Chiclets & Popcorn

They make a great combo don't they? Welp, in this house they do! And I'm not talking about these "Chiclets":

I'm talking about THESE delicious Chiclets!

Addison has a smile that has every ounce of adorability and hilarity all rolled into one. I can hardly contain myself when she flashes it. And she is soooo obedient at flashing it for us. All we have to do is say "show me your smile!" and bam....there it is.

Anytime she is sad or throwing a fit, I ask for her smile and ask her if she's happy. Amidst the tears and trauma she'll repeat "happeh happeh" as she forces this cute little grin. I know, Mommy is cruel, but surely you can understand why! Look at that cute-ness!


Part Two:
She is her Daddy's girl. He has grown up with a love of popcorn all of his life. It is one of the "staples" we must keep stocked at all times. And of course, his love has been passed down to his daughter. She L-O-V-E-S the popcorn parties they have. Just tonight she got to stay up late and enjoy one. Once Daddy uttered the words she was repeating "Poporn Poporn", headed to the kitchen, and got her little pint-sized bowl out of the cupboard. Check out this cute-ness:

Christmas Day 2010 Popcorn Party

Christmas Day

I could sum up this post simply by using one word to describe our Christmas: Wonderful!

But, my devoted readers know me better than that! I'm too verbose to use just ONE word! I must use a MILLION words!! ;-)

Our Christmas was definitely wonderful. Addison "gets it" more and more each year. As a result, it gets more and more exciting for us to watch it all through her eyes. This year, she didn't quite grasp the "Santa" aspect. She wasn't fond of sitting on his lap but she did manage to carry on a daily conversation with my Santa statue/decoration that sits by the door. Maybe she's just making his acquaintance this year and next year she'll come to love him.

One thing she did catch on to was opening presents. She LOVED it. It didn't hurt that Santa wrapped her presents in Mickey Mouse wrapping paper. The first moment she spied that paper she was shaking the present in excitement and shouting "Mou!! Mou!!" at the top of her lungs. I don't think she even realized a present was in there until we tore the corner. And lets just say, Disney & Sesame Street have trained us well. Addison could have easily shot a commercial for each of them since she was adorned in their clothing, their ornaments were hung on our tree, and 95% of her presents had to do with them. Get 'em while their young right?

Santa was very kind to our family but more than that, it was a great Christmas just spending it with each other and the fun times we had doing so. Throughout the month, we had many special opportunities to reflect on the birth of our Savior and the true meaning of Christmas:

John and I got to see "The King's Singers" in concert for our anniversary. It was a great concert and what made it even greater was that ALL of their songs focused on Christ instead of the commercialization of the holidays.

We also were lucky enough to attend the "Ozark Mormon Chorale" and hear nearby churches (and ours) sing about the Savior. Addison even enjoyed it as she sat so still and drew through most of it (her favorite pastime) and after each musical number she'd set her pen down and join the audience in applause. It was hilarious to watch her.

I won't lie, it is fun to get caught up in the hype of the holidays. Shopping amidst the bustle of the stores, listening to the music, sitting on Santa's lap, wrapping the presents, anticipating their excitement as they open them, etc. BUT, it's sooooo nice to step back from it all and remember Christ and His birth and feel the special spirit that comes with that too.

Merry Christmas 2010!!

Enjoying our Christmas Eve tradition of pajamas. Check-out Addison's favorite gift to date: Elmo slippers. She looks like she's walking on the moon when she wears them. Which is probably why Mommy happily obliges when she wants to put them on daily. :D

Here Comes Santa Claus!

He's coming tonight!! We are very excited at the Hufford house. Yesterday we were lucky enough to see the REAL Santa Claus at the mall. He had ringlets in his real beard and a shiny gold watch. Plus he was the nicest he could ever be. Especially when my child tried to jump off his lap in tears. So glad he could accommodate our visit with only two days left before Christmas day.

And of course, before we headed home we had to partake in one of our yearly traditions (as in we started it only last year). Addison got to ride the green tractor and loved every minute of it.

Check out that cheesin' smile! A.door.a.bull.

And her expression when I plugged in the three quarters!! (Prices are on the rise folks!) Soooo animated she is.

Needless to say, we've been VERY busy this holiday season. Between Christmas shopping, a pre-Christmas celebration w/the Bell side, Christmas concerts w/a live nativity, a Primary Christmas party, and ringing in the holiday festivities, we've hardly held still. However, we've had a TON of fun doing it all.

We got to make some scrumptious sugar cookies and deliver them to family & friends. I was hesitant to make these as I remember these things taking FOREVER in years prior (in my single days). However, we got quite the system down and knocked them out amazingly fast. Next time I won't be dragging my feet to make them. After all, they were DELICIOUS!

