A Different Kind of Christmas

Christmas looked a lot different for us this year, but keeping my mind focused on making it the best possible Christmas for Anna Claire helped make sure it was a good one.

I would be lying if I said there wasn't a moment my heart didn't ache, missing my dad and having Christmas at my parents' house, seeing my mom mobile and having my siblings and nieces around us. It is hard.

But having kids is such a blessing and such a wonderful, heart-warming distraction from myself. I put my whole heart into making Christmas the best I possibly could for my little girl. And for my mom, knowing that she would probably experience some inevitable depression spending her first Christmas away from her home of 50+ years and having few if any visitors.

I have to say, we had a great Christmas with Larry's family last night. Anna Claire loves her cousins on her daddy's side (and by cousins, I include Marie and Sean, for sure!) and we had such a special dinner and time together. It was needed and a welcome escape from what otherwise could easily have become a pity party of one, nostalgic for what Christmas used to be.

Christmas morning was something I've planned for and dreamed about for months, imagining the precious smile and reaction from Anna Claire with every present opened. I am sure, like many parents, I went overboard, but she is far from spoiled during the year. For Christmas, by golly, we spoil this child. If it was her heart's desire and Clarksville, TN didn't offer it, I was researching every night in search for "that" special item. My effort and care was rewarded this morning, with such sweet smiles and genuine excitement. My favorite moment was when she said, "This is the best Christmas ever!"

Santa came!

This was the #1 thing she asked Santa for: Gymnastics Dora :)

She racked up!

This was either the 4th or 5th wardrobe change of the morning...Santa brought AC a Disney princess costume trunk!

Today we didn't plan to do presents and have lunch with my sweet Momma, but that is exactly what we did. Anna Claire said this morning, "I wish Meme could be with us at our house for Christmas." Me too, I thought. So we headed to Signature and let Anna Claire open some Santa presents there for Momma to see. It was the best thing we could have done. She loved, as we did, seeing Anna Claire's genuine excitement and joy with each package she opened.

Larry also went down to dietary to see if we could have lunch with her, and they fed us for free in the fine dining room. The food was amazing, and beautifully decorated for Christmas with holiday linens on the tables and holiday place settings and glasses. It felt really special.

Anna Claire's Video from Santa 2012

 Love Portable North Pole!
 http://www.portablenorthpole.com/watch/gqSq7g4glLChDrb23RczWFQ

Our Christmas Card 2012

Sending out Christmas cards was one of those things I was going to let myself off the hook for this year. With all three of us being sick, and caring for Meme, and training to be somewhat professional at work while missing many days, I just decided it would be fine this year not to. But Anna Claire has talked me into it as she has seen cards come in from family and friends, "Mommy can we do picture card too for Christmas?" How can I say no. Here is our card for this year. Hope you like it!

Anna Claire's Letter to Santa, 2012

A few weeks ago, I helped Anna Claire draft her letter to Santa. Since then, we've added and deleted a few things, "Mommy I don't want that anymore. I want ____ instead." ;)

Items in bold have already been secured by Santa and will be under the tree for her Christmas morning. I'm also pasted a link to an Amazon wishlist I started for her that might give some other ideas for friends and family:

http://www.amazon.com/registry/wishlist/3QAI6V8DCRMZ9/ref=cm_sw_r_pi_ws_Qy.Xqb00NXRNX

Dear Santa,

I have been a very good girl this year. Please bring me a gymnastics Dora, a ladybug that does a light show, Team Umizoomi counting book, new PlayDoh (lots of them), Barbie that lights up (just like Amy), Babar books, pink puppy Stompeez, chalk paint for the sidewalk (lots of colors, hopefully rainbow). I hope I get lots of pink leotards and clothes. I would really like a Mickey Mouse ball. Disney princess dresses and The Little Mermaid DVD. Big Cinderella and big Aurora doll. Lalaloopsy, the one with the blue hair.

I really would like a camera that takes real pictures and a pony.

We will make a cake for you Santa. I think you like chocolate cookie cake.

Thank you, Santa. I love you, Santa.

Love,

Anna Claire Averitt

Funnies

Anna Claire on what to wear to Ellie's birthday: "All my girls are gonna wear tutus."

Anna Claire on Mommy coughing too much: "Mommy I don't want you coughing on this day."

Anna Claire on eating: "I'm eating my meal of lunch."

Dance Performances at Nursing Homes

Anna Claire had her first dance performances today. To participate, parents had to purchase a $50 sweatsuit. It is a very nice sweatsuit, with her dance studio's logo on the shirt and pants, and yes, we are encouraging her to wear it often to justify the purchase price!

