Aggressive little helper

I'm still working on the last bit of Christmas posting, but in the meantime, I thought I'd post a little about Claire's second ever kid's birthday party (the first was for our friend, KB, but I took zero pictures then and Claire didn't do anything noteworthy...although, we did see a proposal happen! That party was held at Duke gardens, and we got front row seats to a fella proposing by the least attractive pond in the garden when a gorgeous one was not too far away. To each his own.).

Our neighbor friend turned two last week, and we were invited to his birthday party this past weekend. They held it at a new local place called Notasium that we had no idea existed. It's only been open for about 4 months and is pretty awesome. It's a music-themed play place that also offers a variety of music classes/lessons. You can take group music classes or individual lessons, like any music school, but they also have a music-themed play space. There's a rock-climbing wall that is designed like the frets on a guitar and plays musical notes when your hands grab the right strings. Once you get to the top, you can slide down a (really fast) slide. There's a bounce house that has drum beats in the floor that play when you bounce, a floor piano you play with your feet (like Tom Hanks in Big), a floor xylophone made out of lights, a stage with play instruments and stage lights for "performances," and quite a few other neat interactive exhibits. Claire and the other kiddos had an absolute blast! I was pretty concerned that she was going to put up quite a ruckus when they had us leave the play area and head to the music/singing area for the next part of the party. One of the staff musicians led the kids in a sing-along and sang a few of the birthday boy's favorites...but really, the thing that got the most attention during music time was Claire's helpful heart.

Climbing up the guitar. She was so brave...until she reached the top.

Seeing as how I couldn't get up there, our neighbor scurried up and helped her slide down.

Claire LOVES balloons. Loves them. We currently have a 3-week old, mostly deflated balloon from a restaurant visit that is still played with. Until about a week ago, we still had one that she had gotten at the BEGINNING OF OCTOBER. She loves them and can't bear to part with them. When we arrived at the party, the birthday boy had a balloon that he was carrying around and frequently releasing, necessitating adult retrieval (helium balloon). Claire was just dying to play with it, but we explained that it wasn't hers and then made sure to distract her whenever we caught her looking at it. 

Once we moved from the play area into the singing area, the ceilings were lower, meaning that when the balloon was released, Claire was tall enough to reach the bottom of the string. The kids were sitting along one of the walls, facing the musician, and all the adults were lining the remaining walls, trying to stay out of the way. The birthday boy and his parents were a little more toward the center so that everyone could see him. A few songs in, Claire noticed that our friend had let go of his balloon...and that the string was right at her height! I saw her notice this and saw her face light up. While I was trying to get her attention to tell her not to take his balloon, she ran over (through the middle of the room, in front of everyone), grabbed the balloon with gusto, and...returned it to her friend. I was so proud! All the adults were watching and commenting on how sweet it was. It was just really adorable.

Fast forward about 2 minutes. The balloon is released again. Again, Claire runs over, retrieves, and returns it. It's still cute and still sweet. 

This little routine was repeated about 15 times, and near the end, Claire was literally sitting on her heels, eyes trained on the balloon, completely ignoring the songs and dancing going on, waiting and anticipating the balloon release so that she could go retrieve. All of the commentary about it being so sweet had long since turned into straight up laughing every time. Our very aggressive little helper found quite a way to make a name for herself. Brad ran into our neighbors the next day, and they commented about their families member laughing after the party about the "little girl who kept getting the balloon." I guess there are worse things to be known for.

Action shots.

Please note the other kids watching Claire instead of the performer. Oh golly.

Before we left the party, Claire was given her very own balloon. It has made several car trips with us and has slept in her room with her for the past several sleeps. Who knows how long this one will be around?

And, one more splash of Claire for you:
After eating all the icing off of her cupcake, she informed me she was done and got up. I saved the rest of the cupcake for a few minutes, in case she changed her mind. She didn't, and before we walked out the door, I checked with her again to make sure she was finished. She was. So, I threw the cupcake remnant away.

