Friday, December 19, 2008

Christmas Shopping Craziness (or why it's a bad idea to go to Williams-Sonoma with Nora)




Scott and I decided to finish up some Christmas shopping on Wednesday evening. We took the kids to Potbelly's for dinner and then while Brady went to b-ball practice, the girls joined us for some shopping time. So Scott and I split up at Geneva Commons and neither of the girls fell for the "Bath and Body Works is much more fun...you should go with Daddy" line that I used. So...I ended up with Nora and Avery at Williams-Sonoma with me while I bought some gifts for my clients at Pepsi. The trip started off well while we 'oohed and aaahed' over all the pretty cookware and tasty food. Free peppermint bark samples was part of the evening, so that was another bonus. I was looking for coffee and telling Nora "don't touch, just look with your eyes" every 5 seconds as she touched everything at her level, picked up glass containers filled with syrup, honey, you name it and asked "what's this?" over and over. I selected several tins of Illy ground espresso and asked the store to wrap them in cello with a bow individually. While we were waiting, we headed to the back of the store to browse (and get away from the breakable container section). I was comparing prices on the soap and hand lotion when I looked down and Nora was using the tester to rub Peppermint lotion all over her face. We were able to move on discreetly, but in the meantime I answered a phone call from Scott and told him we had a 9-1-1 bathroom emergency for Avery and he needed to come IN the store. As we are walking up to the front, Nora somehow grabs an oven mitt and when I turn around she's wearing it and trying to figure out how to take a few of the cookbooks along with her. Scott comes into the front door and immediately gets bathroom duty which is down the block at the Pottery Barn. He wants to leave Nora with me because she is insisting that she does NOT have to go...but notices that she's wearing a mitt and seems to be scoping out the joint and promptly swoops her out of the store. Avery summed up the evening by announcing that Nora is 'scene-maker', which I think is a pretty good description of what happens when she goes out in public. Yet another reason why I love on-line shopping.

Turkey Day and a Princess Party

We enjoyed our annual Thanksgiving Day visit with the Dougherty family starting with Lou Malnati's pizza on Wednesday night, a round of golf on Thursday morning, lots of playtime with baby Patrick, video games, Polly Pockets, a huge turkey dinner (thank you Eagle Brook!), football at the park, and, of course hiding Elf. We decided to sleep in rather than brave the dark and cold for Black Friday madness and then watched Evan's hockey game on Saturday. Grandma Judy and Papa Dave were also in town and treated the kids to the 3-D movie "Bolt".

Noni also attended her first 'big girl' birthday party (i.e., without Mommy by her side). Her good friend, Ana Nelson, had a princess party and everyone was supposed to come as their favorite princess. Noni chose Sleeping Beauty, as you can see from her picture below.

Evan, Jen and Brady scope out the store ads.

Abby plays Polly Pockets with Noni

Carving the turkey



Patrick is sooo cute!


Nora as Princess Aurora (a.k.a. Sleeping Beauty)