The two performances were at Spring Meadows and Signature Health, both within 10 minutes of our house so that was convenient. The first performance unfortunately coincided with her friend Ellie's birthday party. I, along with a couple other parents, had already promised Anna Claire she could attend the birthday party prior to committing to the performances, and being a parent who keeps promises to her child, I let her do both.

The way we handled it was to skip nap altogether (which we'd regret later). We went to the birthday, only staying for an hour, leaving right after cake. It felt rude in a way, but the mom of the birthday girl was a fellow dance mom so she realized she had scheduled it at a conflicting time and was understanding.

We were able to make it to both performances in plenty of time and got her changed into the right gear in the process.

Watching the girls prior to the performance was almost as sweet as watching the performance itself. It was very crowded in there with residents, staff, kids and parents, making it very hot, especially for the girls in those sweatsuits, but they behaved awesome and were having a ball. Amy led the girls in swaying and dancing while they waited for their turn.

The Spring Meadow performance was so sweet. As one of the other mom's put it, "You can't get much sweeter than babies singing about Jesus." Several moms and me had tears in our eyes by the end of the Away in the Manger performance.

By Signature's performance, the need for nap was evident and emotions were flaring. Amy's swaying was no longer received well by the other girls, and all the parents were cringing at our babies rolling around on that dirty floor in $50 electric white sweat suits.

By the time our girls performed, Anna Claire and Amy were tired and put out with each other. Amy decided she didn't want to stand by Anna Claire during the performance because she wasn't doing the dance moves and ran away from her during it. Anna Claire followed Amy who continued to move away. Amy finally had it and pushed Anna Claire to the floor at the end of the performance. Ta-da!

The girls are back to being best friends again. By Wednesday Anna Claire was asking to draw pictures for Amy, so that is a good sign.

I am currently having issues loading videos/pics from my phone to my computer, so once I get this straightened out I will add the dance videos to this blog post. :)

Christmas Parade 2012

Anna Claire had two choices: She could be in the parade and ride with her dance group, or she could watch all of the parade and get candy. She opted to get candy and watch the parade. And so we did.

Without realizing it, we picked the perfect location for viewing the parade. We were situated at the beginning, which was great for several reasons: the folks riding in the parade are still pumped and excited, they are very generous with candy, and we get to beat the rush when the parade is over with very little traffic. I think we will always choose the parking and standing location we picked this year!

Anna Claire was old enough this year that we let her run and grab candy, with one of us going with her to make sure she didn't go too far out into the road. We let her participate in candy grabbing at the St. Patrick's day parade, but this experience was so much better because she didn't have twenty plus big kids vying for the same candy as her. In fact there were only two other children on our block, and they were about the same age as Anna Claire. If we got a bunch and they didn't get any from a float, Anna Claire would share with them. And they did the same. Like I said, it couldn't have been any more perfect.

This marshmellow totem pole of gummy skulls wins the prize for weirdest candy thrown at the parade, and also her favorite.

One float gave out tiaras to all the little princesses! A hit! I think the biggest hit was the float that gave out mardi gras beads. Anna Claire was so proud of her "white necklace." She wanted to wear it to church the next day.  She is sporting both in this pic :)

Many people came by and handed us candy rather than throwing to make sure she got some. So sweet.

Going to See Santa

We talked to Anna Claire about going to see Santa for about a week before actually taking her. When we first mentioned the idea, she asked to see the Caillou Christmas episode where Caillou is brave and sits on Santa's lap, but Rosie is scared and is too little yet. She would say, "Mommy I'm gonna be brave like Caillou." She also asked to draw a picture for Santa just like Caillou (which we did). She requested to watch the video again several times over the course of the week. Caillou has been awesome because the episodes expose her to experiences she's not had yet, while building an enthusiasm and exciting picture in her mind of how it will be that I just couldn't paint myself with words.

The day we went to see Santa, Meme was in the hospital. We went to go visit her first, where we were able to spend time with her Aunt Cindy, cousin Connie and Andrea, and sweet 2nd baby cousin Vivian. Once Daddy arrived at the hospital, we were off to see Santa.

Not being a huge fan of the mall, I debated on whether to take her to see the Flower Lily santa next week, but something told me to go ahead and do it now while my sister and niece were able to spend time with Meme. Plus, Caillou went to the mall to see Santa, and when Anna Claire talked to me about going to see him, she would say, "I go to the mall to see Santa just like Caillou."

The line at the mall was not bad at all. We waited maybe a half an hour. Anna Claire was very patient and sweet in line.

I brought my own camera to take candids of her on his lap and read the disclaimer while in line that I may only do this with the minimum $20 purchase. So of course we got the minimum purchase.

