12 Days of Christmas - Day 12 - The night before...

... getting on an airplane!!!  (did you think I was going to say Christmas?  :) I wish!!!)

Advent Calendar all done!  AK called it her chocolate calendar. 

Showing off the new jammies!

I found this lovely Advent calendar at a rummage sale earlier this year - it's a cardboard tree with little drawers that have numbers on one side and a picture on the other.  I filled up drawers 1-12 with M&Ms and a tiny ornament that AK put on her little tree by her bed every night.  She was SO great with this calendar - there was a few nights where she'd pop out of bed and run down the stairs shouting "Mommy, we forgot about the chocolate calendar!".  Ha ha!  She really enjoyed looking forward to seeing what kind of ornament was in each drawer. 

On AK's last night, I pulled out her new Christmas jammies...  she loved the purple color and ruffles on the bottom.  I think these will be favorite jammies for a while to come! 

I took the morning off of work the day AK flew out - we had lots of cuddles and love before she left.  She was so excited and kept telling me about all the cousins she'd see, especially Kayli who is "the best cousin".  Those girl cousins do have a special bond!

As much as I am missing AK, I am hearing stories about how much fun she is having in Canada.  I know she's surrounded by people who love her dearly and who are enjoying the time with her.  I skyped with her one night, and she was wearing nothing but a sundress...  brrr... 

Am already really looking forward to her return in just over a week...  the Christmas tree is still up and presents will be piled high for AK.  Thankfully Richard and I have been keeping busy - Christmas celebrations along with wedding planning have filled up our time!

12 Days of Christmas - Day 11 - Visiting with Friends!

This is for me, Uncle Mike???

Woohoo!  A Barbie doll!

Mother-daughter photo op

Family photo op!

Cuddling up with Aunty Julie

Not sure what was more decorated - AK or the tree!!!

12 Days of Christmas - Day 10 - Lights!

Checking out the lights with buddy Cameron :)

Old-fashioned Caymanian cottage

Love this lane with the trees lit up - so pretty!

My angel in front of the angels!

AK gave this Santa Claus a high five!

 "But Mommy, you said we're not supposed to go on the grass"...  Richard had to carry her so that SHE wouldn't break the rules!!!  Smart cookie!!!

My favorite tree... 

AK danced up a storm to the Christmas music.  Love this action shot.  Pretty much embodies AK's joyful spirit

Anyone who has spent any time in Cayman around Christmas knows that there are some amazing displays of lights at this time of the year.  Check out this bit of video.

We loved taking AK to see these lights but it was just as fun to listen to AK talk about the lights she'd see from the car as we drove places.  The sun goes down around 6 or 630pm these days so if we're out in the early evening, there's plenty of lights already on.  I think we all have our favorite displays :)

12 Days of Christmas - Day 9 - Communications with Santa!

Watching the video from Santa!!!

Check out the video for yourself here.  AK LOVED IT.  She couldn't believe that Santa had a book with her name on it, had a picture of her, knew things about her such as her hard work practicing her pleases and thank yous!

After we watched the video, AK wrote a letter to Santa.  She wrote his name on the front of the envelope, insisted on writing "Santa Claus" and not just "Santa", and drew some lovely pictures inside, one of the three of us, and one of a rainbow.  That Santa is a lucky guy, getting a letter like that!

I then read a new Christmas book to AK - really neat book - it was about a postman who was delivering Christmas mail and it had envelopes within the book that had little letters in them.  The book is a bit grown-up for AK but it's a good one to hang onto as she grows up!

A couple of nights later, we mailed the letter to Santa.  Got it in on the last night AK was here!  AK was quite concerned that Santa may not know where to find her in Canada so I promised to send him an email to let him know where she would be on Christmas.  :)

Showing off the decorated letter

Off it goes!!!

12 Days of Christmas - Day 8 - Party Time!

Sno Cone!

Frostbite in Cayman?

Time for a Christmas craft

Sundae bar for Sunday dessert!

Group photo!!!  14 kids!!!

I think someone's on a sugar high!

This is all for me?

Hooray - every little girl's dream present!

Tuckered right out!

Jenni and Kevin hosted a wonderful kids' Christmas party yesterday.  It was SO MUCH FUN to get all the kids and parents together to celebrate.  We started off with a pool party, complete with sno cones and popcorn to simulate snow.  Hey, you gotta make do in Cayman!

Supper was a great event with hamburgers and hotdogs, fresh lobster caught that morning, appetizers, salads, and the kids dug into an ice cream sundae dessert.  But of course the highlight of the evening was GIFT TIME!  We drew names which was great - it's so wonderful to buy one big gift for one kid, rather than trying to spread the budget out over so many kids!  AK was totally spoiled by Isabella - a new Barbie, tons of Barbie clothing and accessories, and a Barbie closet to store it all in!  She also got a sticker book and some makeup!!!  Even so, she asked me if she was getting a goodie bag before we left the party!

Richard and I remarked on the way home how awesome it is of Jenni and Kevin to host such a great party, and even more awesome is how great all the kids get along.  We are so blessed to have this group of friends and I'm so grateful for the chance to celebrate the holidays with them.

AK woke Richard instead of me for the first time this morning....  her rationale?  "Richard's chocolate milk tastes more like chocolate than yours, Mommy".  The little stinker thinks she is getting better chocolate milk from Richard than from me - but it's the exact same thing!  Ah well, I got to sleep in a bit :P

It's our company's last night here...  we had a lovely evening taking some photos at Smith's Cove at sunset then out for supper at Cassanova's.  AK did very well with her first "fancy" dinner out.  She tried a breadstick, had a bit of bread, and then had a reasonable portion (for her) of penne contadina.  I will definitely be sad to see these girls go...  we've had a great time together. 

