Visiting Santa

Of course the best time for us to go to the mall to see Santa is on the weekend when everyone else is there too. It's not the crowd or the line that bothers me (it's never too long of a wait). It's the fact that I've been to the mall about 15 times this week and every other time I'm there, the Santa is a cute, old, fat guy with a real beard. When we go on Saturday morning, it's a young, skinny guy drowning in his fake one.

Even Madeline pointed out that he wasn't fat. :)  She's just hoping this guy can get her message to the REAL Santa.

Here are some photos.

Waiting in line:

We're excited!

Santa: Have you been a good girl this year?
Maddie: Yes I have. Please bring me a dollhouse and a Barbie!

Smile!

Afterward, we ate lunch at Friendly's and had a "build your own snowman sundae"

The Next American Idol!

Madeline's holiday concert took place yesterday. She had a solo in the first song of the performance. I'm sure I was way more nervous than she was but here are some pictures and a video of my little Starr.  :)

And here's the music teacher talking about how awesome my baby is.  ;)  Actually, I cannot recall what she was talking about.

And the whole group.

The song (!):

Gingerbread Houses

Yesterday we attended a "culinary class" at Wegman's. We signed up in advance for the gingerbread house decorating event for kids. It was loads of fun. The graham cracker houses were all set up and ready to decorate. We got icing and candy and the kids went to town decorating their own houses. You can see our progress here.  We've been slowly picking the goodies off of it since we brought it home!

The candy table:

drum roll please...

ok, here we go:

Ruthie's 1st official blog post!

I've spent most of the day (don't tell my boss) finding the right background, making a title, picking fonts and gadgets, etc. for my new bloggy blog. Why am I starting a blog? Let me tell you:

•  I think I may have some interesting and/or funny things to write about. I suppose everyone thinks that about their own blog, eh?
• It will provide an insight into the world of the Torres Trio for friends and family living far away (think Mom in Law) or not on Facebook (think Grandma).
  
• It will give Ann one more blog to check on a regular basis.  =)
  
• It will be a nice way of writing about what's going on with me, and Mark and Maddie that isn't limited to Facebook status updates. 

 To give you a taste of what's to come, I plan to blog about the hubby and the kid (of course), school, roller derby, card-making, life as a Navy wife, and general all-purpose rants and raves. I plan to post lots of photos and videos, AND to keep readers coming back, there will be games and gadgets for an interactive experience.

• Feed the fish! They follow your cursor around waiting for you to click them some food.
  
• Play the type-it game! the letters fall faster and faster the higher you get. my high score today was 5605.  I think I stopped blinking there at the end. What's your high score?
• If you're too pressed for time to leave a comment, give feedback through the single click reaction section! love it? hate it? hungry?

Blog on...,
Ruthie