'tis the season

We are in full holiday mode around here. Olivia is more excited this year than ever before. She is crazy for all things Christmas. We started decorating the house right after Thanksgiving. Olivia was napping while I was putting up our big tree. She woke up just in time to help put the finishing touches on it with the last few ornaments. She absolutely loved finding the right spot for each special ornament. I guess I did not realize just how excited she would be to help this year.

With the big tree up and decorated it was time to get Olivia's own little tree ready. We let her take the lead on this one and decorate it as she wished. She took a great deal of time putting each ornament in it's place. The best part was seeing the joy on her face as she clearly has the Christmas spirit!

This year we took Olivia to the Festival of Trees at the Embassy Theatre in Fort Wayne. We have not done this activity with Olivia since she was a baby. Our last experience was anything but pleasant which is why we have waited so long to go back. We wanted to make sure that she was old enough to enjoy and appreciate the festival this time around. Waiting until she was 4 was a wise choice. She loved it! She was fascinated by the beautifully decorated trees, making it hard to keep her hands off of them!

The festival has ongoing entertainment on the stage so we went during the time that the girls from the dance studio where I teach were performing. I was surprised by how long she wanted to sit and watch the show. It turned out to be a much better experience this time around and I am sure we will go back next year.

Another one of our annual traditions is to visit the Botanical Gardens around Christmas time. It is always decorated so beautifully. This year we went with our friends, the McGauley's. Those who read my blog know that their daughter, Laurel is one of Olivia's best friends from school.

They always have so much fun together and this day was no exception. One of the rooms was decorated to look like Candy Land. It was so cute! The girls ran around just like they were in the game itself.

The girls also got to visit Santa while they were there. Olivia did not hesitate to hop up on his lap this year. She very quietly whispered what she would like in his ear. Not sure he heard what she had to say, but she as far as she was concerned she got her message across. The girls also got to see the reindeer. This is something else Olivia looks forward to each year. It was a quick view this year because it was so stinkin' cold out there!

Last weekend Olivia started what we hope to be a new holiday tradition. She had breakfast with an angel at our church. Unfortunately I was not able to attend, but Todd took her to this fun little event. Aside from the amazingly good breakfast (I heard) they had, they also made a craft and had their picture taken with the angel. Olivia very fittingly wore her adorable holiday angel outfit. How sweet is this?

We still have a ton of fun holiday activities ahead of us with two weeks to go until Christmas. This is by far our favorite time of year and this holiday season has by far been the best so far! In completely unrelated Christmas news I am so very proud to announce that Olivia is officially reading! She has been reading words for the past 2-3 months now, but she has just recently started reading short, simple books. I cannot even tell you how impressed and proud I am of this child. According to Olivia's teachers she has really taken the lead with the whole reading thing at school. They have been working with her quite a bit, but she has shown such a strong interest in reading and has picked it up very quickly. I hope to get some of her reading on tape soon and when I do I will share it with you. I hope that everyone is enjoying this great time of year! I will be back soon with more holiday updates! Until then...Happy Holidays to you!