merriest christmas season with american girl and my little

we had a whirlwind of a holiday around here - I'm sure like most families.  this year I had a blast finding gifts for everly; she just seems to be at an age where everything is so mature and fun.  and it was truly an american girl holiday.

I'm at the age where I just missed having my own american girl doll, but my younger sister had molly, and I always remember how special she was for her as a kid.  but I did have the books. in fact, I realized that reading the books for felicity and addy may have really sparked my love of history.  it turned into my favorite genre to read as a kid and young adult, and might even be a reason why I love teaching history.

everly and I have been watching so many of the american girl movies over winter break.  if you have girls and haven't checked them out, I highly suggest them.  there are three new movies featuring maryellen, melody, and julie streaming on amazon prime.  also, everly was gifted the dvd's of the earlier movies, also very enjoyable to watch.  I love all of the messages and themes.  very female forward and I love all of the historical connections.  they have been such conversation starters for everly and I.  we've talked the gamut; everything from polio to WW2, children working in factories to the civil rights movement.  she loves the stories and even loves to state what the 'big idea' was at the end of each movie.  after watching the one about samantha at the turn of the century, she turned to me and stated, "so, that one was about factory workers and how it was bad for kids".  talk about a happy moment for this history teacher mama who has many middle schoolers that have no idea that children ever had to work, or do still today.

santa brought everly the airstream trailer - part of maryellen's collection.  it has been so cute to see everly take her time picking the perfect doll.  and the perfect doll for her was tenney grant.  however, I guess this little apple doesn't fall far from the vintage loving tree, because she really loves all of the 50's accessories that come with their midcentury doll, maryellen.

all of the attention to detail has not been lost on my little organizer.  she loves getting all of tenney's outfits just right in their wardrobe, and setting the plates and accessories in all of the little compartments of the airstream.  what an amazing way to spend some time away from the classroom [for both of us].

merry holidays to you and yours. 


movie suggestions:

streaming on amazon prime video -
An American Girl Story - Melody
An American Girl Story - Maryellen
An American Girl Story - Ivy & Julie

available for purchase/dvd -
An American Girl Story - Kit, Samantha, Molly, & Felicity

our ride on the polar express [mini film]

last month we were invited to take a ride on the polar express that departs from Old Sacramento.  to be honest, I was never a polar express fan as a kid, and everly hasn't really attached to the book either.  I mean, if there was a Very Fuddles Christmas experience somewhere, I bet my kid would be all over it.  regardless, a day on the polar express was a nice christmas experience.  a little pricey considering I feel like I've had similar 'special event' experiences in Disneyland for the same cost as an hour long train experience, but I'm still glad we can say that we've done it once.  but I don't foresee it becoming a new family tradition.

shot on our Sony A6500

all music from epidemic sound

merry happy everything, that one time my kid was jewish

as a working mom, I always find it hard to feel connected to everly's schooling experience.  we are both in the same district, meaning our schedules are identical.  this is a blessing and a curse.  I would love to go in and work in her class during their 'break-fast' winter celebration, but that is also the last day of my quarter, not easy for me just to check out for a few hours.  I'm always pulling flyers out of bags that are two weeks old, and I think, wait, didn't we just get this flyer, or has it really been sitting in this bag for that long?!?  I really don't know the answer.

so as I struggle to figure out how to balance this new normal for us, I do cherish the little stories that come home from school.  my all time favorite, that one time, no, make it two times, my daughter had her teacher certain she was jewish.

I teach 6th grade, meaning I also teach ancient world religions.  my kid has been able to identify buddha since she was two.  I also have a pretty extensive picture book collection from my kindergarten teaching days, so lots of books of different traditions and holidays.  my daughter has an entire shelf dedicated to her holiday books.  sure, most of them are from her favorite holiday, halloween, but she also has a hefty stack of christmas, hanukkah, kwanza, chinese new year, and thanksgiving books.  when reading the hanukkah books last year, everly really loved the traditions in the stories.  when we were out during the season, she asked for a menorah when she spotted one on the store shelf.  I instantly loved that little moment where she was excited to participate in something she had read about.  last year, hanukkah and christmas overlapped, so we lit the menorah at her grammie's house on christmas eve.

well, to circle back to kindergarten...
apparently, lighting the menorah was her favorite tradition from last year, and that is what she shared with her class.  now, her teacher being the good public school teacher that she is, quickly picked up that everly must be jewish.  and as a fellow good public school teacher, I know exactly what she was thinking, I must not send home a santa bag and ornament to my one jewish family.  

and just to confirm with everly's story, her teacher asked the mr.
the mr. laughed, and said, no, not jewish. [and if you know my husband, that was it, no more explanation needed]

a few days passed.  and again, my kid is talking up hanukkah and menorah lighting in class.  she never mentions the gingerbread house making, or the fifteen christmas trees that are decorated around our house, nope, just the menorah.

now, this is when I just about die.  that amazing public school teacher, now pretty terrified that she is going to send home a santa face glued to the side of a grocery bag to a jewish family, asks my husband for a SECOND time if we are jewish.

apparently, my kid is so persuasive that it took asking a grown man twice if we were jewish before she could send home our christmas presents with ease.  oh everly, you really gave that poor teacher of yours a run for her money this holiday season.