Once we were in the car, she started asking me about her cupcake. I told her I had thrown it away because she said she was done. OH MY WORD. The end of the world. She kept repeating, "Mommy, did you throw my cupcake away? I am so sad." For the next several days, she repeated (complete with a pitiful head hang), "Mommy, did you throw my cupcake away? I am so sad..." She told people that Mommy threw her cupcake away. She told people that she was sad that Mommy threw her cupcake away. She painted Mommy as such a Villain of Confectionary Disposal. And she's really good at it! I'm very disconcerted by her skills. Heaven help us.

Christmas 2015: TN Boswell edition

The world of academia has provided us with a really nice perk (to make up for other, not-so-perky things): life on an academic calendar. This means that we live on a semester schedule, which includes longish holiday breaks that regular jobs don't usually come with. Brad had (basically) no classes the week of Thanksgiving and was done for Christmas by the first-ish week of December (he still had stuff to finish up, so we didn't head out for our travels immediately or anything, but classes ended nonetheless). We started our Christmas travels about halfway through December, which meant we got to spend a nice chunk of time with family scattered across the South. Thanks, Academia!

We spent the week of Christmas and Christmas Day with my family in Alabama, so we spent a few days before that (and a few days after that) with my in-laws in Tennessee. The drive to Alabama from Durham ranges between 9 and 10 hours (yes, it's a ridiculously long trip), but my in-laws live SO CONVENIENTLY about halfway between here and there. It's awesome. Basically, anytime we drive to my parents', we stop and spend the night in Johnson City so that we don't have to do the whole thing in one unbelievably long day (because with a mostly potty trained toddler and a pregnant me, there are quite a few stops, making the trip oh so long). So, we did our second Christmas (you know, following our Durham Christmas) yet again before actual Christmas. 

We went to Brad's Mamaw/Papaw's and Aunt Donna/Uncle JD's (who live next door to each other) for lunch and a visit the day after we arrived and had a great time! Claire got some adorable and lovable gifts (including a pair of boots that are cuter than any of mine and some more matchbox cars, which are some of Claire's absolute favorite things in the world)...and she also got what I would normally label as contraband in the Boswell house: a University of Tennessee cheerleading uniform. Brad's aunt and uncle are Vols fans and when they saw Claire in her Auburn dress on Iron Bowl day, they decided the Volunteers needed some representation. We'll see about that. New Baby got her first gifts, too! She got some clothes and a sweet little lovey. And no, she still doesn't have a name. We're trying. It's HARD, y'all.

One of her gifts: Mr. Giant Bear! She was a little scared of him at first, but I totally caught her holding his hand in the car on the way home. And, she's been dancing around the house with him since we got home.

We had fun playing games (quite a few rounds of Dominion and Qwirkle) and eating (a lot). Claire had a blast, as both Tim and Rachael were around for lots of uncle/auntie fun. Tim and Brad (and others of us, in and out) watched through the original 3 Star Wars, which Claire also rather enjoyed (I, of course, tried to distract her from the overly violent scenes). She makes excellent droid noises, by the way. She also loves this Jimmy Fallon Star Wars medley. We may have watched it in upwards of 78 times. If she asks to watch Star Wars, she's most likely asking to watch Jimmy and friends, not Harrison. She also has the best time chasing Rachael's and Barbara's dogs and chit chatting with Barbara's bird. You really should hear her speak Bird. It's...something.

I will say, she has become fairly high-maintenance at bedtime, at home and especially when we travel. There is a protocol to be followed or she WILL NOT STOP TALKING. She needs to be in her jammies AND SOCKS. She needs her good night flashlight (night light) on. She needs her water bottle nearby, her pillow in place, and her two lovies ready for bed. At Gran and Grandpa's, she also needs the gigantic blue Little Tikes car that Daddy and Uncle Tim used to play with. In the bed with her. To sleep with. Also, she sleeps in Bill's office where resides a decorative 2-foot tall suit of armor. At Thanksgiving, she spotted him, pointed, and with all seriousness asked, "WHO is THAT?" From that point on, the suit of armor needs to be shrouded in a towel. Bless us.

