It is still cold here. OK, not really that cold…it is actually raining right now though it is supposed to turn to snow sometime in the next few hours. We’ll see. Fortunately, we (meaning Aaron) put the lights up on our house before the rain began. Mia calls them “party lights” and is stoked with our less than extravagant display.

Looking so grown up!

Mia’s school did their Winter Performance this week and it was adorable. As you might expect, the Primary Kids (3-6 yrs old) had mostly support roles, but they did their parts quite well. Mia has been practicing the songs for several weeks now (maybe even a couple months) and she sang every word. I’m really impressed that all the youngsters managed to stay relatively still and quiet for the duration of the almost-1-hour show. I’ll post some videos soon.

Before the big show

Most of the stage

Performance pics

Singing “15 miles on the Erie Canal”

It was pretty adorable

Mia is getting bigger all the time so we’ve been getting rid of stuff she has outgrown and acquiring a few new things — both clothes and toys. We included her in the process for which toys to get rid of and which to keep, although her decisions were subject to executive veto. In some cases, I just had to keep a few little things as keepsakes. We just sent two big boxes of our favorite toys and clothes to good friends with new babies, and took several bags of stuff to a local charity. You may be aware that I kind of stress out about excess stuff  (e.g., scared-of-stuff-and-hopeful) so I am always a bit surprised when I find myself wanting to hang on to a few mementos. It makes it easier to give those things to a good friend. And then there is a small box of things that I am going to keep forever, so there.

Getting rid of clothes, on the other hand, was a clandestine operation because our little fashionista doesn’t give up dresses easily. Fortunately, we’ve recently acquired a plethora of hand-me-downs and a few new things that meet her standards. In fact, after scrolling through the pics below, you will probably be able to tell which are her favorites.

Here are a few more pics of the past month…

Cruising the hardware store

Headbands and balloons

Cleaning up

First time in a bin full of plastic balls

“Napping” with her classmate

She started by feeding the horses carrots, but their mouths didn’t open so she settled for sticking carrots in their noses.

Packing up and ready to go

We normally don’t accept corn-syrup filled crap but it sure helps after a vaccine

Packing up her things

Packing up

Lots of cousins

Maddie and Mia

Cousins

Flower girl

Rare Mama and Mia photo

Mia and the scarecrows

Its good to have snacks when going through security

Staying busy during a plane ride

Sleepy but no nap on this trip

Another fancy contraption

This may look like a mess but it is a finely orchestrated picnic, with everything in it’s place

Climbing girl

Baking cookies

Another fancy contraption (blurry but can you see the smile? she was proud!)

Better view of the vehicle

Making music

Do you like my music?

Watching the Canadian Geese along the flyway

One of our favorite parks

Reading with her friend (minutes before a my-turn-no-my-turn battle…ahhhh 3-year olds)

Even more grown up!

Butterfly wings help her fly

That’s all for now. Good night.