Aidan's Advent, Day 5

Aidan found Sally the Elf sitting on a shelf today - imagine that! The Elf on the Shelf was hiding on a shelf;)

We had a fun day playing with Emily and Connor at Kidscape at the Johnson County Museum. Of course, his favorite room was the one with the trains.

Our advent calendar today let us know we'd be getting the Little People Nativity out. His favorite part is making the Angel sing "Away in a Manger" and he also loves playing with Baby Jesus.

Aidan's book today was a fun one - it has the words to Frosty the Snowman. He was a bit camera shy, but at least you get a good picture of the book! See you tomorrow!

Aidan's Advent, Day 4

What was Sally the Elf thinking? This morning, Aidan found her in Mommy's jar of Skittles for her piano students!

Aidan's advent calendar let him know that he would be spending the day at Crown Center. Each year, my piano students perform Christmas music at the Westin and Aidan has been each year since he was born. We like to work in a trip to see Santa, but the line was too long this year. That will have to come later this month!
Aidan enjoyed looking at the gingerbread village...

...and LOVED eating at Fritz's, as always!

Tonight's Christmas book was Redheaded Robbie's Christmas Story. LOVE this one, and the sweet message it conveys about the true meaning of the holidays.

More tomorrow!

Aidan's Advent, Day 3

Aidan woke up to find Sally the Elf sitting on top of a curtain rod in the living room. How did she get up there???

Today, Aidan's Advent Calendar let him know he'd be having breakfast with Santa at his school! Since Daddy sleeps during the day and Mommy works Saturdays, Grandma Pennington took him and they had a great time!

Aidan made sure to tell Santa that he wanted a cement mixer, as well as a very large recycling truck that was up for silent auction.

It must have been the magic of Christmas, but somehow, the silent auction was won and the recycling truck went to Grandma's house. We also bid on and won front row seating for Aidan's Christmas and Spring preschool programs! YES!

After doing a bit of Christmas shopping and going out to dinner, Aidan opened his next Christmas book, which was a big hit:

See you tomorrow!

Aidan's Advent, Day 2

Aidan woke up this morning by asking to see where Sally was hiding! Silly elf, Sally was peeking out of our family organizer in the kitchen!
After a fun day at school, which included making a cool jingle bell necklace, Aidan ended his day with his second advent calendar activity: getting a Santa beard made out of bubble bath!

Finally, he unwrapped his second Christmas book, Who Will Guide My Sleigh Tonight? It is a fun tale of how Santa chose reindeer over other animals like tigers and dolphins to lead the way on Christmas night.

More tomorrow!

Aidan's Advent, Day 1

We have a lot of fun stuff planned for this Christmas season. Aidan has had a lot of questions - where does Santa live, what's he doing, when will he be here, where is the snow, how tall is Jesus...you name it.

This year, we are starting several new traditions. First, the advent calendar:


I got this idea from a blog I love and love the way it turned out. It's made from a hanging shoe organizer. Instead of putting treats or toys in it, I've put a fun activity or experience on the back of each card. We can keep mementos or other items from the day's activities in the pockets, and I've left enough room to add a picture each day - hello, instant scrapbook!

Today's activity got Aidan really excited - he got to put up a Christmas tree in his room! He loved seeing it light up and we're looking forward to adding ornaments to it over the next few weeks.

Our next fun tradition is that I've wrapped 25 Christmas books and put them in a basket.

Aidan can choose one each day to unwrap. I'll leave the unwrapped ones in the basket so he can read them over and over if he'd like. They're not sorted in any particular order, but we made sure he opened this one first:


Elf on the Shelf!

He had a lot of questions about the elf, but loved reading the story and decided to name his elf Sally. We're looking forward to seeing all of the places Sally decides to hide this December, and hoping that it curbs some not-so-flattering behaviors along the way!

I hope to keep up with the blogging this month (and beyond!), so bear with me - and Merry Christmas!

Fall Fun

We started our Sunday by making pumpkin pancakes for breakfast - YUM.


While we were eating, Aidan and I started talking about last week's activities at school, which centered around Friendship Week. When I asked him what he thought friendship meant, he said, "Friendship is something that we share." I thought that was pretty profound for such a little guy!

After breakfast, we started a fun project for Aidan's teachers for Thanksgiving. Finished product to come!

Monthly Aidan: 2 years, 6 months

OK, I realize I've been the hugest blog slacker on the planet:( The days have passed faster than I can imagine, and out of nowhere we have a two-and-a-half year old. Aaron reminded me the other day that we're halfway to age five, and I just can't even handle that!

So here's a look at our sweet, sweet BOY who is no longer a baby...

At 2.5, Aidan:

-weighs about 33 pounds and is just over three feet tall

-knows all of his letters and the sounds they make

-can count to twenty

-speaks in complete sentences

-refers to himself in the third person

-can tell you his full name

-will tell you he's five if you ask his age

-goes to Kindermusik on Mondays, MyGym on Wednesdays, and Parents Day out on Wednesdays and Fridays

-loves cars, fire trucks and trains more than just about anything

-enjoys watching shows on TV like Super Why, Sesame Street, and Little Einsteins

-has absolutely no interest in potty training

-builds tall creations and calls them all "The Eiffel Tower"

-pretends to take (and teach!) piano lessons

-can name most instruments he hears on recordings or on TV

-wears 2T-3T shirts and 2T pants, size 7 shoes

-sleeps 8pm-7:15am and takes a 2-3 hour nap

-will eat most fruits and vegetables but is pretty picky about meat

-is not picky about Chick-fil-A chicken nuggets

-has developed an adoration for chocolate milk

-can tell us which streets to turn on to get to Grandma's house

-has a memory like an elephant

-likes to holler from his crib each morning: "MOM! MOOOOOOOOMMMM!" or "Open Aidan's Door!" or "MOM! MEATLOAF!" or "Moooom, where ARE youuuuu?"

-still loves Toy Story but also asks to watch Leap Frog Letter Factory daily

-has developed a new nighttime routine of laying in bed with us and singing songs. His current favorite is "Cheezus" - Jesus Loves Me

-loves to help in the kitchen

-knows that when he sits in time out, he has to put his hands in his lap

-prefers to put his toys in time out instead

-talks about the weather like an old man

-is a challenge but a joy, sweet to the core, precious, smarter than he needs to be, and perfect in every way. We are so blessed to be his parents.

Daily Aidan: 8/16 Cheeeeeeeese!

Daily Aidan: 8/15 Poppy's Record Player

Daily Aidan: Summer PDO Artwork

Daily Aidan: 8/13 Alphabet Jammies

Daily Aidan: Peachwave

Aidan enjoyed some Peachwave with his friends Isaac and Lucas today. Whoever invented the concept of self-serve frozen yogurt is GENIUS.

Daily Aidan: Breakfast with Friends

Daily Aidan: 8/10 Giddy-Up!

Riding the mailbox like a horse...

Daily Aidan: 8/9 Swimming with Daddy

Aidan is fortunate that one of his parents is willing to be seen in a bathing suit in public!

Daily Aidan: 8/8 Aixois

Perusing the menu at one of our favorite knitting meet-ups

Daily Aidan: Blast Off!

Aidan's new favorite TV show is Little Einsteins. He loves to pat, pat, pat & blast off, and asks for "Rocket" about 27 times a day. It is only shown at 3am on Playhouse Disney, so we are very thankful for the DVR!

Daily Aidan: 8/6 Mixing it Up

The child loves small appliances.

Daily Aidan: New Shoes, Just Like Daddy's

Tired boy, but SO loving his new tennis shoes!

Daily Aidan: Grill Master

Grillin' at Grandma's House