For church on Sunday, we decided not to try putting Claire in nursery, as she still experiences a great deal of trauma with nursery at our church here in Durham. We just decided to keep her with us in the service, crossing our fingers that she could be quiet. And you know what? She was fantastic! I had a notepad, pencil, and stickers in my purse that kept her occupied and kept a steady stream of pretzels in her little hands. She was so quiet and self-entertained...except for one moment when she misplaced her pencil, forgot we were all being quiet, and said (rather loudly), "WHERE'S THE CRAYON, MOMMY?" The surrounding pews got a good laugh out of that moment.

We did family Christmas Sunday afternoon after nap, and it was lots of fun! We felt a little weird opening more presents than everyone else (we opened our presents from everyone and they each had only two per person from us), but that did not stop us from plowing ahead, surprisingly. We got some super thoughtful and useful gifts. Claire opened her gift from Ray-Ray first, and man, has it been a hit. Back when Claire stayed with them in October, Rachael noticed that Claire enjoyed playing with Brad's old guitar, so she got Claire a toy ukulele for Christmas. Claire adores it. So much that she now insists on sleeping with it in her bed every night. At Gran's house, Nana's house, our house. It is a permanent fixture in our lives. We'll think she's been asleep for a while and then hear strumming through the monitor. Well played, Rachael, well played.

Tim got her an Etch-a-Sketch (which was super because her old one was a hand-me-down and had stopped erasing when shaken. Claire calls it a computer, bless. Aunt Sue made her a fabulous toddler-sized sleeping bag and travel pillow. It's ah-dorable. Bill and Barbara got her some bird seed for our bird feeder (she loves putting seed out for the birds and watching all the cardinals that come by for a snack). Fun fact: the cardinal is the state bird of North Carolina. They also got her new dishes for her kitchen, an Olaf blanket and sheet set, and wooden cars (y'all, this girl loves cars of all kinds), to name a few other things. So many fantastic additions. Thank you so much, family!

Tuning the ukulele.

She agreed to share with Uncle Tim...

...then she realized the anxiety associated with giving up control of her beloved instrument...

...and managed to retrieve it. Whew.

Keeping the ukulele close while looking through Gran's calendar.

And again while giving a Christmas hug to Alexis.

The dishes came with a dish drainer! Perfect for our child who loves to wash dishes.

Aunt Sue wrapped one of Bear's presents like this. SO CUTE.

Flashlight in stocking that matches Gran/Grandpa's flashlight. She was told not to shine it in anyone's eyes...

...her face when reminded of that command.

Posing with Ray Ray and the "guitar."

After we opened presents and visited for a while, Tim started playing Christmas carols on the piano and Claire accompanied him. Enthusiastically. And forcibly insisted that everyone sing along and dance to "Jingle Bells."

Tim...such a good sport.

Matching instruments!

Matching-ish tops! MANY thanks to Rachael for the additional running gear for Brad; the post-running laundry situation is now much more tolerable for the non-running (but laundry-doing) wife.

We had a great pre-Christmas Christmas with our Tennessee family and are so grateful for everyone's hospitality and generosity. It was very merry, for sure! And now, a few gratuitous shots of Claire, in an attempt to get an adorable Christmas shot. She quasi cooperated. Enjoy!

Family Christmas in Durham

Since we traveled so much at Christmas time, Brad, Claire, and I celebrated our own little family Christmas about halfway through December. This semester has been SO INCREDIBLY busy for Brad, and we thoroughly enjoyed taking a day off to do fun things (that included zero reading or homework)! We gave each other 1-2 gifts each and did stockings, so present unwrapping didn't take too long. Brad and I cracked each other up by GIVING EACH OTHER THE SAME THING. How crazy is that?? We laughed a lot over that one. Claire had a blast just soaking up the Christmas-ness of it all. One of her gifts was a stuffed dog, and she has been hilarious carrying him around, telling him to sit, and making him "lick" her face.

"Christmas" morning. I should note that the temperature got up to 75 degrees the day we celebrated. Geez Louise...it was just too weird.

Waiting to open presents...in her entirely too warm (but Christmas-y) pajamas.

Bath crayons and a new toothbrush from her stocking.

Her main gift: a Thomas the train track and accessories for her Thomas trains. We actually didn't purchase this, as it was a complete set that my granddaddy had at his house. When we went back to Alabama in April, my mom and aunt gave it to me for Claire, and I decided to save it for Christmas. It was a great idea, as she REALLY enjoys it. She partially enjoys using it as a track and partially enjoys putting it together, taking it apart, putting it together, and taking it apart again. To each her own.

