AT LAKE WILDERNESS

This afternoon I took the whole family down to Lake Wilderness. It was a great day for flying a kite however dad forgot to bring Mimi's kite with us but we still had fun anyways.

AUNTIE SETSUE AND MIMI

When the presents were all opened and everything was cleanned up, I thought that it would be a good idea for me to take Butch for a walk. He had been so good all day and was starting to get kind of ansy. Setsue and Mimi wanted join us and so they did. Not much snow yet this year. El Nino you know. We do have extremely cold, dry and windy weather though.

When we got back home it was time for dinner and a game of chess. Lately Mimi has been getting really interested in playing checkers and chess. Here she is teaching Auntie Setsue how to play. She just really loves her Auntie Setsue.

PLAYING SANTA

Mimi likes playing Santa however...........now and then she would start playing with the toys she received and forget to pass out the gifts to the rest of the family. The only dolls she likes is the High School Musical Dolls and so she made dad put up the High School Musical (school) doll house as soon as she opened it. She is also in to the Bakugan (transformers) and SPY Kids movies and gear. These are just to name a few.

CHRISTMAS DAY BRUNCH

Now that it gets dark early around here, grandma is afraid of going home at night. Therefore I suggested that we do a brunch and that is what we did.

The night before Uncle David and Auntie Setsue arrived here safely however the airport lost their luggage. Egads! They made the report and was told that the airport would deliver the luggage to the house when it was found. In the meantime, dad brought them over to grandma and grandpa's house while Mimi and I stayed home. In the morning Keri had taken Blake, Bailey and Mimi to go see the new Chipmunk movie The Squeakquel. Mimi had a good time but was quite tired when she came home. She was up quite late the night before opening her presents with her immediate family. She was quite happy with all that she received exclaiming "Wow! Santa brought everything I asked for!!!"

The luggage finally arrived at 12;30 Christmas morning.

PIANO CONCERT

This is a picture of Mimi, Marissa (blue sweater) and Maddy (gray sweater). Don't know who the girl in the red dress is. Marissa and Maddy are neighbors/friends of ours and both girls play the piano so, so beautifully. Every Thursday little Maddy comes over to the house to help Mimi with her lessons and Marissa helps the girl in red.

About one month ago Rey,the girls dad, told me that he arranged for the girls to play at a nearby Senior Citizen home and asked if Mimi would like to join them and she did. She practiced and practiced her Jingle Bells. When the day arrived (last Wednesday) we all rode together with Rey and the girls. They sat way in the back and just laughed and sang Christmas carols all the way there. They sang the Dradle song, Jingle Bells, Rudolpph and the Batman song. You know, "Jingle Bells, Batman smells....." Then they would howl with laughter. Then there were the made up songs. Then they entertained themselves with about 3 variations of high 5's.

Next thing we knew it was time to perform. They went round robin starting with Mimi. She did pretty darn good if I do say so myself. The residents really enjoyed their dinner performance. They brought a smile to everyone's faces and a good time was had by all.

MILK AND COOKIES

Of course no day is complete without home made Snickerdoodle cookies and milk. I was instructed by Mimi on the proper way to eat a cookie which is to dunk it in to milk before eating it. Then she wanted to make sure that I make enough cookies to leave for Santa. Then there is the milk and note to Santa that goes along with the cookies.

OM.......

Tomorrow evening along with Maddie and Marissa, Mimi will be giving her debut piano performance at our local Senior Citizen Home. Therefore tonight she was supposed to be practicing her piece "Jingle Bells" when all of a sudden she turned around and got into position then said "Mom, I need to meditate before playing my song. Ommmm" I then asked her "Who taught you this?" To which the girl replied..."Blake". Duh, I should-da known better.