Aunt Debbie, Uncle Iain, Chelsea, and Rebecca got her a Snow White costume that we're clearly going to have to put on her the next time we go to Disneyland (perhaps minus the plastic high heels--how do people let their little girls clomp around for 75 square miles in those things??). Here she is being crowned by Grammy:
Trying out her new Dora hairbrush on Grampy:
Last night, it was off to Grandma Marmee and Pop-Pop's house to celebrate the rest of Hanukkah, with cheese blintzes and potato latkes...mmmmmm! I got lazy and let Pop-Pop handle the photography with his fancy camera, so I have no actual pictures of last night, but here's Cubby enjoying her new bubble mower this morning:
She pushes it about 5 feet and as soon as bubbles come out, she yells, "Catch them, catch them!" and runs around like a crazy person until they're all gone, and then pushes it another 5 feet. Good times!
In all, Cubby was sufficiently spoiled rotten by all of her grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins this year, and she can hardly decide which cool new toy to play with next! Thanks so much to everyone for all of the gifts, good company, and fun times over the past couple of weeks--Bear, Cubby, and I know just how fortunate we are to have had such wonderful holidays with all of you!
Next year, The Bears are going to be doing the holidays hobbit-style (yes, The Lord of the Rings trilogy are considered Christmas movies at the Bears' Den. Hey, there's snow, and a guy with a white beard, and elves...)
"Today of all days, it is brought home to me: It is no small thing to celebrate a simple life." -Bilbo Baggins
That is, we'll be helping both Cubbies make gifts for the grandparents, we'll bake some goodies to share with family and friends, and we'll enjoy and/or host family gatherings and fun festivities...just minus the mall-scouring and credit card swiping. We all heard the news stories about people being trampled to death again this year, trying to get first dibs on holiday sales, and I've been thinking a lot about what we want to teach our cubs to value during the holidays. Even this story, about "layaway angels" paying off people's layaway balances for them, bothered me a little--it's a very generous and well-intentioned thing to do, no doubt, but in a world where some people can't afford medicine for their kids or a handful of rice to feed their families, are we really saying that the holidays are null and void if we can't afford to buy our kids Bratz dolls and Transformers action figures out the wazoo? Is a Christmas without "stuff" really the worst thing that can happen to someone?
Anyway, finishing my degree has meant I've had time on my hands to ponder these things (not to mention blather endlessly about them here), and so we're really going to try and keep it simple next year as far as the merchandise aspect of Christmas goes. Just a heads-up for those who might consider joining the movement...
Awww, looks like K had a great time celebrating this year!
ReplyDeleteAnd I think that you're definitely onto something by celebrating the simplicity of the holidays next year, rather than the superficial aspects.
Hope you all have a good new years!