Thursday, December 27, 2012

Christmas has come and gone

Time has once again gotten away from me and my blogging has slipped.  Thanksgiving was spent with family.  Our first stop was at my Aunt Sandra's house.  Then, we headed on to my mom's house.  It was a wonderful day filled with lots of food and time with cousins.  A grand baby sleepover was in order, and I even stayed the night too.  The next day, we were off to an exciting vacation with Summer's friend Abby.  Everyone maintained great health throughout the trip and Summer was not ready to come home when it was over.  One of the highlights was swimming with dolphins which we all loved.  We got to kiss, dance, pet, and ride a dolphin.  We held onto it's fins while it swam on it's back, and it also pushed us by our feet when we were holding onto a boogie board.  Another of Summer's favorite parts was swimming in the pool.  She loves the water as long as she's got her goggles!  We also got to see a few movies while we were gone.  I think we all thought Brave was better than The Odd Life of Timothy Green, but they were both good.  Summer was not ready for the trip to end, but back to school she went.

The weeks until Christmas break flew by.  The book fair came and went.  She attended her music and dance classes.  She learned to spell 12 more words.  She participated in the school's Christmas concert one Tuesday morning.  She had been practicing her songs around the house and in the car and was all ready, but the morning of the concert something that some may consider insignificant, broke her little heart and caused her to cry most of the way through the play.  She was told that I was not allowed to walk her to class after the concert.  (The nerve of some people!  LOL) We had already planned it out that I would when I dropped her off, but that was before we knew that there was a going to be a short announcement afterwards.  Well, halfway into the first song, she looks at me and starts crying.  She kept on singing, but she would noticeably choke up and tears were streaming down her face.  It continued for the next two or three songs before one of the teachers waved her off the stage.  No one knew why she was crying, but we found out quickly once she was off the stage.  I don't know why it was such a tragedy to her, but it was.  I talked her into going back on stage for the last song and but only after I guaranteed her I would indeed be walking her back to class.  Crazy how something that seems so minute can set off another person in such a major way.  But, she feels how she feels and there is no reason for me to undermine that by not understanding and making a bigger deal out of it.  It is sweet that she still wants me around so much, so I'm not going to discourage it.  I'm sure it will wear off soon enough!

On the morning of the 13th, our elf Gumdrop came with his first mission for Summer.  She wanted him to bring her missions from Santa like last year, and he did everyday as we counted down the days until Christmas.  She enjoyed doing them all, except for the last two which we were too sick to finish.  She came down with bronchitis last Saturday and it has had us both down since Sunday.  I think her favorite mission was to make goodies, taste test them, and deliver them to her neighbors.  Her least favorite was probably cleaning her room and getting rid of stuff to make room for the new things she was going to get for Christmas.  It definitely turned into her having a bad attitude and even shedding a few tears over a stuffed animal she has never played with, but did NOT want to give away.  Next year, I'll take on that task without her help!  On Christmas Eve, she went to bed with Gumdrop and when she awoke Christmas morning, he was gone!  She never even said a word about it, I guess because that is what she expected would happen. 

Most of our Christmas Eve was spent on the couch.  The day before that too.  We felt well enough to go to my Grandad's house that evening.  I really did not want to miss it since we never know how long we have with our relatives and this is the one time of year we all manage to get together.  My cousin Lindsay was the exception this year.  Summer was excited to see her cousins as usual.  We had finger foods and Summer's favorites were the chicken on a stick and green olives.  She loves black olives too, but they were not served.  She did eat a whole can out our Christmas get together with the other side of my family.  The evening did not last too long since everyone was anxious to get back home and get ready for Santa Claus.  Summer got some nice things from my aunts and uncles.  Her favorite was a Nerf disc thrower.  She also got a really soft Tinker Belle blanket and pillow that I'm hoping she let me use sometime. 

Christmas morning she woke up around 7:20 and came into my room as she usually does.  I don't think she was even really thinking about opening presents, but as soon as I reminded her she was ready.  She patiently waited for her daddy and I to get dressed, and we when we came out of my room PawPaw was on the couch waiting to watch it all.  She found her gifts from Santa unwrapped.  She got the remote control helicopter she asked for along with a surprise - a veterinarian Lego set.  She was also happy to see Santa answered her request for him to bring her pets something.  She then handed out all the gifts under the tree before unwrapping any.  Then, she tore into them one after another until they were all open.  She was excited to get the guitar she had asked for.  She received an abundance of things throughout the day with two more groups of people coming over to open presents with us.  Some of the things she got are as follows: Easy Bake Oven, basketball, kickball, walkie talkies, clothes, Qwirkle, butterfly connectagons Nerf gun, books, gloves, Justin Bieber singing toothbrush, and a unicorn Dream Lite Pillow Pet.  Too much for me to remember and way more than enough for one girl!!! 

Well, the couch is calling my name.  I hope that soon Summer and I will not feel like getting on it for a long while!  She's already there waiting for me to come snuggle with her again.  So, off I go......