Monday, December 18, 2017

Fa La La La La

 It's a week from Christmas, so you can bet we have decked our halls by now.

 Bennett sweetly participated in hanging ornaments for 5-10 minutes until his "spot" was completely saturated and he decided his trucks were calling him from the play room.

 Orelia was so happy to be helping this year and seems to be filled to the brim with Christmas spirit these days.

 Last year Orelia hung the star on our tree, so she said this year Bennett could have the honors.  We were so proud of our mature girl for volunteering this up without any prompting from us.

 She has since, however, made sure we know it's her "turn" to take the star down this year and she will definitely be putting the star up next year.  True enough, sweet girl.

 The kids have been orbiting around the tree a lot and each have one present with their name on it under the tree.  Bennett has manhandled this present more than I can even describe, and has even taken to sniffing the wrapping paper (which reminds me of his grandpa who always makes a big show over trying to guess his gifts - in jest of course).

 Orelia worked very hard making some penguin ornaments from a craft kit.  Bennett joined in the fun too for a bit and made one ornament before he decided to become a trash truck and he started to shove all the leftover ornament pieces down his back (I guess that's where his trash compactor is?).

 Orelia takes great pride in our tree this year and her favorite ornament is the one that lists all four of our names.

 She reluctantly wore her matching pajamas to a pajama party only if I tied the long sleeves behind her back to make it a strapless dress/nightgown.  She is always herself, if nothing else.

 Last week Orelia and I headed up to San Francisco to see the Nutcracker.

 This year we left school early to give us extra time, and Orelia loved playing on the random playground near city hall.

 Orelia went with her friend again this year, and the two girls were bursting with excitement for the show to begin.

 Orelia said multiple times that she wishes she could go to the Nutcracker every day, though I wasn't sure if it was for the ballet, the fancy dress, the new Santa Bunny toy, or for getting out to school early.  Perhaps all of the above?

 Since we also went to the show last year, she knew what to expect this year and I think could follow along even better.

 She was in awe during the show and kept whispering to me wondering if Herr Drosselmeyer really could perform magic.

She also asked if the Spanish, Russian, and Chinese dancers really spoke Spanish, Russian, and Mandarin.  Ha!  I can't say that's something that ever occurred to me.  She said out of the whole show the Spanish dancers were her favorite - because they had the best dresses.  This girl sure makes me smile and it's so much fun to be sharing this Christmas season with her and Bennett.

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