It's A White Christmas After All

Well our time in our hometown was cut short by a day thanks to our first blizzard of the season. It's BEAUTIFUL out there, but would have been a nightmare to come home to if we spent another day at home. For one, we wouldn't have gotten up the driveway for DAYS. They are calling for 1-2 feet and our driveway is very long. Luckily, we got to spend time with our family and have a great Christmas day b4 heading home this morning. We got here just as it started and are safely tucked in...armed with plenty of food, firewood, and new toys to keep everyone happy.

Ruby's still got a seriously stuffy nose but you wouldn't know it by her attitude. She's been so happy and has spent time playing with all her toys. Big into pretend now so every single doll and animal she owns gets time in the spotlight. She has them go back and forth having full conversations. In fact when she found a tiny Cinderella and Toy Story figurines in her stocking she was all smiles. She immediately introduced Cinderella to Jessie who told Cinderella "I like your shoes!" Cinderella's reply? "I like hat!" LOL. It's all about the accessories with this kid. Was not, however, interested in the gorgeous Rapunzel dress at all. Mommy tried (unsuccessfully -sniff sniff) to get her to try it on but there was too much else to see and play with. She's into dress up when her friend Brie is over and she'll often ask for her wings and tutus...but dresses she's not into it yet, I guess. Oh, well. I'm sure it will be a hit at some point.

Her princess vanity was a HUGE hit as were the Rapunzel and Little Mermaid dolls and an Aurora baby doll by brother David got her. Loves the Island Barbie and got a swimmer Barbie too that she is crazy for. Wait till she gets her in the tub and sees it's hair change color! It's such a delight to see her having so much fun. She ran right over to her vanity Christmas morning and was all giddy. We can tell is gonna get a lot of play out of that! Spent time playing a little with every new toy. Another note-worthy gift was from Jeff's parents - an incredible Leap Frog computer-type toy. It's brilliant and has a feature where the child can trace the dots on the screen and learn to write the letters. Ruby is just now working on tracing and writing letters at school so this is such a great thing to have. She's been playing with it a lot. Rubes loves anything with computers and is always asking to play on mine (on Starfall.com). I can't say enough great things about that site! She can actually do it herself now and click and drag things. I find this amazing for a 3 year old to do but hey, we didn't have this sort of technology when I was her age. (Gee, that made me sound a tad old, now didn't it??)

Anyway, we are snowed in for a day or 2 but it's a nice rest for us all. Head back to our hometown on the 30th for more fun and family. Will upload pics tomorrow and do a little flash back on our Christmas. For now, I hope you all are safe and warm - wherever you are -and had a fabulous holiday!