Holiday Sparkles..

This child is nuts. I mean.. look.at.her!! and yes, she honest to God did that all on her own. Last weekend (gasp! the weekend before Thanksgiving.. we decorated for Christmas).  Josh was stringing the garland on the stairs and I was doing the mantle and this is what I saw when I turned around. Talk about trying not to choke on one's own laughter...

It has been a busy month, and I daresay having a 3+ year old makes Christmas insanely fun.. this from the girl who has always loved tihs time of year.  I had no idea how much more fun it could be.

In the past couple of weeks.. we have been to the Zoo for Parker's bday party, bought a new fridge, we have had Grandpa and Beanie and Grandma Joyce here for Thanksgiving, we have been to Fantasy of Trees, decorated our house, and been to the Knoxvegas Festival of Lights!  We still have a birthday party, a couple of Christmas parties, Hannukah, a parade, a trip to Memphis.. and of course the big day itself .. all in the next month.  I am already worn out. Somewhere in there we need to shop too.

So every day that passes.. Eileen is more and more chatty. And I honestly have no idea where that trait came from... hehehe.

Some winners of late...

Our friend "Mr. Tim" came over one night after work to help me sort out something with the new fridge (really, its obscene how excited I am about that appliance).  So Tim walked in, Eileen ran to greet him. She stopped, looked at him, and said "HEY!"  and there Tim and I stood.. wondering and waiting.. and she said "HEY! where's your kid?"   HA. She didn't care to see Tim.. she was looking for one of his daughters to play with. Needless to say, Tim and I were practically on the floor laughing.

A couple of days later.. She and I were in the car. I had on Christmas music (shocking, I know).  A new song (well, new to Eileen) came on... I think it was "Do You Hear What I Hear?".. so she listened to it, then asked if she could hear it again. So I started it again.. halfway through, she said "This song is terrible!  what's next?!"  I mean, really! Again, I tried to not drive us off the road while cracking up.

We went to the zoo for Parker's party (I refuse to reveal his age bc it makes me feel impossibly old!).  We had a blast (even tho zoos still creep me out) and spent several hours wandering around.  They have a baby chimp there.. George. .. he's about 4mos old and just precious. Anyway.. as we're leaving, Eileen is riding along on Daddy's shoulders.  She turned to me and said "Mommy? It smells like POOP!" 
well. yes, it does. it IS a zoo.  smart kid that one.

It is slightly mind-boggling how much she is already aware of clothes, styles, fashion, etc (not counting the fantastic outfit seen at the start of this post).  While getting dressed for Parker's party, she picked out her own outfit.  A t-shirt, skirt, and leggings to go underneath. And she came running downstairs and promptly informed me she looked just like MK.  Sure enough, when we got to the party, MK had on a t-shirt, skirt and leggings.  A day or two later, while getting dressed for school, she picked out a dress, pink leggings, and her ladybug shoes.  And said that she looked just like Hannah.  And sure enough, we got to school.. and Hannah had on her pink leggings and her ladybug shoes! 

Over the weekend, we were at Target (shocking).  Eileen and I took a detour through the kids shoes. And she spotted some sparkly silver shoes. And oh how she wanted them. I told her no and kept moving, not thinking twice about it. Hoo Boy! she pitched.a.fit. She hollered and furrowed her brow and even produced some tears.. all because she could not have those silver shoes.  I finally got her distracted and calmed down with who knows what, and the silver shoes were a distant memory.  Until we had to go back to Target on Sunday for something we'd forgotten. And we'd been in the store all of three minutes when she said "Where are the silver shoes?!"  And here's where I'm mom of the year. I caved, agreed they were very cute.. and off we went to the shoes. They were, however, out of silver in her size. They did have pink ones that were exactly the same.. only better.. since they had the Disney Princesses on the soles and on the shoe box. So $12 later and some very cute pink glittery shoes.. and we have a fashion forward child.

I won the Mother of the Year award again this morning. I told Eileen she could only wear those new shoes to school if she agreed to wear jeans. Hehehe. Yes, jeans. For whatever reason, the child refuses to wear them. But she looks so dang cute in them. So she agreed. She wore thos pink shoes and jeans.  I am fully aware she'll have a wardrobe complex by age 5. Some parents bribe their kids with food.. me.. shoes!  Well. at least she'll stay at a healthy weight, right? By not associating rewards with food? but instead shoes?  I can justify just about anything. 

Note said pink sparkly shoes in photo to left with child on Potty.  I am about to have to start using the shoes to bribe her to pee on the potty! She knows how. She does it at school. She knows when she needs to pee or poo.. and she is also able to hold it! but she will.not.pee.at.home!!! Sigh. 

So last week we went to the Festival of Trees. Its a pretty big event here in Knoxville.. a fundraiser for Children's hospital. We went on Wednesday to see MK dance. Precious. oh.. but Eileen was flat out livid that she could not run up on that stage and dance with MK!  I don't thikn she grasped the whole dance thing (saving me from just yet having to fork out those dollars).. just that MK was up there having fun without her!

So Friday night was the kickoff of the Knoxville Holiday Celebrations. The Ice Skating rink opens in Market Square, there are vendors everywhere, hot chocolate, singing and dancing, and of course, lighting the city tree.  It was a chilly day, perfect for Christmas Fun! They also had a couple of (very well) controlled fires for roasting marshmallows, and some electric trains running around a track.  Super fun to watch a little girl take all of that in.

So when it came time to light the tree.. Santa and Rudolph were on the stage to push the "big red button." Perfect. 3..2..1.. and lights! beautiful. And then.. fireworks. Oh no. no.  Eileen is terrified of the things! We had no idea they would be part of the lighting! oh Heavens she flipped out..was not at all happy about the noise!  We bolted back to the ice rink and she calmed down. Whew.

And on Saturday night, when Josh said it was time to light our tree.. well she took off out of the den like her rear end was on fire. She was convinced we'd have fireworks in our living room. Honestly!

 I think I could ramble on forever .. but its getting late, and I am tired.. and I need to pick up the house before the cleaning service comes tomorrow. Yes, I am that person.

In the meantime.. here's some more pictures ...