We "whisk" you a Merry Christmas!!

I borrowed this idea from Rick's cousin Stacey (one of many, many great ones she has - Stacey, I love reading your blog!) We gave these whisks to our neighbors for Christmas this year. Luckily I found the whisks on sale at Target. I'm not sure I would attempt this idea again with a much larger quantity than we did - we did six of them. Stacey suggested filling the whisks with Hershey's Kisses but we improvised with Cadbury chocolates since they don't carry Hershey's down under. I wish I had a better photo.

Introducing...

Piper's best friend Zoey (she loves Zoey, if you couldn't tell) gave Piper a great early Christmas present. Zoey got her a bear at the Build-A-Bear workshop. It's a very pretty bear! And of course Zoey named it Zoey Bear so that when we go back to the U.S. she'll still have a Zoey with her. Piper really liked it, although she's always pulling out the little hair ribbons.

Block stacking

Piper gave us a demonstration of her mad block stacking skills. She got the tower up to eight blocks at one time. And she tried to count them too. Every time she started a new tower, no matter how many blocks were on it, she would say "two..."

Popsicles

Our friends Mindy and Dave came over for dinner on Sunday with Piper's best friend Zoey. We had dessert on the balcony and gave the girls Popsicles to eat. We stripped them down so that they wouldn't get mess everywhere. They sure did need a bath afterwards. Piper bit off a piece from the tip and kept it in her mouth but would tell me that it was cold.

Petting Zoo

The preschool next to Piper's playgroup had a petting zoo in for a few days last week. They were nice enough to let the little ones get in some time with the animals too. They had rabbits, guinea pigs, chickens, roosters, ducks, goats, and a sheep. Piper and Zoey had so much fun. Zoey didn't want to leave. Piper's favorite was the sheep - she's very into sheep these days. Surprisingly she got very quiet - not scared - but more as if in awe and not sure of what to do. She would answer me when I asked her what the animals said but was more just fascinated. Here are some pictures of her feeding and petting the animals.

Santa's Little Helper

We went to the neighborhood Christmas show a few weeks back. The kids could have their picture taken with Santa and they got goodie bags with chocolate and fake candles. They had a great jazz band with everyone dancing. At the end there were some small fireworks. Then we walked home and put Piper to bed. She loved the dancing and seeing her friends from playgroup. After the band was done, she said "loud." When the fireworks were going, she said "wow."

Then, last week we got out the Christmas decorations and listened to Christmas music. Piper is now in love with my old stuffed reindeer that she's named Lalu. She played peek-a-boo with the Santa hats and liked putting it on Rick.

The festivities begin...

We've been keeping busy lately, as the pictures will attest. We don't have any pictures of the actual Thanksgiving gathering, mostly because we were taking turns chasing Piper.

Piper and I went with her best friend Zoey and her mom, Mindy, and dad, Dave to the Christmas tree lighting in Martin Place and Hyde Park. We had fun, even, or maybe especially because Piper got to stay up late playing with Zoey.

I spent a whole Saturday away a few weekends ago at the Stake Relief Society camp. Rick took care of Piper all day and did a great job at it too.

Piper and Zoey in front of the Christmas tree in Hyde Park


The girls holding hands. Piper calls Zoey, "zozo"

Piper admiring the tree in Martin Place

Piper posing with Santa and Lord Mayor Clover Moore in the background

The Christmas Tree in Hyde Park

Thanksgiving photos at Manly Beach

Stanwell Tops where we had the Stake Relief Society Camp