Ready for Christmas

Hard to believe it's almost time for Christmas already!  We went to a tree lighting at Ballantyne Village one Friday night, and Em was prepared with her Rudolph nose and ears :).

We went to pick out our tree the Sunday we got back from the Thanksgiving camping trip--nice and warm outside, which doesn't feel quite like Christmas yet.

Thanksgiving

We decided to camp this year for Thanksgiving, and Julie came down on Tuesday.  I had to work that day and was in meetings that I couldn't move, so Mick picked her up from the airport and she hung out at our house until we got home that afternoon.  Em and Julie drew what they wanted their Thanksgiving plates to look like while I made dinner that night :).

Jason, Jenn, Cody and Chase got to our house on Wednesday night--we had dinner and got everything ready for the next day when we headed to the campground!  Since we got there on Thursday (Thanksgiving day), it was pretty quiet and we were able to get everything set up pretty early.  The kids had a good time playing outside, even though it was really cold!  We checked the weather and decided it might be better for the kids to stay with Grandma and Papa on Thursday, and they were all excited to, so Jenn and I took them over later in the afternoon.  That night, it got down to about 23 and it was snowing just a few flurries, so we were glad we made that decision.

We had Thanksgiving dinner at my parents' house on Friday, which gave everyone a chance to take a shower and get warm for the day.  

The kids all came back and camped with us Friday night, and everyone stayed warm once we were in sleeping bags!  Jason and Jenn had a DVD player, and we made popcorn so they could huddle up and watch a movie together before bed.

They all loved playing outside together, and didn't even mind the cold.

Saturday was a beautiful day, and we went to a different campground to scope it out for a possible future trip.  We hiked through the woods and then spent some time at Uncle Jim Roy's house in Brevard.  His grandsons (our second cousins) were there, and they took the kids for rides on the golf cart and dune buggy--needless to say, no one wanted to leave :).

 

On our last night, the kids finally got to roast their marshmallows over the fire!  We also reheated some Thanksgiving leftovers over the campfire that night.  Each night got a little warmer, so by Saturday night, it was about 40 for the low, and much more tolerable for camping.

The weather is always a risk we take when we camp at Thanksgiving, but so far, we haven't had terrible luck and everyone has stayed warm.  It does make pictures a little more limited though--hard to operate a camera effectively with gloves on :).

Pre-K School Pictures

Em's school typically brings in different photographers for the school pictures, and it's always interesting to see how they turn out.  We were really happy with hers this time.

I just can't believe she'll be taking Kindergarten pictures next year at this time!

School Projects

One of my favorite things about Em's preschool class is that they have home projects every few weeks and homework three nights a week.  It gives us a more formal chance to interact with her on the things they're doing at school, and a chance to show her creativity.

In October after the pumpkin patch visit, the assignment was to decorate their pumpkin without carving it.  I found some Pinterest ideas and Em chose this one--we glued crayons to the top of the pumpkin and melted them with a hair dryer.  She added the glitter and feathers!

In November, they were given the construction paper cutout pieces to make a turkey, and then were asked to decorate it with the things they're thankful for--Em decided to put the feathers on the bottom of the turkey, and then used stickers and markers to categorize.  She's thankful for Pets, Food, Home, Family, Friends and Heart.  She usually says she thinks her heart is the best thing about her :).

As much as I'd love for every project to be my version of perfect, I really try hard to let her do these on her own.  She gets frustrated if she thinks it isn't perfect in her eyes, so she certainly doesn't need my opinion.

Surprise for Grandma

Mick's mom has still been working on recovering from her multiple back surgeries, and her birthday was on Thursday, so we made plans with Rob and Stacy to all go down and surprise her for the weekend.  We took Friday off and drove down to get there a little after lunch, and she was completely surprised!  It was better than any gift, we're sure.

On Saturday, Landon had a soccer game on Jekyll Island and we walked over to the beach while they were warming up.

Em loves being on the beach, but doesn't usually understand why she can't play in the sand and water when she's fully dressed.

It was a little chilly out there too!

She got in a little visiting time with Uncle Chris, who she rarely sees.