12 Day of Christmas - Day 7 - Gingerbread House

We had a master decorator in the kitchen today!!! 

One for the house... 

One for ME!

All done!  There's probably just as much candy in AK's tummy as there is on the house! 

After a good decorating session, we all headed out to Rum Point for some fun and sun!

I was so lucky to catch AK's name in the sand right before the waves came and erased it...  such a proud moment for this mama!

Silly faces in the hammock...

Snug as a bug in a rug!

Sweetness...  chatting with my fiance!

Relaxing times in the hammock

Joy!

12 Days of Christmas - Day 6 - A Christmas Story

Puppy in a bag!

Mad Hatter!!!

Happy Family :)

Yesterday's 12 Days of Christmas involved a gift for AK of a Christmas book.  She unwrapped it and said "Aw man, I don't need no more books!!!!".  I read the book to her, replacing the main character Madeline's name with Annabelle, and she loved it...   guess I was able to save the day!

I don't think I mentioned it yet but we have some company this week - my dear friend Nancy and her friend Alex.  We've been having a ton of fun with them.  Nancy was so generous as to bring a Christmas gift for AK...  a Barbie "Hug N' Heal" Pet Doctor toy!  AK has a new puppy now named Lila who she can "doctor" when the puppy is sick.  Great gift and AK loves it!

As Richard and I had our office Christmas party, we packed AK up and took her over to Babbs for a sleepover.  Before we left though, we took the opportunity to get a family photo.  It's always nice to take advantage of a photo op when we're dressed up! 

12 Days of Christmas - Day 5 - Santa photo!!!

Looking good!!!

Santa looks a little too happy... 

Are we done yet???

AK and I headed down to Camana Bay to see Santa last week.  As we stood in line, I tried to convince her that she should go sit on Santa's lap by herself this year...  no such luck as you can see above.  She wouldn't even sit on the big guy's lap, instead, she wanted me to sit on Santa's lap and she was quite comfortable on my lap.  Silly girl! 

Surprise flowers!!!

Aren't they lovely???

Clients of mine were so pleased with a report that I wrote for them (the writing of said report was SO BORING, I thought I'd never get it done!) that they tried to send me flowers about a month ago to thank me.  When some time went by with not a peep from me, the risk consultant checked in with me and discovered that I had never received them.  Lucky for me, the client tried again :)

I love the Christmas-y feel of them, and I LOVE how good they smell!!! 

12 Days of Christmas - Day 4 - Giving is Receiving!

As part of our Christmas season, I like to try to get AK interested in giving to those less fortunate than us.  I stopped in at the Discovery Center at Camana Bay and got a child's name off of the Giving Tree.  We were given a 1yo girl to buy for.  I did most of the shopping on my own, but I did take AK last night to the book store to pick out a Christmas book for this wee one, and she did help me wrap the other gifts I'd bought.  We dropped the whole lot of it off at the Discovery Center last night. 

I think AK somewhat missed the point this year, she seemed to understand it a bit more last year, which I found surprising.  Perhaps it's because I didn't do all of the shopping with her, plus we didn't spend as much time talking about it as we did last year.  Nonetheless, I'm happy that we did this together. 

We were able to do a bit of shopping at Camana Bay afterwards and there was a big Christmas Market going on as well which we checked out.  I didn't buy much - just one small soap for AK's stocking but we did see a friend of mine holding a bake sale.  She had delicious coconut squares and she gave AK a broken gingerbread cookie...  after I chatted with her for a few minutes, I turned around to find the cookie gone...  AK just about inhaled it!

Quite frustrating considering AK has hardly touched her lunches for school this week :( I know she must be eating enough as she's got plenty of energy and her, shall we say, "output" is just fine.  I just hate to unpack her lunch and find most of it untouched.  I realize that kids go through phases with eating and I just have to stick this one out...  shame there won't be many treats for AK if she just won't eat her healthy food!

Next Christmas post will be about Santa photos!!! 

Special Ballet Class!!!

Last weekend was a special time at ballet - parents were invited to watch the class!  The teacher has had the viewing windows covered to keep the students from being distracted - which I completely understand - however, it keeps us parents in the dark as to the kids' progress!  Seeing this class was truly the highlight of my weekend...  AK was SO happy to be showing off for me and the other parents.  I couldn't stop smiling and I was so proud to see her dance her heart out! 

Beautiful dancer

Dancing in a circle

Taking a break - look at that yawn!

Tip tap!  I think AK looks SO grown up in her tap shoes. 

I got a bit of video as well - check it out here.  This makes me really excited for her spring recital, which is still months away!  I'm curious to know if my family sees a lot of me as a little girl in AK in these photos?  I know I catch a lot of glimpses of what I think I looked like :)

12 Days of Christmas - Day 3 - WEE Care Christmas Concert - Pocketful of Starlight

AK's Christmas concert was last night.  AK was blessed with the part of a "Wise Man's Associate" and she sat on the stage for most of the concert to play her part.  She did a great job and really enjoyed flipping her cape over her head :S silly girl...

I took a bit of video last night - check out AK performing with her class here.  Unfortunately I was at a bit of a bad angle so I don't have a great view of AK but you can see how much she enjoyed being on the stage!  She was so excited for the concert - she kept talking about it for the days leading up to it.

We skipped out of the after-party and headed out for ice cream with the Babbs, our usual post-WEE Care concert tradition!  AK really enjoyed some cotton candy ice cream.