Merry Christmas ~ С Рождеством Христовым!!

Another post that has taken me over a month to write -- but now I feel like I'm "on time."  Merry Christmas!!  After all ~ it's Russian Orthodox Christmas today!

I'm trying to think of a way of summarizing the crazy, wonderful, stressful, delightful holiday season that just passed us by.  Time is short and I can't bare another day of not documenting the joy we shared this past month so I think I'll do this in my version of Cliff Note's...mostly pictures with subtitles.

School Holiday Program

On Friday, December 16th, Kristina's school had their yearly Holiday Program.  We were excited to go as Kristina had been practicing some interesting dances for weeks up to that point.

Weekly dance class starts off the performance

I love this picture!

Watch out, Rockettes!  The 4-5 year old class has some moves!

Did any parent actually watch the show without looking through a lens?

Daddy got a seat up front and Kristina couldn't wait to run into his arms!

Next in line to see the "special guest"

Boy, we've come a loooong way in 2 years!

Once again, Nana and Grampa were there to cheer on Kristina.  (Grammy in FL heard the entire performance via cell phone...next best thing to being there!)

BFFs....atleast today.  Some days you can hear "Gaby's not my friend today ~ she's Victoria's"....

I'm so happy when we are able to arrange work schedules to attend.
I feel bad for the parents who can't...and feel worse for those children.

Three people at work the other day said, "She looks like you!"  This is the first time in 2 1/2 years I got that compliment instead of "Is she really your daughter?  She doesn't look like you."   Sigh...

Shopping for a Christmas Tree

Later that night of the School Holiday Program, we climbed into the car and met daddy at a Christmas Tree lot (local Home Depot...).  I love this outting, however, I'm the kinda girl who looks at a few trees, picks one out and that's it...done.  Well, Jon and Kristina need to look at every tree, cut the twine, shake out the tree, compare it to the one beforehand, etc.  After 90 minutes, my ho-ho-ho spirit was fading but we did end up with a nice tree --- with Kristina making the final decision!

The sniff test....

The kick 'em for sturdiness test...

Self-portrait picture...just to prove I was there that evening!

And the jury of 1 has come to a verdict:

That one!!!  (Not so sure daddy agrees, but oh well!)

Took a moment to strike a pose.

Kristina found a "baby" tree.  I regret not getting it for her...perhaps next year.

Kristina carried the "baby tree" and placed it with the "mommy and daddy trees."
Here she is giving it a hug good-bye.

Naughty or Nice?

Kristina was so thrilled to get an e-mail from you-know-who...SANTA!!!  It was personalized with Santa saying "Hello, Kristina" plus other personal information, including photos of her in his own personal file.  She has replayed the video over and over and brags about getting "the green light" (meaning she's been nice all year)!

Thrilled to see her own picture in Santa's file!

Wow...Santa said I've been nice all year!  Woo-hoo!

That was cool...we watched it atleast 10 times...

Christmas Eve

Jon and I were sick (and still are -- on week 5) with terrible respiratory coughs so it was a rough few weeks leading up to Christmas.  After getting home from work on Christmas Eve, we began the tree decorating festivities.  Daddy did the lights while I found the all important ornaments.  Then Kristina hung our traditional first ornament:  Russian Angel, Mariana.  Since it was almost 11:30pm, we quickly set out the cookies, milk and reindeer oats leaving the remainder of the tree decorating to Santa.  We whisked ourselves to bed before Santa's arrival.  After Kristina was asleep, the "elves" finished up wrapping, decorating, etc. into the wee hours of the morning.

Here she is, our Russian Angel!

Hanging it on the tree

Cheesy grin ~ so excited as Santa will be here SOON!!!

Our Russian Angel --- the other one....

Writing a note to Santa.

Kristina left her all-time favorite cookies out for Santa:  Oreos!!

Oh, my gosh....Santa was here!!

