Getting Ready for the Season

Whoa, Mama! Where did this week go?

I have not been blogging. Not sure what I have been doing. I did get a cold from my kids so I have been wiping  and blowing noses. That can take up a lot of time, you know.

Finally, seeing an end in sight for the mountains of tissues that have passed by me lately.

A couple of happenings got me out of my nose blowing/wiping  habit long enough to take a few pictures of some things.

Yesterday, Chase asked me if he could use the play  dough. The rule is that he can use it but only when little sister is napping. I can only imagine the tiny bits of play dough I would find ground in my carpet throughout the house if it got into those precious little hands.

Once Isabella was asleep. the play dough kept Chase quiet and busy for quite awhile. When I went to check on him, I saw this:

It is Chase's play dough interpretation of Ricky Fitness from the Aquabats. The white part is his belt with the symbol on it. Chase's own Aquabat costume is missing a belt so that is on his mind quite a bit. I have many paper belt designs around the house.

It does make me wonder what he will ever work on once his costume is completely done. He used to be all about the helmet and the mask. His grandmother made those last month. Now, he is in the belt stage.

The other thing that I took a few pictures of this week was the "Lighting of the Tree" celebration at our big outdoor shopping mall in town. I was so into getting over our sickness that I did not know it was happening. We went a couple of years ago and it was packed out with people and a lot of fun. 

 I had one of my roommates from college let me know that her cousin was going to be singing right after the tree lighting.

We found out how cold it was going to be so we were a little late getting there with all the extra clothing I put on the kids and all the searching I had to do to find all of our coats, hats, and gloves.

 It was extremely cold but so worth going.

The singer was Fecilia Barton and she has an amazing voice. I highly recommend checking her music out. I had a musician friend from Nashville who was set to go on an hour later. When he came by, he was very impressed by Felicia's voice. She was a finalist for American Idol a few years ago.

 I had to be an obnoxious fan and get a picture with her. I wanted to show my roomie who lives across the country that I did come out to support her cousin.

 My kids got to meet Santa. It was so cold that I am not sure if Isabella even noticed. What she did notice was that I had her so bundled that she could barely move. Both kids had a lot of fun and kept great attitudes through the whole adventure.

We stopped by to eat at our favorite pizza place and thaw out. There is a carousel next to the restaurant and Isabella did her best to convince us that we needed to take her to the "horse-ies." She was so precious in her fervent asking that I dare say that any one of her four grandparents would have braved the cold to take her. 

Her parents had no problem telling her "no" on this night. Next time, Sweetie.

We wrapped up our time out by stopping by the stage our friend was playing on. We only stayed for a short time because it was getting late and the weather was just getting worse. 

I feel like my holiday season just got officially kicked off since I saw Santa, heard live Christmas music, had to wear gloves, and saw the biggest Christmas tree in north Alabama.

Time to get Thankful and celebrate my Savior's birth!