Christmas Photos

Posted by Tracey at 1:35 PM Read our previous post

Here are some photos of Taylor's Christmas.

Taylor by the Christmas Tree last night as I tried to turn the lights into little stars. She actually had to hold still for about 20 seconds, thus I think she did great in this photo!

Taylor in front of the fireplace mantel, still in the very low light style of photo! Can't figure out how to reduce the yellow, up the contrast, without losing the soft feel of the picture.

Someone has been messing with our deer out front. One simply torn from the ground one day and then yesterday they were placed in a not so polite position! However, the second time they were messed with it affected the lights. Since Mike got quite sick last night and had to go to be early, here is Taylor out on the front lawn trying to fix the lights herself wearing her new Christmas PJs. The trait to go out and tinker with the lights to try to make them work definitely comes from Mike, not me. So you see, there is indeed a reason for her to have a hand up a deer's butt!

This cow Webkinz gift was a big hit to Taylor. It came from our local end of the Monette clan. About an hour later Taylor discovered that there was also a money cheque inside the card that came with the gift. It will be going straight towards the purchase of a new Nintendo DS with all the bells and whistles. I've been making her save up on her own to buy one to help her learn a little more about the value of money and about patience and saving up for something you really really want. But with this gift and both Hanukkah and Christmas money from her Auntie Cindy and Uncle Ricki, Taylor has finally accumulated enough money. I had to remind her the stores are closed today!

Spore hero was high on her list of desires... and thanks to Nana & Grampa she got a couple of the WII games she was dreaming of having.

Dollar bills. But there is a reason for them. I gave Taylor a Klutz book on how to fold dollar bills! Now she has a bunch of crisp new ones to work with! Lots of shopping happened at the Klutz site this year. Taylor also loved Bristlebots she got from Klutz and played iwth them for a long time this morning before switching over to a WII game.

Oh yah Baby. A new Webkinz Manatee and Dolphin! The dolphin which she had wanted could no longer be found in store and thus came from Ebay! Taylor loves manatees so when I saw the manatee Webkinz I knew she should have it at Christmas!

MindFlex was no.1 on Taylor's list! And I bought it before the prices skyrocketed online and it couldn't be found in stores. Heck, I even got it on sale!

If you are reading this with small kids, send them away now. They should not be reading this part.

are they gone?

make sure of it or you'll be very sorry!

okay, you've been warned.

go down a little further...

trying to not even have this showing on the page if other kids are reading my blog.

Taylor is a month shy of 10 years old.

Using all the logic of her 9 years and 11 months she has given up her belief in Santa Claus.

That was really sad for me as it is so fun to give kids miracles to believe in.

As it turns out, it was sad for her too. Because she lost just a little of the magic of Christmas when she stopped believing this year.

But I am now teaching her new magic that has to do with Christmas.

Our fire department drives by in a big parade of loud honking, siren going off trucks, upon one which Santa sits waving hello to all... and as they go by they collect new toys for those in need. I love this and Taylor loved to be able to give too, handing our bag of toys off to one of Santa's helpers.

And then a day later I had an enlightening coversation with a

great young woman doing two jobs to be able to survive and raise her sister's very young child. In passing conversation she told me that her 'daughter' only gets things on clearance and from Ebay. Through my own special angels in my life I am able to give Taylor her wishes. And I wanted this mother to be able to give just a few more wishes to her young child. So Taylor and I went out shopping 2 days before Christmas and picked out a few small toys and took them directly to where the mom works and passed them on to her. She was both gracious and grateful and told us stories of a past Christmas when she had also been helped by surprise. While this whole interaction certainly made Taylor and I feel very good, the real and true point of it was that it made this mom feel good and will put a few extra smiles on her daughter's face this morning.

I hope I am teaching Taylor that a big part of the magic of Christmas is in helping others in whatever ways you are able to.