Cate, the budding violinist

For the first time in probably 10 years, I played my violin publicly- church on Christmas Eve. Since I was practicing, Cate wanted to play too, so we found this little decorative violin a friend gave me back in junior high. It has become one of Cate's new faves, and here Rick caught her playing AND singing. Such talent! :)

It's a blizzard out there!

We're in the middle of a blizzard as I write this, and I think it's actually gotten nastier since lunch time. The wind has definitely picked up, and it's hard to tell what snow is falling from the sky and what is just blowing around. But before lunch, Cate and I went outside to shovel the deck and front steps and play around while we could stand it.

Below, Cate making a snow angel on the deck.

Cate about to roll down the big pile of snow at the curb.

Using her sand shovel and bucket for snow. Just as I snapped this picture there was a big gust of wind that blew snow into her face. She is turning to run toward me, after which she burst into tears, said, "I want to go inside now and watch Charlie Brown Christmas." haha :)

Zoe, in her wild, snow dog pose. She loves the snow!

Christmas 2010

Just an assortment of pictures from Christmas this year. Rick did video, so I don't think I took as many pictures. Above, Cate and her dolly, in matching dresses, at church on Christmas Eve. Below, setting out the milk and cookies for Santa. Cate insisted on giving Santa the twirly straw.

Christmas morning- Cate with her big present- the Barbie Jeep. She loves the Jeep, but as of now, is too afraid to drive it outside. However, she loves to sit in it and pop the hood to work on it with her tools (no joke).

Cinderella

Opening a big present from Sheila- a wooden firehouse set- really neat!

Christmas night we went over to Mom and Dad's. Dad had to work Christmas Day (at LLBean) until 4pm, so we did presents and dinner with them when he got home. Cate got a "treasure chest" of dress up clothes and accessories from them, and she got a four-pack of Disney princess dress up shoes from Aunt Laurie and Uncle Zach. Below, the complete look.

Notice the shoes...

An electric piano/keyboard from Gramma & Papou- has been lots of fun!

A big flowery clip from Gr. Aunt Kathy & Gr. Uncle Larry

Daddy with his new boat seat cushions

Assorted December pics

Thank goodness Zoe is such a gentle and tolerant dog! I believe it was right after this picture that Cate said, in a demanding voice, "Zoe, get up and let me ride you!" Side note- am I the only parent of a toddler that can't keep pants on their kid? Seriously, it's the middle of winter and she refuses to keep her pants on.

Above, Zoe snuggle time on the floor. And below, I snapped this picture one afternoon when Cate said she was going to go nap in our bed- and she did. I went upstairs to check on her, and there she was, sound asleep. Interesting for a kid who STILL sleeps in her crib, with no interest in crawling out.

All dressed up to go with Mommy to the high school Christmas concert. She decided that if we were going to a concert, she needed to wear a dress. She also wanted to wear a tutu, but I managed to keep her limited to just a pair of satin dress gloves.

About to head to the neighbor's for a Yankee Swap/kid book swap/Christmas party.

Candy Cane Train

As one of Cate's Christmas presents, Gramma got tickets for us three girls to take a ride on the Candy Cane Train. The 90 minute train rides go from Bath up the road to Wiscasset and back, and the money raised is for TriCounty Literacy. They serve hot chocolate and cookies, and a barbershop quartet sang Christmas carols in our car, and another woman read stories. Local cheerleaders serve as Santa's helpers, and, of course, Santa makes an appearance!

We were a little worried how Cate would handle it, since she always gets nervous when she hears the train whistle in town. But after talking it up for a few days, she was excited, and I think it's safe to say, the ride was a hit!

Oh, is that Santa coming this way??

I love this picture. She's looking up at Santa.

Though she looks like she's trying to escape, she nearly knocked kids over to get at him.

And here, she's telling one of Santa's helpers what she wants for Christmas so that she can put in a good word with the big guy.

How much does she love Cinderella?

Cate's current obsession is Cinderella. Well, princesses in general, but she LOVES Cinderella. She dresses up like a princess, reads books about them, talks about them, etc. Anyways, we finally broke down and got her the movie Cinderella, which she watches daily. She knows the words, and she sings the songs. But I think her favorite part is right at the beginning, when it shows the Cinderella story book and the book opens. Watch below and see if you can pick up on her subtle enthusiasm....

The Davis Family Christmas Tree

The place we go hands out 7ft. sticks to help measure height in the field. Cate said she needed a measuring stick too, so we found a short one in the woods, which seemed to do the trick.

Helping Daddy drag it out on the tarp.

Just having fun

A November day at the Beach

Today was one of those rare 65+ degree November days in Maine, so Cate and I decided to go to the beach (Rick, unfortunately, was working). Luckily, low tide was around 10:30am, so it worked out perfectly for us, and Cate was thrilled to have an opportunity to dig around in the sand and make sand castles. We also packed a lunch and had fun seeing the many horses that were out on the beach in addition to lots of people and dogs.



What's that? Oh, yes, that would be Cate.... barefoot.... in the water.... in Maine... in November. It was all her idea, and interestingly, she was not the only barefoot person on the beach, and not the only kid to take a little dip in the water! She seemed completely unfazed by the freezing-ness of the water, which is never warm, even in August. Fortunately, the water she was in was more of a pool that is created at low tide, so it was free of waves, which were actually quite huge today!

Thank goodness I brought a dry change of clothes!!

The next Denise Austin?

When I bought Cate her trampoline at the yard sale, it came with a workout DVD. I put the DVD on the shelf, and didn't think much more about it. Cate recently discovered the DVD, and after saying that the girl on the front was "so cute" with her pony tail, Cate wanted to watch her exercise. That quickly turned into, "Mom, get my trampoline," and before I knew it, Cate was working out!!

And this is what Cate had to say about working out on her trampoline.... Where does she come up with this?!? haha!! Actually, the locally owned and operated "TumbleBus" has been visiting her day care, and I suspect they may be talking about moving and being active to stay healthy!