My gifts from Brad! Love them both. (Ignore the stuffed friends in the background; not mine.)

And...the matching gifts we gave each other. Great minds? It's a strategy game, by the way. If you come visit, we'll teach you! It's great fun, and we are super thankful that Eric and Ashley introduced us.

Brad made glazed raspberry rolls for breakfast, which were great (although his cinnamon rolls are the BEST), and we watched Home Alone, apparently for the first time in a long time, as I kept forgetting what was going to happen. Also, we watch it differently now that we're parents; we found ourselves saying things like, "That is such bad parenting!" and "Oh no those kids did NOT mouth off like that!" Oh man. The kids on Home Alone are so sassy and rude. They for real need a time out.

We had planned to get something fancy-ish for lunch, but we ran into a few problems with trying to call in a take out order...so we just decided to pick up Cook Out for lunch, which ended up being an awesome idea (and only about 5 minutes from our house). It's a chain restaurant, but from what I can tell, it's primarily in the Carolinas (I hadn't heard of it until we moved here). After lunch, Claire and Brad ended up playing outside in the cul-de-sac with some neighbor friends for a long time before nap- Claire in her Christmas pj's the whole time. Oops.

After nap, we joined some friends of Brad's from Duke at a little Christmas gathering for a few of us with little kids. It was really fun to meet some more folks with little ones, and we all had a good time hanging out and snacking. I successfully hid the fact that there were Christmas cookies present for as long as I could. Then she found out. A sugar high commenced, bless us.

Christmas cookie as big as her face.

Speaking of snacking, we decided it would be fun to eat party/finger foods for supper at home, so we made sausage balls, veggies and dip, pigs in a blanket, and Rotel dip. We are so healthy on "Christmas." Claire did not even know what to do with herself and all the unhealthiness she was allowed to eat. (What? At least we didn't leave her at home while we traveled to Paris for Christmas.) And just for funsies, we watched the movie Home, because I'd wanted to see it when it came out but had never gotten around to it. Not at all Christmas-y but cute nonetheless.

For fun, I let her take down some of the lower ornaments and then redecorate. It was a hit.

Claire has started showing interest in using my camera, so I let her take this picture. Not too shabby, I thought.

We had a super day (despite the midday migraine I got) and really enjoyed Christmas: round 1. The only tricky thing is weaning Claire off the idea that we will be celebrating Christmas every few days from here on out. Pray for us, friends. It's going to be rough.

Happy New Year! (And another rebate app to help you save the money!)

HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope you were all able to ring in 2016 with loved ones and yummy food. We certainly did. We're looking forward to what 2016 holds (particularly New Baby! and the end of course work for Brad!). I'd tell you all the fantastic, party-rrific things we did to celebrate the new year, but it would look like us watching football, doing a puzzle, and going to bed before midnight. PARTY ANIMALS. We enjoyed it, though, so I'm not knockin' it. This is a good representation of yesterday:

Happy New Year!

A while back, I wrote about Ebates and how Brad and I have been earning quite a bit of money back on purchases and referrals we make online. Seriously, y'all: it's been fantastic. We ended up having to take care of a ton of car maintenance right at Christmas time (our timing is awesome) but simultaneously were informed that we were getting a check from Ebates for almost $200, which put a nice buffer in place (and made our feelings hurt a little less). I cannot recommend it enough. And, if you use my referral (button in sidebar!), you and I both get a cashback bonus! It's a win-win all the way around.

In the spirit of sharing helpful tips with friends, I thought I'd tell you about Ibotta, as well. Ibotta is another kind of rebate app that I've been using for about 6 months. I use it primarily for groceries, but it can also be used on select restaurants and retail purchases. I use it sort of like you would use coupons in store. Except, I don't have to clip and hand over coupons. The way it works:
1. You make your purchases.
2. You pull up the app and find the rebates available at the store you shopped at. 
3. You load the rebates that you want.
4. You scan the barcodes of those items that you purchased and take a picture of your receipt.
5. You submit your images.
6. Money is added to your account.
Some weeks you rack up, some you don't. But some is better than none, in my opinion.