 She was so excited to see Santa. She was very brave and not scared a bit. She proudly presented her drawing and told Santa just what she wanted. Santa asked her to tell me to please make him chocolate chip cookies.

My only disappointment with the experience is that I cannot find the 2 5x7 pics we purchased anywhere. I am thankful I had my camera because we still have the memories captured forever. Otherwise, it was a perfect first visit with Santa.

First Teeth Cleaning

Mommy has missed quite a few days of school this year, so Daddy took Anna Claire to her first teeth cleaning. Knowing that, this is my retelling of Larry's experience. Hope I get all the details right. It sounded like they had such a great experience and a great chance for them to spend some quality Daddy-daughter time.

Anna Claire's dentist gave her sunglasses to wear so she could be "cool" and to keep the bright light out of her eyes. Max and Ruby was on the overhead TV, so she was getting her teeth cleaned in style. She was so excited to get to choose her own flavors of tooth polish and fluoride. She picked bubble gum tooth polish and banana fluoride treatment. Daddy said her little tongue was going crazy trying to lick the polish and fluoride off the brush.

The dentist and hygenist were so impressed with Anna Claire. She was such a good girl. Anna Claire wore a tutu that day, very proudly, puffing her chest out whenever someone commented on it. Daddy wishes he had taken pictures.

She was really excited to get her gift bag with "toothpaste just like Mommy and Daddy," Dora glitter toothbrush and flossers. She also got a helium inflated balloon that they tied to her wrist. Loved it.

Next time they want her to go back by herself, so it was neat for Daddy to get to experience this!

Afterward, Daddy took her to the doughnut shop to get a doughnut with pink frosting and sprinkles.The lady at the doughnut shop recognized Anna Claire from me bringing her ever other week in the summers since she was old enough to eat doughnuts. Daddy also bought her a chocolate milk.

Thanksgiving 2012

Anna Claire had FOUR Thanksgivings this year! Talk about blessed.

Thanksgiving #1: Thanksgiving Feast at The Red Barn.
I was conflicted about whether or not to go because Anna Claire can be very clingy and fretful when we attend her school events, so much so that she ends up not having fun. We decided to talk to her about it and make our decision based on what she told us. She explained that she was worried we were going to leave and asked if we could please come and then take her home with use afterward. I normally go back to work, rather than taking a day or half-day off work, but this was really important to Anna Claire. So I took a half day. It worked out GREAT. She enjoyed herself, and was proud we came.

It was a full house! Most of the parents in the Ponies class came with only a couple exceptions. Anna Claire and about 4 others had BOTH parents there. I love the strong parent involvement that we have going on with this group. It's unique, and we all really like each other, and love one another's kids. A few of us volunteered and passed out food to everyone. It was all really delicious: the turkey cooked by Miss Sandra, yummy stuffing, green beans, potatoes, ham, mac-n-cheese, and several deserts. We brought pumpkin pie and whipped cream. Anna Claire said her favorite thing on her plate was a store bought brownie.

Thanksgiving # 2: Thanksgiving with Pop.
Larry wanted to make sure Pop got a good Thanksgiving dinner, so knowing we would be at my sister's on Thanksgiving day, we had ours with him on Wednesday.

Dinner was delicious. We had turkey breast, potatoes, gravy, and stuffing. I had ordered a spiral cut ham, cinnamon rolls, and rolls from our school cafeteria, so we enjoyed those too. The ham was awesome! We are still snacking on it, with several gallon bags of it still to be consumed in the freezer.

Thanksgiving #3: My Family Thanksgiving at Aunt Kathy's
I was so excited when my sister Kathy invited us to bring my mom to Thanksgiving dinner. It is one of the few times of year we all come together, and it feels great to be included. Anna Claire was disappointed (as was I) that Jenny and her girls were not there. She was really looking forward to playing with them. Kathy's new puppy, Shelby, helped make up for it. She is a precious German Shepherd pup.

The men had quite a challenge getting Momma and her wheelchair in and out of the house, as Kathy has steps at every entrance to her house. They accidentally dropped her (in the wheelchair) as they were carrying her out to go back home. Gave us all quite a scare but everyone is fine.

Thanksgiving #4: Larry's Family Thanksgiving at Hananoki.
Before we headed out to the restaurant, we all visited for awhile at Mom and Freddie's. We had fun playing with magnet toys and watching Anna Claire color with scented markers.
Hananoki is a fun place we go to with Larry's family. We love the show, the fire, and the food. I love watching Anna Claire's reaction to the show, and our chef's interaction with Khloie and Marie. He loves to pick on them and it's really funny.

