Desperately Seeking Tinkerbell

Here's Madison holding up a copy of Tinkerbell, while dressed up in some holiday cheer. The bow in her hair sort of started falling to one side, and with the extra bracelets on she sort of looked like an eighties movie material girl.

She has seen this movie several more times than us, but "Tinkerbell and the Lost Treasure," was actually a pretty fun movie for the whole family.

Speaking of "whole family," today was one of those days where we combined a little work and a little fun. Firstly, we headed into the office to do some cleaning - but straight from there we headed off to the Cracker Barrel to use up some of our gift card balance. Madison ate like a pro! Sometimes you just don't know if she's going to eat all that much, and then there are days like today where she eats everything in sight. For fun, and since she ate all the good foods, Mommy got her some candy buttons for when we got back in the car. She munched and munched until the paper those things were attached to was all mushy - and that's when she just suddenly shut off like a light switch. Full tummy + quiet ride in the car = instant nap.

While she was napping, Mommy got the jumpsuit. It's the Elvis Aloha Heritage Edition Commemorative Jumpsuit in all it's glory, and she even picked up a few other Elvis costuming accessories so that our trip south was a success.

Madison woke up at Gwinnett Place Mall, which we hadn't been to in years. Madison had never been there at all. It's seen better days. Mommy continued her quest for Bath & Body Works stuff, and finally used up all her gift card balance on bubble baths and soaps. While this was going on, Daddy and Madison were playing around. Together, we roamed the mall looking around for one type of store in particular - but no such luck. I was commenting to Mommy how it was this mall we used to travel to "back in the day." Now I'm not sure if I'll ever want to go back... :(

We decided to go from there to Goodwill, a quick trip down the road to look around. What a blessing: we found some great Elvis shoes there! Mommy had success with more costuming accessories, while Madison and Daddy found some great hardback books, including "Olive the Other Reindeer" and another Sandra Boynton book.

MADISON'S BOOK CLUB

We have a fairly large collection of Sandra Boynton books, and today we added one called "Doggies." It is a simple and quirky book, and a solid one too. By solid, I mean, Madison can chew on it and it will survive! Not that she chews on books anymore. She's been more understanding of books and how delicate they can be as of late. She also has been enjoying them more.

Madison likes the drawings and the humor in these books, and Daddy and Mommy like them too. The one you see pictured here is actually a collection of songs as well, a booklet that comes with a CD with special guest performers like Brian Wilson and Sha Na Na. Daddy's favorite song is the one about "A Parade! A Parade! We're the Uninvited Prestigious Marching Band!" This is one of those authors that the whole family enjoys reading, and in this case listening to. Actually, as next month's "Graceland" theme starts rolling in, it'll be good to plug this one in from time to time: we'll be doo-wopping our way into 2010 and having a swingin' time. I can't wait to see Madison in a poodle skirt!