When you have $20 worth of rebates in your account, you can cash out with PayPal, Venmo, or with a selection of gift cards you might like. I've made almost $40 in the past 6 months just from taking a few minutes to scan things after a grocery trip. Guys, when you're married to a fella in a Ph.D. program and you're a stay-at-home mom, you take cash back when you can, and getting it back on groceries is awesome. 

HERE'S my Ibotta referral link, if you want to check it out. If you use it, you and I both get a sign-up/referral bonus. Yay! It's a little more work than Ebates, in that you have to play occasional 15-30 second videos or read short recipes or answer a poll question, but I've found it to be a nice little reward for going grocery shopping.

I hope it works well for you! Happy shopping and happy 2016!

Around here lately: November and December 2015 edition

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! We have definitely been enjoying the Christmas season and our time with family and friends. I will certainly post quite a bit about all of our celebrating over the next couple of weeks, but those posts are not quite ready yet (and the celebrating isn't quite finished!). In the meantime, here's the latest installment of Claire-isms that I don't want to forget (and that I hope entertains you). Enjoy!


"IT'S THE TICKLE BOX!" (her response when Brad holds her so that she cannot escape with either her arms or her legs and is immobilized for tickling)

"I have to pay the tickle tax!" (her response when Brad won't let her pass until he tickles her thoroughly) variation: "Don't tickle tax me, Daddy!"

*Lays back dramatically and puts cherry pit bag on head* I use a heated cherry pit bag on my head when I have migraines, and Claire is captivated by the bags. She often commandeers one of them and pretends that she "has a headache" like Mommy. Bless.

"There's a sprinkle on the bed!" (referencing a rogue sequin from her red sequin shorts)

"I feel so much better!" (immediately after taking cough syrup. Like, the moment she swallowed it.)

"Go, toes, go!" (an encouragement to her toes when putting her feet into her pants/tights/socks)

"I have to take the car away, daddy, because you disobeyed, ok?" (playing cars with Brad...not sure what Brad did to deserve such reproof. It does, I think, give insight into "phrases often heard in our house.")

"Daddy, Mommy doesn't feel like nice. Please leave her in bed."

"Nana, will you close me?" (pronounced as in "Kroger is close to my house," not like "close the door," meaning "will you pull me close?")

"Aha! I have an idea: you want to take turns?"

"Great job, toes!" (playing cars with Nana, catching the car with her toes)

"Read it again, would you?"

Brad, coming downstairs and seeing Claire in the bathroom: "Whatcha doing, Claire?"

C: (singing a made-up tune) "I'm sitting on the potty! I'm sitting on the potty! I'm sitting on the potty BEE-DEE-HA!"

"Poppy is on him's way!"

"I'm going to go upstairs and tell daddy, 'what's the problem here, Daddy?'" (because Daddy had shut the tv console for the night, and she did not appreciate it)

"Please find S E S E Pen. Try harder, please, Nana." (asking my mother to find ESPN. Yes, she's an unusual child.)

Kat: See you later, alligator!

Claire: See you later, Crocodile!

Claire to Kat: "Are you awake, Crocodile?"

"The trigangle is back!" (referring to the angle my legs make when I'm laying on my side on the couch. She likes to sit in the bend of my knees and calls it the "triangle")

"Did Daddy blow it backwards?" (regarding the deflated air mattress before it was folded and put away) 

"Hi, Christmas Tree!" (a daily greeting heard during the Christmas season)

"I'm  getting the hot off." (rubbing my legs after I kicked off a blanket and said I was hot)

"I need my good night flashlight." (night light)

"Can I have the nuvver ear to kiss?" (after kissing one of my ears)

Wips = chapstick

"Grandpa has a beard. I have a face."

"Let me do it- you do it allll day." (Brad was doing something on the computer, and Claire wanted to participate. Refer to this post for the first part of this story.)

"I'm doing decorate!" (while putting random items on the Christmas tree)

"I'm a little upset to Daddy. He told me 'no'."

"I'll be a sweet girl to Mommy!" (stated automatically when Daddy leaves. Brad has trained her well.)