Now we are off to make some more cookies w/friends for Santa's visit tonight. I hope he likes peanut butter!!

Merry Christmas!!

Girls Weekend 2010

I think we've finally started ourselves a tradition. Thanks to my sister Cassie's ingenious idea, we embarked on our first ever "Girl's Trip" a few weekends ago. The only unfortunate part about the whole weekend was that neither of my sister-in-laws could make it. Which is why I think it's our new yearly tradition so they can catch the next one once they see what kind of fun we had this year!!

Our wonderful husbands were able to play "Mr. Mom" while we all jetted away on a wild and crazy trip. Okay, really it was only a 2 hour drive (for me) to Springfield and then on to Branson. BUT, it was definitely wild and crazy nonetheless. Going into it, I really only had two requests. 1. That we get some type of commemorative jewelery to remember the event. And 2. That we eat at a nice restaurant and order piping hot food and are able to enjoy it without having little mouths to feed (again, this was a kid-less trip). Not only were we able to accomplish those but much much more as well.

Friday night we all converged upon Springfield, MO (my hometown) and were able to see some of our long lost cousins at a Luau they were throwing (they are part Samoan). It was fun to catch up with all of them and even see their dancing skills. The good kind of dancing, it was in a church after all!

Then we had to head out early and converge upon our next destination. The condo's at Branson! (Seeeee! I told you we were wild and crazy!) We spent the evening eating junk, watching Titanic (the only thing on I promise) and making hair bows for our cute little girlies we left at home. Then we woke up nice and early the next morning and spent the WHOLE day shopping. And yes, we got lots of good deals and bargains. We had to combine all of our purchases at each store to qualify for our coupons so needless to say we had to bring our abacus to dinner w/us that evening just to figure out who owed who what. It was worth all the work as we were quite fashionable after that weekend! We headed back to the condo and I hit the road home so I could teach that Sunday and of course see my little baby that I missed oh so dearly.....oh and Addison too of course! ;-)

Little Garrett, my nephew who was the lone boy amongst all of us girls. Lucky him he is still a nursing baby and got included on all the fun. This chunker has a smile that goes from ear to ear - seriously he does!

And the whole gang at the Luau. Please note the palm tree. My Grandma was very intent on getting it in every shot we took. All ten of them!

Turkey Trottin'

I was lucky enough to get to trot with the turkeys this past Thanksgiving. It had been my first 5k since this past May so I was the one who probably most resembled a turkey as I trotted. (And trust me, I don't go much faster than the "trot" pace. I like to call it a normal person's "walk with a bounce!" ;-)

I hadn't known about the race until a week prior but thought it'd be fun to try. I mostly wanted to see if I could finally accomplish the goal of running the WHOLE thing. Soooo....the night before the race I was pumped and mentally prepared. Until that morning when the sleet, and freezing rain hit, and everything went south fast. I had doubts of even getting out of bed but luckily pushed through and did it. Then I continued to have doubts along each step of my journey. Poor John and Addison were under the weather so I left them home and went out to face the weather. I don't know how many times I entertained the thought of just turning the car around. BUT, my first (and only goal acheived that day) was to just buck up and do it. After all, it was only a light mist and once I got running hopefully I would warm right up.

Welp, lets just say my original goal of completing the race w/o walking......fell short. I almost had it in the bag until I was faced with the final hill. Apparently, the hill, the rain, the freezing cold, and the wind, were all in-cahoots and timed themselves to attack me together. It wasn't my best time by any means. I was a little bummed I couldn't achieve my first goal of not walking, but glad I was at least able to achieve the 2nd goal (aka finish it). I guess it just leaves me an opportunity to sign up for the next one! Any takers?!

Griswold Family Christmas

This past weekend, John worked his tail off to make sure our Christmas holiday mirrored that of the famous Griswolds. I'd say he did a mighty good job wouldn't you?

Joooyyyyy Tooo Thheeee Wooooorrrrllld!

OURS

vs.

THEIRS

Okay so maybe we have a few more years practice before we achieve "the look". But it is a heckuva start. I came home late last night from babysitting and quickly realized our house was the only one GLOWING throughout the first half of our subdivision! I don't think I'll be losing my way home anytime soon.

And on a random note, Addison has a new found hobby. She L.O.V.E.S. to draw, color, write, you name it. She gladly accepts any/all writing utensils and can busy herself for HOURS (seriously folks) just coloring away. The bad part is now she has a meltdown anytime you try to take away the writing utensil. John bought her a huge coloring book that is easily as big as she is. She spent all day today just coloring away. And yes she just looks adorable doing it. But, I could be biased after all ;-)