Where do I begin?

Mom's been here for a whole week, and we all have had such a wonderful time. Mia can now name most of her body parts in Spanish and will sit still long enough to have her hair braided by her Lita. Oh, Mia's gone from 'Ita' to 'Lita' :) Mia still loves the Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer...the old claymation show that's run on CBS this time of year, and still pulls her fav ornaments off the tree when the show is on...I DVR'd it :) Her favorite is Clarice (Rudolf's girlfriend) because she has a bow in her hair, and so does Mia when she has her braids in.
On Saturday, Raquel came up from the Valley, and has been a huge help in getting the house in order. It all went to the wayside when I wasn't feeling well. Oh, great news! My meds are working, and I'm feeling wonderful...back to my fabulous self :) Mia follows Raquel around 'helping' her.
Friday, Lita, Mia and I went to the mall in search of Santa. Well, we found him! I was so nervous that Mia would sit on his lap, get one look at him, and freak out. A freak out pic would have been great, too, but I was hoping that she'd be ok. The line wasn't too long, and while I was waiting in it, Mom took Mia to a very near by toy store where Mia was enthralled by the little electronic puppies. When it was Mia's turn, I plopped her on his lap, and she just fazed out. Santa tried to engage with her, but it took a lollipop to get her attention....smart Santa. According to Mia, Santa = Lollipop. Since this was her second lollipop in her life (first was on Halloween), Santa left a huge impression on her.

I know all these things aren't in order, but this is how I'm remembering it all :)


Saturday, before we picked up Raquel from the bus station, Mom and I went to Red's Shooting Range, and Mom shot her very first gun! Once she added earplugs to her ear protection muffs (that's what I call them), and she got a little tutorial from the gun man, she was on a roll and having a great time. Our first target was a mess with shots everywhere, but on our second one, we were very controlled. Mom stayed in the chest area, and I in the head. We are a wicked duo!

One tough Abuelita!

Last Thursday, Mia and I hosted a little playdate at Waterloo Ice House. Mia had a blast playing in the sandbox, and can now climb up a playscape on a metal net.
On Friday night, Daryl and I went over to Marquis & Diane's for a surprise birthday celebration for Brandon. We had fun. I mostly watched everyone be Guitar Heros on the Wii, and Daryl kicked butt at the ping pong table. It's been sooooooooo nice having Mom here, because Daryl and I also went out Saturday night :) We hit the Alamo and saw the Golden Compass. It really was a good movie and I highly recommend it.
This morning, Mia and I hopped over to Auntie M & Gwen's place for a Kid's Holiday Party. There were around 17 mom and their kiddos there. Chaos, complete fun, crazy chaos. Everyone brought a snack. So we all ate and chatted while the kids also snacked and colored and played.... Melissa sure is wonderful & brave to host such a big event! There was a 'gently used' book exchange for the kids, so Mia got a new to her book about cowboy bunnies :)
Our Christmas cards came in today, so I think I'm going to go work on them while Mia's still napping.

More pics from Thursday's playdate and Kid's Holiday Party here (towards the end)