And when the boys decided they wanted to play ball in the park, Em was right there with them.  She likes keeping up with the big kids :)!

It was nice to have just a relaxing weekend where everyone had some time together, especially Grandma with her three loves.

Sunday came quickly and it was time to say goodbye--Em and Grandma shared Eskimo kisses :).

Halloween

I was pretty excited when Em said she wanted to be Wonder Woman for Halloween this year.  There was certainly a good chance she was going to ask to be Elsa from Frozen, but I think she wanted to be different and there were a lot of Elsas.  I bought the stuff to make her costume, and really got some use out of my sewing machine.  I'm getting a little better with it--I told Mick I was pretty sure her costume would look good from a distance, but I could see all the little flaws in it.  Em was so excited about it though, and that was enough for me.

I thought she looked pretty awesome, but this picture is the best--she wanted to get on the stool in the bathroom to see how she looked, and her expression was priceless!

They wore their costumes to school on Friday morning, just long enough for show and tell.  Luckily, they changed into regular clothes for most of the day (I was worried about her costume making it through the day).

She stayed in character and was proud to show off to her friends when she got to school.

Friday afternoon, they changed back into their costumes for a 4pm parade.  Mick and I got there to watch it--this is most of her classmates waiting anxiously.

Em waving proudly in the parade!

She really looked great!

 This is her whole class in costume--only one Elsa!

This is her best friend Emmy--so funny that they both chose superheroes!

I love their little friendship.

We were invited to a pre-Halloween party at a neighbor's house, so we took some food and went down shortly after we got home.  I think this might be Em's new boyfriend, Jack--they played together, rolling and doing flips in the grass, and then decided they wanted to trick or treat together too.

Too cute!  He's two months older than her, so they'll start kindergarten together next year.

Wonder Woman is ready to trick or treat!  We had a great time, but it started raining around 8pm so we headed home with a very full candy bucket.  It was fun that Halloween fell on a Friday night this year so Em could stay up later than usual--she watched a short movie when we got home and enjoyed a few pieces of candy.  She's decided her favorites are "peanut cups" this year.  Yum :).

Field Trip

I went with Em's class on a field trip to the pumpkin patch on Friday--one of the best things about working so close by now is being able to be at her school in literally three minutes!  It was a beautiful day for it--cool in the morning, but warmed up perfectly by noon.

I can hardly believe how tall she is!

This is her class learning about pumpkins from one of the staff members at Hall Family Farm.

Emma, Emily and Emmy--Emmy is her very best friend at school.

They each got to pick out one small pumpkin to take home.

Em was excited to go through the corn maze and go on the hay ride!

As we got ready to leave, the class all got together for a few pictures.

And Em and Emmy took a quick tricycle ride.  I love seeing them have so much fun together--I hate that they won't be going to the same school for kindergarten, but hopefully they'll stay close through playdates!

Boo Bash

Blakeney had their annual Boo Bash on Saturday, and we decided to go early and try to beat some of the crowds.  It was a great idea--except that Em still wanted all the Halloween treats and it was only 10am!  We gave in for a double chocolate cupcake, but when the icing was gone, she was done with it.

There was pumpkin painting, sponsored by one of the local kids' art studios, Noah's Art.

It was another perfect fall day to be outside.

They have a little train to ride around, and Em apparently thought she was in a parade, judging by her little pageant wave.

They have a couple of fair rides (and best of all, it's all free!), and I think it's pretty obvious by her expression how much she liked them.

We ate lunch there and came home by early afternoon--fun morning!

Dance School Dropout

Well, we knew the real dance class would determine if Em wanted to stick with it, and it certainly did.  I've been meaning to update here, but after only two classes, Em decided she hates dance and doesn't want to do it anymore.  I have to admit I was really frustrated, but Mick and I ultimately agreed that we didn't want to spend the money, much less take her every week if she hated it, so we withdrew her.  I know she's only four and has plenty of time to decide, so we'll see what happens in another year or so.

She did ask if she could go back to gymnastics instead of dance, so we re-enrolled her at The Little Gym, and she absolutely loves it.  Maybe she'll just be a gymnast instead of a dancer!