Samantha's first blog

pamelamyers | December 17, 2017

We don’t! Not when I can have a live Christmas concert right in my living room. Mark decided to dust off his saxophone and try to play some Christmas carols for Sam that she could sing to. It’s been a long time since he did that. I love Sam’s face, like, whaaaat? I don’t think she remembers much that he can play.

She was looking at the sheet music, but I don’t know that she had a clue what she was seeing. Someday.

Eventually, she got into the groove. She sang Frosty the Snowman and a few other tunes.

At one point she decided she would rather conduct than sing.

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pamelamyers | December 17, 2017

We have made a ton of cookies this Christmas and all that was left to do was my beloved gingerbread. I don’t make them every year since no one eats them but me, but this year I wanted them. Sam loves to make them because she likes using cookie cutters. I love eating them but don’t like making them since I hate to roll cookie dough. Usually, Mark will help if I ask him to. This year, my mom said she would come over and roll for me. My mom did roll out the first batch or so, but then Sam quickly decided she wanted to do it, so we let her. She did a pretty good job!

Rolling was fun, but using the cutters is her favorite part. We pretty much just let her do what she wanted. She picked all the shapes and did all the decorating.

Once again, poor Penny was left out. Poor kitten!

Sam added some decoration right after the cookies came out of the oven…

…and a bunch of frosting after.

They look awesome! Sam did try one and said she didn’t like it. Oh well. I thought she might since she thought the dough smelled really, really good, just like crumb cake. They were the easiest gingerbread cookies I ever made! Maybe because my role was limited to taking trays in and out of the oven…works for me!

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pamelamyers | December 17, 2017

We had our annual work dinner last night at an Italian restaurant in South Philadelphia. Toward the end of the meal, my co-worker’s fiance asked us if we wanted to walk over to see some cool Christmas lights that are just down the block. They just moved into the area and knew about it. We thought, sure, why not? I mean, if it is only a short walk. Sam was getting tired, but she loves Christmas lights so she was up for it. Mark and I rarely go into the city, and certainly not into South Philly. If anything, we are more in the Center City area when we visit, so we had no idea where we were going. WOW WOW WOW!!! This was amazing! Apparently, this particular block is known for putting on quite the spectacle every year. I had no clue. It was absolutely worth the short walk! Boy, did Sam perk up fast!

The entire block of three story houses was lit from sidewalk to roof, with lights strung across the street, things on rooftops, people dressed up, it was insane!

This train was one of Sam’s favorite things.

We stopped for some photos, of course!

Sam was a little shy at first, but then quickly decided she needed photos with every single character.

What an amazing experience! Sam loved it, as you can imagine. I mean, who wouldn’t? She makes me laugh. There was a woman passing out candy canes and I didn’t pay much attention. After we walked by, Sam said, “That lady is nice.” I asked her why she thought that, and she said, “Because she said I am adorable! That I am so cute!” Well, yeah. 🙂

The Miracle on S. 13th Street. Who knew? Well, a lot of people probably. I will definitely be back!

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pamelamyers | December 14, 2017

Sam had what they call the Holiday Tea at school today. Basically, it’s the holiday concert, with some light refreshments afterward. Sam said she doesn’t know why it’s called a “tea” and her music teacher, Mrs. Matteo, doesn’t either, but hey, we’ll roll with it. The entire second grade has their concert at the same time, and it is in the cafetorium. The space is not big. The school kept reminding everyone that seating and parking is limited. The concert started at 9:30 so I decided I would just drop her at school at 8:30 like usual and then stay. I am so glad I did! I got us front row seats! I was so proud of Sam – she always sings, but usually she won’t do many of the motions that accompany the songs, even though she knows them because she does them at home. This year, she was participating right along with everyone else, and had a great time!

The kids sang about a dozen holiday songs and they all looked so cute and festive. Their little voices were adorable.

Our beautiful girl! She loves to sing. I really hope she sticks with it. I’d love to go to all her concerts! Maybe one day, she’ll be a star! 🙂

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pamelamyers | December 12, 2017

Last night, Sam and I whipped together our chocolate chip cookies. She could not wait to help me. Making chocolate chip cookies is one of her favorite things to bake. She really has gotten to be such a big help. It’s fun baking with her.

She really did most of it herself. I did the measuring, but she added every ingredient, cracked the eggs, and mixed it all up.

Her favorite part, of course, is adding the chips. You can never have too many chips!

Chip thief! Chip thief!

The batter gets hard to stir at that point, but she was a trouper.

Poor Penny. She wanted to help the girls.

Ok, Penny. Here you go! You can supervise!

Our finished product! They look, smell, and taste amazing!

Chip toast for a job well done.

One last picture, non-cookie related, but too cute to not share. Merry Christmas, Penny!

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