cane. This is truly priceless:

Shower 2 Shower

Allison and I ventured out today to a double baby shower in honor of Sean & Tabitha Clarke and Brian & Sarah (or Sasa, as Allison likes to call her) Smith. Sean, Tabitha, and Brian all work with C....and Sasa - well, we just love her.

Sean & Tabitha:

Brian & Sasa:


Allison was very excited that she was getting to go to a "big people" party. She even helped me make their presents yesterday. It was the first time for me to make diaper cakes, and she was very eager to lend her assistance. I think they turned out pretty well though:


I'm sure we all know, though, that Allison's favorite part of the shower was the cake...and not the diaper kind:

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Fairy Wings & Pixie Dust

I took Allison to Olivia's 4th birthday party yesterday. She had a Tinkerbell theme, and it was so stinking adorable! Olivia was so pretty in her Tinkerbell dress and fairy wings. They had a really good time - Allison talked about it all night.



And this is my favorite. I love the way she is covering her daddy's mouth because she wants to do it herself:

Friday, December 5, 2008

BEWARE!!! You are about to see the sweetest thing EVER

Allison does not quite understand the concept of Daddy being sick and not wallowing all over him. She is convinced that he will be all better if she just gets up in the bed with him and reads him some books.

Allison was getting upset last night because I wouldn't let her in the bed with him (I mean, I'm pretty sure he has the flu or pneumonia or something contagious. And I will do anything to keep the whole house from getting sick - including sending C to a hotel room if it is necessary.) The only way she settled down and agreed to leave daddy alone was when I told her she could sleep in her sleeping bag under the Christmas Tree and mommy would sleep on the couch. She was so excited about this - it was the easiest time I have had getting her to bed in ages!

I could not resist taking a pic...it's not the greatest....but I didn't want to wake her up.

And I present to you, PURE SWEETNESS:

The Greatest Show on Earth!

I took Allison to see Ringling Brothers' Circus last night. C was suppose to go, but he is sick - what a bummer! Allison and I had a great time though.

I didn't tell Allison that we were going to the circus until yesterday morning. She was very excited. I told her we would see elephants, and tigers, and maybe even some clowns. Allison said, "What about ducks, mom? Will we see some ducks?"

There were no ducks, but there were plenty of other things for us to see. She loved it!