Santa in Detroit

Santa showed up a little early in D-town this year.
He gobbled up his milk and cookies and left some serious goodies.

Chloe's reaction was priceless. She didn't see anything at first, except that the Christmas tree was in the wrong spot....then she saw her table and chairs with a tea set...then she FINALLY noticed the kitchen and whispered, "Ohhhh myyyyyy! A kiiiitttcheeeennnn!"

Gingerbread Party

The time has come my little friends

Chloe is officially a big, big girl, thanks to a cousin who so generously gave us this beautiful bed. It's just exactly what I wanted for Coco!


I thought there would be a period of adjustment, but she took to her new digs immediately and has never looked back!

Can't wait to post an update on her room once we get some new artwork hung.

A Hooga Booga Christmas to you and you and you

One of Chloe's favorite moments EVER was going to the Hooga Booga Halloween show this October. She still talks about it daily. Luckily ol' Hooga and Booga made another appearance for a Christmas celebration.

Posing before the start of the show.

And here THEY are.
One has a 'Transylvanian' accent, the other sounds like Nathan Lane...go figure.

Chloe was so excited that Daddy got to join in this time.
Now he know's what the obession is allll about.

Chloe loved dancing and singing right along to all the Christmas carols. These days she can handle all of Frosty, Rudolph and Jingle Bells without accompaniment - a girl after my own Christmas heart.

An easy Christmas

I usually go all out for Christmas, but this year I cut back A LOT. I don't know, maybe it's just me, but living with a toddler makes me more excited for some aspects of Christmas and less for others. I did make one new decoration this year - I hand stitched these numbers on a home-made advent calendar. Easy peasy. The messier looking, the better in my eyes.

Added some gold picks to a vase and a hand stitched Mother & Child (thanks for selling this at our garage sale Adele!) and a miniature nativity to our already stocked shelves.

Nothing says fun like a billion plastic ornament bulbs for Chloe to throw around.

Unfortunately we only have a small (faaaaaaaakeee) tree this year. (PS - note the introduction of C's new rocking horse. I bought it for 4 bucks at a garage sale and repainted it... great buy.)

Represent.

The most integral addition to our holiday cheer: Our elf "Peppermint" who sits around watching Chloe miss-behave all day and who reports to the big man up North at night. When Chloe is being especially naughty I like to remind her, "Who are we supposed to be good for?" And expecting the answer to be Jesus, Mommy or Daddy....she almost always replies, "for Peppermint!" Well, one step at a time.

Merry Christmas Ya'll!

A visit with St. Nick

Chloe has settled in now and finally gets the hug she had talked about for weeks on end! This is her "I'm-in-awe-of-this-moment" face.

Santa's gift: 3 silver coins to spend at the mall.

Royal Oak Christmas Parade