Donut Date!
That first week of December, Etta and her class went on a field trip to see a play at a local community college. Grandmomma came down to stay with Daniel and Alice so I could join her on the trip as a chaperone. I felt pretty certain that she wouldn't sit through the whole performance, and she didn't. It was pretty loud and a bit of "sensory overload", but she did pretty well overall and I think she had a good time.
When Etta needed a break from the play, we went and hung out over by the bathrooms/vending machines. She liked running back and forth between each machine and pushing the "E" for Etta.
Group shot after the play (she's on the left end of the bottom row):
That night, after the field trip, I went to the annual Ds Mama ornament exchange/ Christmas party. My friend, Suzy, hosted it at her house again this year and there was a pretty big turn-out with about 40 mamas! It's always a fun night and this year was no exception!
The day after the field trip/ornament exchange, we went up to GiGi's Playhouse for a Holiday themed Open Play. Suzy and her family were the only ones who came. It was mostly poor planning on our part since DSAMT was having their big annual Christmas party at Vanderbilt that afternoon. We couldn't go to that because it conflicted with nap time, but we still had a great time at GiGi's that morning. We decorated Christmas trees and trains and gingerbread man cut-outs, we also decorated cookies with icing and sprinkles and Cayla brought in her guitar and we sang Christmas carols.
We celebrated Hanukkah! The kids loved lighting the candles each evening. I didn't take photos every night and I think I missed a night of lighting the candles, but I was pretty sick that week... it's a miracle that I even managed to get Etta to school on time each day!
Freda the gingerbread girl joined us on the second night. She was sent home from school with Etta to spend the night with us and we sent her back with a journal containing a photo and a couple of sentences about what Freda did with us that evening.
(VIDEO)
(VIDEO)
Etta's last day of school before Winter Break was a half day AND her class had a party that morning. Mel (who was also sick at this point) came down for a couple hours to hang out with D and A so I could go to Etta's party. Etta loved all of the cookies she got to eat that morning and she delivered gifts to all of her teachers and therapists before we headed back home. I think I used up every ounce of energy I had that morning and I was very glad to be able to feed the kids lunch and put all three down for a nap so I could get a nap too (Etta doesn't actually sleep at nap time anymore, but she likes to get in her bed with her iPad every day at nap time)!
Her aide, Ms. Kim, got Etta a gift too. It was so sweet of her and she gave her some really thoughtful gifts in that bag. We really love her.
We're bustin' outta here! Yay for Winter Break!
(Also, you can't tell, but I felt like crap!)
That morning (between when I dropped her off and when the class party started), Etta and Ms. Kim took a photo with Santa.
Random Photos:
I found Etta in the fridge one night...... Ummmmmmm......
Playing at the park:
Still watching them build the house next door:
Daniel reading to Alice
Time for bed!!
I was still in bed when Keith got the kids up one weekend morning. I heard them over the monitor and Keith was asking Daniel a question that I knew the answer to, so I pushed the button on the baby monitor and answered his question. Then, they all gathered in front of the camera to talk to me for a bit. :)
Daniel got a haircut.
Checking out the Publix ad.
THIS one.... He sure has a lot of energy!