*photo from this year lighting the menorah!

five & christmas eve

this christmas was pretty magical.  first off, we had everly in bed and asleep by 10:00 p.m. on christmas eve.  this hasn't happened the past two years for various reasons, but somehow I finally figured out how to NOT have my kid sleep at any time during the day on the 24th, and it worked.  so, apparently I've learned something over the years.

however, most of the magic came straight from that little babe of mine.  as we were snuggled in bed, waiting for sleep to come, she kept opening her eyes up just a bit.  "mom, we forgot to clean the chimney!"  of course I responded it was already done days before - not to mention, we don't ever light fires, it cannot be that dirty.  not five minutes later... "mom, we didn't put the milk out for santa."  I assured her that was happening once she fell asleep, and that was a promise easy to keep.  her little head was clearly spinning of all things christmas, and magic, and presents, and it just made me remember how all of that felt as a kid.

^she had just one thing on her list from santa^

merry christmastime indeed

hoping to catch up on some serious blogging 

over the next week while I'm still off

we will see!

the holiday season

first day back after a pretty good week off with my little one.  we took a quick trip out of town, celebrated thanksgiving twice, visited the urgent care twice [we're fine, but we like keeping things eventful I suppose], drank hot cocoa once, and took hundreds of photos!

I decided to skip our family portraits this year.  trying to squeeze in everything with a november baby is just a little much on this working mama. instead, I just wanted to pick up my camera to get our christmas card photo.  and because the stars aligned, and I promised my kid her first cup of hot chocolate [not like I was intentionally holding out on her, I just knew that a hot drink was not going to be her thing] we were able to get exactly what I was hoping for.  photos galore! still haven't designed our card yet, but here's what I'm working with - yay for holiday miracles in the tiniest packages!  so here are my $3 photos... [she drank two sips, spilled seven sips, still totally worth it]

details:

that amazing turquoise wall can be found here

her yellow sweater is currently out of stock, but other colors can be found here

the only shoes, or in this case, boots my kid will wear - hunters found here

christmas light necklace purchased at Disneyland

51/52

 "A portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week, in 2016."

in this moment:

right now, in this moment, I'm in love with your spunk and determination.  you didn't care that it was in the 40's on Christmas day, you were going to wear your new Moana dress from Santa, and because Santa's magic is real, your size 3 Moana skirt fit you perfectly! it made your day even sweeter. and I melted, in this moment. 

from our family to yours [mini film]

this year we continued a few of our newer family holiday traditions, including making gingerbread houses out of graham crackers and having a kid stay up way too late on christmas eve.  this year we went big with a collaborative house, that unfortunately had a few structural issues.  we've already started to plan our improvements for next year.  also, my kid passed out on our way to pick up our thai takeout dinner, another new family tradition, the food, not the sleeping kid.  we got home to find that ev was still snoring, and would continue snoring until 11 p.m.  so, all christmas eve footage was literally shot from 11 until about two in the morning when we finally got her to lay down with us. cookies for santa, lighting the menorah, and presents were all done at that time.  thankfully, there were no tears this year at bedtime, and she simply obliged, unlike last year that was full of tantrums and a lot of santa threats, none of which worked.  this year, she would pop her head up, asked if we heard a clatter, or if sugarplums were dancing in our heads, and then lie back down.  oh so thankful for four!

and yes, it was what we will refer to as a 'moana christmas'

so here's a little glimpse of our christmasing...

Christmas 2016 from Lyndsay Lewis on Vimeo.

shot on our sony A6000

music:

Paul McCartney - Wonderful Christmastime
She & Him - All I Want for Christmas is You

50/52

 "A portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week, in 2016."

in this moment:

right now, in this moment, I'm in love with how thoughtful you are.  as excited you were to open your presents, you were just as excited to find presents for everyone else to open under the tree.  and I melted, in this moment. 

wishing you a merry christmas

turns out the mr. has been sick all day with a migraine, so here's possibly the best photo of our family I'm going to have to share today.

my kid is having a blast, so at least there's that!

merry christmas!