Santa was here...and left a note for Kristina:  "Thank You, K.D.   Santa"

Christmas Morning

With only a few hours of sleep, our little angel awakened at 8:15 stating "I think Santa was here!" Daddy got up with Kristina but my body couldn't do it. I really tried but being sick took it's toll. At 9:15, the most patient little girl in the world came to me and said "Mommy, please get up -- Santa was here!" I could've cried --- it took every ounce of my being to get my aching body to move and I wanted to be there so badly to see her first sight of the tree. I finally caught up to her and her excitement was contagious. One gift had been opened (Daddy's a softy, but really -- I'm glad he let her open something since I made her wait so long) and she was already climbing behind the tree finding others to open.

Woo-hoo, look at this loot!

An Ariel doll...can it get any better?

Cookie the dog...."Just what I wanted!!"

Hello, Kitty!  Sent with love all the way from Aunt Hiroko in Japan!!  ありがとう!

Roller Skates!!!

Tired but overjoyed.  Wardrobe change #1 for K today.

Watch out --- Roller Girl on the loose!

Christmas Dinner with the Deary Family

After a 2-hour nap in the afternoon, we headed over to Jon's family's home to celebrate Christmas.  Once again, Kristina was excited to see that Santa left some gifts under Nana and Grampa's tree for HER!!
We thank you, Nana and Grampa, for opening your home to us.  Next year -- our house!

Someone was sleepy for the 10-minute drive to Nana's.

Santa left some gifts at Nana's...  New boots!!!  (Thank you, Mary and Peter, in Scotland.  The dress now fits!!)

What a surprise...a Barbie cruiser....and a Ken doll!

Our little Flapper girl -- thank you, Griffin and Alex!

Hanging out with cousins, Griffin (17) and Alex (13).

The Deary Clan

Our Christmas Family Photo

Good-bye, 2011 --- Welcome 2012!

Jon and I both had to work on New Year's Eve so preparing something at our house was pretty much impossible.  Since it's also Nana's birthday, Nana decided to have dinner at their house and ring in the new year spending time at home.  Kristina loved hanging out with cousin's Alex and Griffin.  And boy - she kept us all on our toes having more energy stored up than all of us put together!

Kristina got candle duty

Helping Nana blow out all those candles!!

Nana and Grampa with the Deary Grandchildren

The closest we can get to the Ball dropping in Times Square!

Goofing off with Nana.

Cheers, babygirl, to a happy year ahead!

Someone was "attending" to sleep....

....because here she was one minute later with Uncle Bryce!

Our little New Years' goofball.

С Рождеством Христовым 2012 ~
Merry Christmas 2012 (Russian Orthodox Christmas)

I had all the intentions of cooking up some Borscht Soup or making Perogies to celebrate Russian Christmas today but I couldn't.  Just not enough hours in the day.  When I tried waking up Kristina this morning, it was like any other day -- she was difficult to arouse.  But all of a sudden, she bolted up and asked "Can we see if Father Frost was here?"  She ran out and saw her Russian Stocking full of stuff and couldn't help but begin to check it out.  I only let her see the candy (her favorite - Reece's Peanut Butter Cups, in the shape of Christmas Trees) and wouldn't let her look at the rest until tonight when daddy was home.

Checking out what's in her Russian Stocking.

Later in the evening, Kristina was excited to find a stocking full of little things:  lip gloss, make-up brush (definitely a girly-girl....and thank you Target $1 aisle!), "mismatched socks" which were designed with Kristina in mind, and a book -- The Miracle of Saint Nicholas (about the celebration of Christmas at St. Nicholas Church in a rural Russian Village).

The biggest hit was a $1 make-up brush...she later used it to clean the table, the TV....

What's Next?

In the morning, we are leaving for Anaheim to spend 2 1/2 days at the Happiest Place on Earth:  Disneyland!  We haven't yet told Kristina that we're taking her there for her 5th birthday, which is Tuesday, so mum's the word!  Stay tuned!   :)