Santa's Coming to....

James' Preschool!!!

"Ho, Ho, HO!!! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!"

Look of excitement and shock!

After Santa found a seat in the front of the classroom, it was time for the kids to sing their songs! A couple songs the kids grabbed their bells and jingled all the way! Amelia and Vada joined in with the singing, even though they didn't really know the words. So cute!!

I didn't hear what Owen asked Santa for, but I know in class the other day he wanted a toy cow.

I was a little shy at first, when Santa asked me what I wanted for Christmas, but then my Mommy gave me a great idea...a Monster truck of course!!!

Here is "Buddy" the elf! James' class has their own scout elf. These elves are popping up everywhere!
Amelia wasn't afraid to sit on Santa's lap this year! Such a big girl!

Not only did Mommy and Amelia join us for the beginning part of our Christmas Party, Papa attended too! I think he really liked my classroom and my teachers. I saw him smile and give me a wink while I sang my Christmas songs. Thanks Papa for visiting my school and Christmas party today!!!

Day 9: Christmas Feely Box

Today's Advent activity was not one of glue and craft materials, it was a game of feeling and describing. "I feel something that tickles. It is soft." It was a piece of garland!
"Umm, this is hard and shaped like a circle. I know it is a piece of peppermint candy!"

The Christmas items that are hidden away in the box were:

bow

shiny green curling ribbon

Silver, wired ribbon (rough)

a large globe ornament

a small globe ornament

piece of garland

a plastic candy cane

2 peppermint candies

a gift tag

little winter figurine

Christmas bell

crinkled up wrapping paper

poinsettia flower

sprig of a Christmas tree

Day 8: Write a Letter to Santa

Dear Santa....
Amelia signed her own name with additional love notes.

OK Mommy, let's get this puppy in the mail, we don't want it to be late!

James asked for a diesel model train, model airplane and a Monster Truck named Blue Thunder.

Amelia asked for a Princess plane and a choo choo train...hmmm can we say older brother has and an influence on her wishes???

First Snowfall of the season!

Our buddy Addie, joined us for some winter fun and helped pile on the snow to build our snowman, but she got a little tired and headed home before I get a pic of her too. James named him "Little Frosty". Nice job kiddos!

Amelia giving Little Frosty a kiss!

A Sleepover with Stella!

This afternoon, Uncle Jim needed to have Stella out of their house for a showing, so we picked her up and brought her to our house for the day.
We had so much fun playing with Stella and telling her what not to do, that Mommy asked if she could stay the night, so she did! We were a little sad to see her go home the next day, but we will see her soon!

Winter Fieldtrip to Bass Pro Shop!

Well, we have become quite creative in finding free things to do during the holiday season. Today, we joined the Butner Bunch and headed to Gurnee! Heather and I had seen an advertisement regarding a Christmas workshop being held Bass Pro Shop, so that is where we spent our day! We decided to check out their big fish "pond/tank" first. Look at how huge some of those fresh water fish can grow!
James eye to eye with a big old catfish! Joshers has spotted and spotted fish. Maybe next time one of the Mommies can check the chart to help identify some of these finned creatures.

Group hug!

Here is a little idea of some of the things they had for us to check out, slot cars! They also had a two remote controlled monster trucks, a Lionel Train, Santa who arrives at 5pm (we were there at 10:30am), some coloring sheets and some paper to write a letter to Santa. The nicest part of our whole trip was that we pretty much at the entire area to ourselves, which means no waiting!!!

Mailing our letters to the North Pole!

Checking out the fish under the bridge. Now, it is time for some yummy lunch!!

Playdate with the Zomcheks

Amelia was giving Baby Sean a lot of extra lovin' this afternoon. She likes "holding" the baby! He is getting so big!

Downstairs is a place to be to burn off some energy! Up and down and up and down again!











Oops!!!











This might seem like some time of torture device, but it is really a big hit with the kiddos! They like to take turns climbing underneath, but this time they all squeezed under together! I think it could be fun to do an annual picture under there!

Thanks for a fun playday, Z Family!!!

Luigi the Christmas Elf

Santa's Scout Elf is here!!!

Tonight we named our special Elf friend, Luigi. We tossed around a few other names, but when Amelia said Luigi, we all giggled and decided that would be a perfect name for our little Elf. Luigi has a very important job given to him by the big guy himself, Santa. Luigi reports back to the North Pole every night about all of the good things we have done throughout the day.
There is only one rule...you mustn't touch him for he will loose his magic and he won't be able to fly home. Luigi has one rule too. He can never talk, says Santa.
We look forward to each morning leading up to Christmas Day, to see where Luigi finds for his daily resting place.


Tonight we met a very special new friend, a Santa's Scout Elf!

It's Tree Trimming Time!

The Tree is Up!!!

Amelia and Daddy are setting up the tree stand.
After the lights were finally added (had to get new lights after finding a bulb had MELTED on one of the strands from last year, so out with the possible old and dangerous strands and in with the new), James was quick to add some of his special ornaments.

Amelia enjoyed the layered look of adding ornaments to the tree. It often we find a single branch with 2 or 3 ornaments hanging from it! So cute!

All done! Let's light her up!

It's Christmas Time!!!

Thanksgiving on The Hamilton's Side

OK, Mommy dropped the ball trying to capture some of the special moments shared by the family at yesterday's Thanksgiving, well today was even worse! At least Mommy caught a snapshot of Amelia sitting on Nana's counter trying to find the letter shaped cookies to spell her name. We all had a wonderful day spent at Nana and Papa Bob's house. We had more yummy turkey ( which made all four of us very happy) and all of the fixings. We played downstairs with the slot cars, hung out with all of our Aunts and Uncles and got to meet for the very first time Uncle JP's Mom and step dad as well as Brittney's family. Thanks for a great day!

Making Muffins

This morning we got started on making muffins to share at Grandma Judy and Papa's Thanksgiving Day celebration tonight. Amelia chose to make chocolate chip muffins.
James opted for banana nut muffins.

Time to lick the whisk!