"Mommy, I'm hicking up!" (hiccup-ing)

C: "Gran, could you go ask Maizie, 'What's the problem?'" (Maizie is Gran's bird) *takes Barbara's seat while she's out of the room*

Me: "Claire, we don't start eating dessert until the hostess picks up her fork. The hostess is Gran."

C: "Gran, could you pick up your fork?"

(in the midst of a negotiation over behavior and the receipt of a cookie)

C: "I don't want a cookie. Can I have a cookie?" (no breath taken between statements)

Brad: "Well, if you aren't going to do what you need to to get a cookie, I'm going to eat it."

C: "Daddy, PLEASE don't eat my cookie!!" (insert extremely pitiful face)

Brad: "Who is George, Claire?"

Claire: "He's a curious monkey!"

And, the conversation that wins for this edition:

(during a post-nap meltdown wherein Claire was crying uncontrollably, didn't want to leave her room, didn't want me in her room, and refused to calm down. Please read in the voice of a hysterical 2-year-old)

C: "Could you leave?"

Me: "No."

C: "Could you close the door and go on the other side?"

Couldn't make this stuff up if I tried, folks. If you haven't met Claire in real life to experience this nuttiness, I'm really sorry. It's hilarious. 

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, friends!

For to us a child is born,

to us a son is given;

and the government shall be upon his shoulder,

and his name shall be called

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

(If you didn't get a card from us in the mail, here's one for you! And, if you'd like one in the future, let me know!)

Christmas-y things with Claire

Christmas with Claire was fun last year. But Christmas with Claire this year is SO MUCH FUN! She is just in love with all the Christmas things. She loves Christmas trees! And lights! And movies! And food! We've been learning the Christmas story, and she's getting pretty good at telling (certain parts of) it.

When Brad and I got married, several of my parents' friends got together and gave us the Willow Tree nativity set. I would never have thought to buy it for myself, but I LOVE it and am so glad we have it. Looking back, it's one of my favorite wedding gifts. I don't think Claire ever noticed it last year (I display it up higher than her head, and she was quite small last year), but she has been enamored this year. Maybe it wasn't a wise decision on my part, but I let her play with them fairly extensively when I unpacked them. I had the best time watching her play with the animals (she was less interested in the people and there are a LOT of animals in the set). My favorite moment was when I realized that she was attempting to give the sheep rides on the camel's back. She tried to drag the camel and riders around for a good half hour.

This is probably only half of the animals in the set and pictured here are 3 sheep, an ox, and a camel. The sheep are climbing aboard.

Oh yeah, Mums the stuffed sheep and Mr. Squeaky also got to take turns on the camel ride.

Here's a relatively thorough shot of the nativity, after Claire helped me set it up. Please note that a wise man and a shepherd are in the Mary-Joseph-Jesus'spot. We're working on it, y'all.

We had a blast setting up the tree with Claire. She was basically bouncing up and down until we got the tree out of the box and was actually fairly helpful in branch fluffing. And when the lights came on, it was magical. I wish you could have seen it. She was a little bit impatient with me while I was trying to untangle the ornament hooks; I was clearly not fast enough. In my defense, I was trying to untangle hooks and mentally censor which ornaments were Claire-friendly for this year and which needed to be saved for future years. That's a lot of fine-motor skill and mental acumen all at one time! We let Claire hang most of the ornaments (with a little help), which meant that we ended up with some interesting ornament placement. I haven't fixed it, though; she was so intentional in her placement and did it with such enthusiasm that I couldn't bring myself to change anything. Since the original tree decorating, she has added other "ormaments," like fabric scraps she found, craft pom poms, and play necklaces and bracelets. Everyday she asks to see "our beautiful tree," so I'd say that she's quite pleased with her work.

Waiting so very impatiently for us to unbox the tree.

Just staring at it, waiting for us to get our act together and get the show on the road.

Finally!

The magical moment. She gasped and squealed.

Kat captured this great action shot. Bear was so very determined and focused on this important task.

Carefully placing and arranging.

Yes, we were watching "Christmas with the Kranks."

She condescended to let Kat help her.

