We had a Christmas party at school. Mrs. Sicht gave me my own journal to write in! Mommy thought that was really special. We had Christmas for Nana Carol and Papa Ron's side of the family at our house that weekend. It was a lot of fun having everyone over here. We had a couple of days of family time before more Christmas celebrations started. We went to the library (and Daddy stayed with Emily who was sleeping in the car) and then visited Stan! It was good to see him again. He was surprised at how big I had gotten. That night, I went on a Daddy-Daughter date to the Mizzou women's basketball game. I had so much fun with Daddy! I miss him when he is working.
We went to Washington on Christmas Eve and visited Great-Grandma Rose before going to Grandma Kathy's. Great-Grandma Rose has an outdoor white cat that I named Lilly after Mrs. Sicht's cat. I really like to pet her when I go over there. We had a lot of fun at Grandma Kathy's with my cousins. We went home that night to wait for Santa. Elmo went back to the North Pole and I left out 5 cookies for Santa (because that is my favorite number) and 8 carrots for the reindeer (because Rudolph isn't real.) We had a fun morning opening presents. Santa brought our presents inside a Frozen tent! He brought me a Frozen castle and an Elsa Snow Glow, just what I asked for! He also brought our family monogrammed stockings so now they all match! Emily and I exchanged gifts too. I picked out a play piggy bank for her and she got me a Frozen watch. I was very proud of the handprint poster and card I made Mommy and Daddy for Christmas. After we opened our presents, we went over to Nana Arden's. I got to play a lot with my cousins outside because the weather was so warm. Some of my favorite gifts this year were the Frozen castle, the Lite Brite, the dog vet kit, and the Frozen microphone.
We went over to Nana Arden's a couple more times because Aunt Michele, Uncle Roger, Daniel, and Aunt Geri were in town. I was really sad the first night because Daniel wasn't feeling well and slept the whole time we were there. Aunt Geri brought two pinatas and my cousins and I had a blast knocking them down!
We had a couple more family days at home to play and I went on some errands with Mommy. We miss it when we used to do that together. Because last New Years Eve was declared "Ellie Day", I declared it "Ellie Day" this year too! I went with Mommy to get donuts that morning. I told Mommy and Daddy that I wanted to get a cat and a dog that day because they "had to listen to everything I say." I wrote "CAT" and "DOG" on my calendar months ago! We compromised and went to look at cats and dogs at the Humane Society because we aren't ready for animals in our house yet. That night, I had my first non-family sleep-over! I went over to Carrie's and we had a really fun party with her friend Ali. Her Mommy Valerie did so many fun things like popping balloons every hour, getting interviewed, watching a movie, a photo shoot, glow sticks, cookies and fancy milk glasses, and so much more! We definitely stayed up past midnight. Valerie said we were still talking at 1:30! I was ready to go to sleep though. They have a dog named Remington and I loved him! I even decided to sleep on the floor so we could snuggle together.
Grandma Kathy, Grandpa Tom, and Great-Grandma Rose came up for a visit. We went out to eat at Cheddar's. I really enjoyed the visit.
I have been working out downstairs with Daddy sometimes and he said I am really doing a good job. I like spending the time with him. I helped Mommy take down all the Christmas decorations too. That was quite a big job!
I was ready for school to start back up! It was really good to be back. We are working hard in math to count to 100, and also to do it by 2's and 10's. I also really like to write and am getting good at it. I wrote most of my Christmas thank you notes this year. I am really growing up! It has been really cold since we went back to school and we had 3 late starts so we got to ease into the mornings. One morning we went to the library so I could pick out some new books. We also went to visit Mr. Kenny. He really was happy to see us! I felt good visiting him. The other late morning, Emily and I helped Mommy shop at HyVee before school.The 100th day of school is coming up soon. We are supposed to do a project that displays 100 items of something. I chose to glue "marshmettows" on a 100s chart. I worked really hard on it and was proud of myself. I took it to school early and Mrs. Sicht said she wasn't ready for it. I started crying because I was embarrassed that I messed up in front of the whole class. We worked it out though so I could keep it at school.
We had Girl Scouts the second week back at school. Because I had missed the last meeting because I had the flu, I didn't know we were selling Girl Scout cookies. We were a little behind, but I set my goal at 50 boxes! Within 48 hours, I had sold 56 boxes and I'm not finished yet! I told Mommy several times, "This Girl Scout cookie selling is hard work!"
One of the things that I keep saying this month is, "I like it a lot much more better." I also got really sad when I realized that Emily will be turning a year old soon. I can't believe she won't be a baby anymore! I guess we have some party planning to do!
A picture from last month's party
I love making my sister laugh!
