Bribing Santa

With all the moving going on lately, I haven't done much baking....as in, ZERO baking.  I wanted to present a good offering to dear Saint Nick.  Olivia and I decided on thumbprint cookies.  We made two kinds - one was a festive buttercream and the other was an almond cherry.  After making some, I decided the festive buttercream looked more....well, festive.

Cookie and Milk presentation

Santa has left the building.

 Here are the almond cherry thumbrint cookies, in case you were wondering what they looked like.  Don't worry.  They weren't wasted.

My addiction

Have you been to Pinterest?  If you have, then you understand how you get sucked in.  If you haven't, don't go there unless you want to lose part of your life by looking at....PURE AWESOMENESS!!! There are crafty diy things, cool fashion tips, places to go, funny things/images, some super tasty recipes - the list goes on and on.   

On Christmas Eve morning, Chris made this tasty breakfast from this recipe. It was so good!

Did I just hear your stomach growling?

Just a few days before Christmas

It was so warm that we were wearing shorts!!  That's crazy!!!

 Olivia loves it.

What has your weather been like?

Mommy's birthday

My birthday was December 19th and we celebrated by going into Charleston and having some WONDERFUL locally caught seafood at the Noisy Oyster.  We followed it up with one of those carriage rides that a guide gives you a one hour history lesson.  After the carriage ride...I got fudge.  Perfect ending to a perfect day. 

 As you can see, it was a beautiful day with temperatures in the 70's.  Here are some quick pictures we took while eating.

Me photographing Daddy and Olivia

 Daddy photographing me and Olivia

Olivia photographing me and Daddy.  We were astounded by how good the pictures were that she took of us.  They are probably some of the best ever taken.

Daddy is eating one of his oysters. <*shudder*>

 We were waiting for our ENORMOUS hourse to take us on the tour.  He is a Percheron that is 18 1/2 hands tall and weighs 2200 lbs. BIG HORSE!!

Pretty in Pink

About two weeks ago there was a house we wanted to look at purely because it was 111 years old.  We will NOT be buying that house, but while waiting for our realtor I got a few pictures of Olivia. 

At the park

 This was one of the first times that Olivia and I went outside to play after the initial move to Charleston.  She ddn't play on the swings that long, but wanted to be a vampire and I was a zombie that was to chase and eat her.  There was another mom and child there and I'm pretty sure the mother thought we were bizarre.  

The Adventures of Miss Elf

Olivia has an Elf on the Shelf.  For those of you that don't know what they are, they are Santa's naughty/nice reconnaissance elves.  The kids aren't allowed to touch the elves otherwise they lose their power and can't report back to Santa.  They move to a new place each night and it was very exciting for Olivia to find hers in the morning. 

Here are a few of Miss Elf's hangouts from this year...

One of her first nights in Charleston, she put up all of the Christmas decorations while everyone was sleeping...well, almost everyone. 

One night, she decided to grab a little marshmallow snack in the kitchen.  An elf has to keep up her strength for all the flying to the North Pole and back.

One of her last nights with us, she decided to enjoy the glow and warmth from the tree lights.  Her sunglasses were made from the Ghiradelli peppermint bark she broke into the previous night.

We will miss her and can't wait to see her next time she pops in.

Lollipop and Bunny Hop

I found more cute pictures that I haven't posted.  These were taken in October.

Later that night, we went for a walk and I taught Olivia the Bunny Hop.  She didn't do it exactly right, but she was so cute that I like her version better!

Saturday Surprise - Disney On Ice!!

This past Saturday, we took Olivia to see Disney on Ice: 100 Years Celebration.  Until this point, Olivia had only seen movies or gone into the Disney Store (which is quite an event in itself).  We didn't tell her what we had planned, just that she was getting a surprise.

Here's Daddy and Livy walking to the Civic Coliseum.

 Livy giving a big, cheesy smile.

 Check out Daddy's cool Boeing sweatshirt.

 Me and my little girl.

Olivia sporting her ears and holding her Nemo cup.  They were overpriced, but she loved them so it was worth the money. 

 Daddy is getting into Disney-Mode.

 Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Donald were just starting to skate out.

 She spots Mickey!!

 Aladdin and Genie

Finding Nemo.

Finding Nemo still

 Beauty and the Beast

 Little Mermaid

It was VERY dark so you can't see the ice skaters or Olivia very well, but I'm posting them anyway because they made me smile.