Here's a fairly accurate sample of what our tree looks like. It's so...special.

A few years ago, my mom gave me this Hallmark ornament of the Fisher Price rotary dial phone that all kids my age played with in the mid-80's. Claire has admired it for the past two Christmases. Back in April, when she and I were in Alabama to help my mom and aunt sort through my Granddaddy's belongings, I asked if I could bring one of these (non-rotary but similar style) phones home with me for Claire to play with. She has thoroughly enjoyed playing with it, and when she saw the Fisher Price ornament, she ran to get "her" phone. She plunked it down under the tree and told me it was "JUST LIKE THE RED PHONE, MOMMY!" 

Because her love of Christmas trees is so strong, I decided that I really wanted to get her a small one of her very own. We have an At Home store in town with gazillions of tree options, so we headed there to find one. She was so excited when we walked in and there were Christmas trees of all shapes, sizes, and colors set up everywhere. We snapped a picture in front of the pink Eloise tree (spoiler: we didn't buy that one) and then let her roam among the trees for a while (under supervision, of course). We ended up getting her a pre-lit tree that's just a smidgen taller than her and pretty thin, along with some shatter-proof ornaments and a gold star for the top (because I was NOT going to have that discussion 3984726 times). We set it up, helped her decorate it, and she said, "My Christmas tree is PERFECT, Mommy!" She admires it everyday, which makes me feel we got our money's worth.

The Eloise tree!

Proudly introducing her perfect Christmas tree.

The Durham Museum of Life and Science (that I have mentioned on occasion) has an annual Santa Train. There's a train you can ride any given day that rides you around the wooded museum property, and at Christmas, they transform it into the Santa Train that takes you to the North Pole. I knew I wanted to do that with Claire; she LOVES trains, and I could only imagine that the train at Christmas time would thrill her little heart. I was mostly right. She was extremely wary of Santa when he came by our train bench. That's fine; I don't need her to be super cozy with unfamiliar men, especially since we don't really do Santa. She doesn't get the whole Santa concept, as we've never discussed it or promoted it at home (we're not anti-Santa; we've just chosen not to teach her Santa lore. We teach Jesus stories and figure she'll pick up Santa stuff along the way). She did enjoy the hot chocolate and marshmallows, the light structures, the train, the "North Pole," and the general merriment. She keeps saying she wants to go back to "the surprise," so I'd say it was a success!

The picture I got on our way to the museum. She was very excited about the surprise.

Crummy nighttime shot of the "North Pole."

Crummy nighttime shot of Brad and Claire being an ice skating penguin and polar bear. It was nearly impossible to get them both looking at me at the same time. Ahem, Brad.

Checking out the light trees.

Crummy nighttime shot of Claire with the light trees. At least I tried.

And, in true Claire fashion, she's made a few hilarious comments about Christmas-y things over the past few weeks:

We've watched quite a bit of "A Very Monkey Christmas," known around here as "Christmas George." It's the Curious George Christmas movie, and it really is rather cute. She asks to watch it multiple times a day, although she doesn't get to. During the opening credits, there's a part where George pulls on a ribbon that opens a bow, revealing the words "Curious George." When George picks up the ribbon, before he starts pulling, Claire always says, "Mommy! Are you ready? George is going to pull the Curious!!" I don't remember telling her that those words say "Curious George," but somehow she figured it out. Proud.

She has also started this hilarious little habit of saying that we're doing such-and-such so WE CAN BE CHRISTMAS! No idea where she got it, but she says it regularly. Example: "Mommy put up the rug (she means the banister garland) so WE CAN BE CHRISTMAS!" or "Let's turn on the lights of our beautiful tree so WE CAN BE CHRISTMAS!" It's so funny; I feel like she looks and sounds like a cartoon character when she does that.

The first line of "Jingle Bells" is "Crashing through the snow..."

When she sees any unfamiliar boxes or bags (which is often this time of year) she says, "What's IN the bag?" which isn't a funny question, but her inflection on the word "in" sounds hilarious. Read it out loud; I think you'll see what I mean.

We've had a blast with Claire this Christmas. Christmas is always fun around here, but she's given us such a funny time this year, and we have loved it. I hope it stays this way for a long time.