Tayli, Our Elf

She is so much fun, and does some pretty funny things as she flies back and forth from our house to the North Pole. Sometimes she is easy to spot when we come downstairs in the morning. Sometimes she is so good at hiding! Either way, she definitely adds an element of fun to our Christmas holiday!

and just when we were starting to get used to the steady flow of entertainment, it was time for our funny friend to say "good-bye" ...

See you next year, Tayli!

Christmas Dinner

Well, as I mentioned before, Kayli and I just made the cut-off for the 24 hours on antibiotics, fever free, and 3 doses of our meds, so we could go to our family Christmas dinner by 5:00 p.m., and not be contagious anymore! Whew! Kayli really wanted to see her cousins and her Grandpa! I really wanted to savor some beef tenderloin see my family! Ok, both! And...we had more presents to give and get! So, off we went, so happy, and really sooooo much healthier!

Kayli helps Grandpa open our present...

Mickey tells me that he thinks his wife is the best cook in this family. Since he is one that loves to get a good argument going, I think he may have been disappointed when I said "Yes, you may be right. She is a fabulous cook." and  "No, I have never had my sights set on that award." I would rather dine at her house! (BTW, Karen is a fabulous cook too!)

Matt is wearing a homemade liquor necklace from Marion!

oooooh, that juicy beef tenderloin was soooooo good!!!

Karen "photobombs" us!

Aunt Suzanne opens our creatively wrapped gift...

Mickey had Kayli's name for Christmas!

Kevin watches Kayli play Minecraft...what the heck is she doing?

Marion, Jim, Nick, Jake

Laura, Colin, Mickey

Adam, Karen, Kevin, Matt

Merry Christmas!

We came downstairs to find Tayli, our elf, with a homemade camera around her neck, and a photo she had obviously taken of our Christmas tree surrounded with presents, and Santa, looking as if he was checking things off a list! Tayli also wrote a nice letter to Kayli about how much she loves our little family, and how proud she has become, watching Kayli do her homework and seeing what a good student she is! She told her that she will be heading back to the North Pole tonight, but would definitely plan to be back again next year!

Before opening presents, Kayli wanted to check the stockings to see if Santa had brought Sprinkles some bones. Of course he did, and we gave her one right away! Now, that Sprinkles was happy, we moved on to our stockings...

Now, for the presents under the tree..."Wow!" Kayli really liked Santa's choice of wrapping paper! "Guess he really likes peppermint candy!" she says.

So, where do I begin?

"OMG! This was definitely on my list!" Kayli asked Santa to bring her a doll that could be a best friend to her look-alike doll, Ling. It made perfect sense, when she mentioned this one day. She said that she wanted her doll to have a best friend, just like she had at school. The proper term now, for a best friend, is BFF. It means "Best Friends Forever" Sweet!

Here they are, from L to R, Mary Lyn, Kayli, and Ling

Santa brought a bunch of fun stuff for the doll friends to do together, like a spa night kit, a couple of sleepover kits with sleeping bags and mini ipods, pizza slices, cards, and all the necessities for a sleepover. I gave Kayli a "school kit" that had a backpack that came with a tiny water bottle, pencils, and a miniature version of her current "real" Math book! When I saw this, it gave me a wonderful idea! Why stop with Math? I can do better than that! So I set out to recreate a full school backpack, complete with a tiny version of Kayli's current Science book, Agenda notebook, School Calendar, a tiny ruler from a popsicle stick, and tiny file folders with miniature versions of the 3rd grade Spelling word lists.

I was on a roll now! I discovered that there were "you tube" video tutorials on making all kinds of things for your dolls! So, I went on to make a rolling school bag with tiny favorite library books...

I made some larger rolling suitcases for the "girls" to take on their sleepovers...

and just in case they needed to text or call me, or each other, tiny cell phones!!!

Oh, yes, I had so much fun making all this stuff! The two of us are going to have lots more fun with all the future creations we have yet to make!!!

there was a great doll sized tent, with a cooler, campfire, and folding chair. Ling is wearing her new gymnastics outfit, complete with 1st place medal!

there was a fabulous sling-type bag that was made for carrying a couple of doll friends to a playdate!

we recently saw the new Disney movie called Frozen, which was quite a hit! Kayli is sporting some "Frozen Winter Attire", mittens and earmuffs...

Whenever people would ask Kayli what she was hoping to get for Christmas, she always mentioned a telescope. Good thing that Santa was listening!

Kayli says "I can't wait to try this out! Do you think it's a full moon tonight Mom?"

I sure got some nice gifts this year! I think Santa really does love me!

Best Day Ever!

Sprinkles didn't take long to finish chewing her bone and came to check in for a snuggle...

It was almost time to go to Laura & Mickey's for Christmas dinner, so I told Kayli we needed to take a few family photos by the fireplace. I decided not to stress myself out by trying to get Sprinkles in the photo this time. It's hard enough to set up the camera and timer and get the two of us in place for a decent pose and a smile! Good thing for digital cameras that can take multiple shots!

Merry Christmas! and Thanks for the Great gifts Santa Claus!