A Sweet Beginning

What a fun Christmas season!

We went to Tony's parents for a Christmas Eve Party last night and then changed into our matching pajamas right away.  Ava read the entire Twas' the Night Before Christmas to us this year and said her goodbyes to Hart.  She was super excited to get one more chance at the party to tell Santa what she wanted and he delivered Christmas morning!  What a wonderful December!

Matt came to school on Friday to help with our snow day again this year!  After school we went straight out to the woods for Sherman Family Christmas Camping.  We definitely appreciated the warmer weather (last year we were freezing) but we ended up having a stressful end to the trip because of rain.  It's a lot of work for such little time and I appreciate Matt setting everything up so Ava can have family camping memories like he does :)

This was Ava's first successful year sitting and chatting with Santa by herself!  She was very interested in meeting him after her dance performance at Coconut Point and he had just arrived at his house from being in the parade so we got in line.  He spent so much time talking with her about what she wanted for Christmas and her Thanksgiving trip to Indiana to see her Grandma.  

Ava's Christmas dance recital was this weekend and we are so proud!  She was in 4 dances and did amazing with her quick changes.  As soon as we got home from the recital she was dancing more in the living room.  We looked back at old pictures tonight of when she was too scared to even go on stage - I knew this day would come :)

Our computer broke last month and we thankfully were able to get a new one that came in last night! We enjoyed a family dinner date and school spirit night at the Everblades game recently and had so much fun.  We had Thanksgiving dinner with Ava at school and then were off to Indiana the next morning.  We stayed overnight in TN and made great time to get there the next afternoon.  While in IN we got to see Lucy swim and Ava surprised her by visiting her kindergarten classroom and reading a story to them.  On the way back we stopped in TN to visit with Rylee's family.  I love that Ava got to spend time with her cousins this Thanksgiving :)

Last month I re-read a few of my favorite books and didn't purchase or read anything new.  This month, I read 4 books that I loved.

I am so interested in what goes on at the White House and loved reading Obama's Chief of Staff's book last year.  This book tells stories of the service staff from many years ago up to President Obama.  I loved reading about the different First Families and how they differed from each other.  I also realized how difficult it must be to work for the President's family.

I used to listen to Elvis Duran's morning show every day on the way to work (before I started listening to podcasts).  He is a great interviewer and storyteller and I loved reading about how he has evolved over time.

I have seen both of Ali Wong's stand-up specials and this was written with a similar style.  It includes funny, unfiltered but thoughtful letters to her 2 daughters.

This book was a fun read that celebrated the personality traits of Miranda Hobbes (from Sex and the City).  It was written by 2 women who identify as "Miranda's" - I loved it!

Friday was the last day of Quarter 1 and it has been a busy few weeks!  We raised money for our school with a Rainbow Run Fundraiser and celebrated positive behavior with an inflatable carnival.  Ava and I participated in the Art fundraiser painting class and we all went to our after school happy hour.  Ava loved playing with other staff kids.  Ava and I are so thankful to be together every day and love when Matt comes to volunteer!

This book was full of hilarious essays about motherhood - one of my favorite types of books :)

This memoir is about an associate beauty editor who battled with prescription drug addiction.  I couldn't put it down but also hate that her road to recovery was so difficult.

This book is the follow-up to Class Mom and I loved it just as much.  I figured with the start of a new school year a funny book about school politics would be perfect.  I would totally be friends with the main character in real life.

The author spent many years documenting the lives of three women and their stories are compelling.  I loved reading about three very different people and believe that although very different I could relate to each of the women at certain points in their story.