Thanksgiving Feast at The Red Barn with Mommy and Daddy (I'm on the other side of the lens, as usual.) :)

Meme was happy to get out on a beautiful day and spend time with this little girl.

All of Aunt Kathy's food was just so, so good. Best mac-n-cheese ever.

She's showing Clint the blue marker on her hands.

Aunt Lisa loves Anna Claire, and vice versa. I think Lisa needs a little girl!

Marie and Khloie! These two are a hoot.

Volcano!

Anna Claire watching the show at Hananoki.

Thanksgiving feels bittersweet to both Larry and me, I think, with our families looking very different than they did just six years ago Grown up kids are still kids and we miss the traditions that we know will never be experienced again, but we are so thankful for Anna Claire and the exciting new traditions we are creating with her. Watching things through your child's eyes helps take the focus off yourself, and allows you to share the joy with them of the holiday, and the meaning of the day.

Apple Truck!

I took Anna Claire to an apple orchard a couple of months ago. While we were there, she saw a UPS truck. She decided that it was the apple truck that takes the apples to all the people. I didn't see any reason to spoil her story, so apple truck it was.

Today, two months later, we passed a UPS truck and she hollered, "Look Mommy! It's the apple truck!"

I had forgotten all about it, but she remembered. :)

Thanks for letting everybody know...

As we were walking through Dillard's department store to use their ladies' room this morning, Anna Claire made sure to announce to all we passed, "My Mommy has to go potty."

She's very informative. ;)

Stanley Can't Read.

Anna Claire: I don't want Stanley to read my book. (Stanley is our cat.)
Me: Stanley can't read, Honey.
Anna Claire: Yeah, he doesn't have any fingers.

Names for Mommy.

Anna Claire is cracking me up calling me "Angie" today. "Can you carry this for me, Angie?"  "Where we going, Angie?"

She's actually tried on several names for me today. After "Angie" was "Mom," and then my personal favorite, "Mommy Averitt." What a ham.

Daddy's Birthday

Anna Claire had very specific ideas on how Daddy's birthday should play out:

It cloudy and dark outside, Mommy. We can have Daddy's birthday party inside. Daddy needs cake and ice cream. Daddy likes pistachio ice cream. Can we get pistachio? Do we have candles, Mommy? We need to get Daddy a present, Mommy. Let's get cupcakes. Can we go to the cupcake shop? Can we go to the ice cream shop?

Who am I do argue with great ideas? After gymnastics, we headed for The Sweetest Batch and got a four-pack of yummy cupcakes (chocolate pecan and candy apple). Next, we headed for Target to get Daddy some socks and clothes. Afterward, we went to Baskin Robbins for the pistachio ice cream, and luckily they had candles, because I forgot to get any at Target.

I coached Anna Claire on the way home, about how we want it all to be a surprise. That we would need to hurry upstairs and wrap everything so Daddy wouldn't see it.

"Ok, Mommy!"

We walked in the house, and Anna Claire announces, "We got you pistachio, Daddy! And socks and clothes! We got cupcakes! It's a secret!"

We all laughed. The expression on Larry's face after her announcement said, "THIS is the best birthday surprise." I think her telling him made the day even more memorable. Loved it.

Best Halloween Ever.

Cinderella and Ariel!

 

I love these two girls!

"I like your princess dress!"

My beautiful Cinderella!

Kids were allowed to wear their costumes to school today! Anna Claire really wanted to be Cinderella, so it ended up being a great compromise. I knew she'd be cozy and warm indoors, so she could be Cinderella during the day, then she agreed to her Cheer Bear costume for trick-or-treating to keep her warm at night. T

They had a party/fall festival at The Red Barn and loved seeing each other all dressed up!

Amy and Anna Claire...do you think they're excited?

Trick-or-treating in style ;)

Cinderella by day, Care Bear by night to keep warm!

Sweet Amy!

Nothing like sippies full of hot chocolate on a fun night trick-or treating!

Pouring out her stash!

View of her costume from the back. :)

This Halloween was the best one I've ever had. We never did Halloween up like this when I was a kid.

I should start be saying I owe a huge thanks to our friends Paige and Mike who invited us to their spirited neighborhood to partake in the festivities. Their adorable little girl, Amy, is one of Anna Claire's best friends. They go to The Red Barn together and are in the same dance class.

The actual evening of fun was beyond what I could have imagined. There were hayrides and golf carts cruising all over their neighborhood. Most of the homes were decorated for Halloween more than most people decorate their homes for Christmas. Lots of jack-o-lanterns, orange twinkle lights, webs...very cool and spooky. Some had haunted music and dressed in costume to give out candy. Many people, Paige and Mike included, had fire pits set up in their yards or driveways to keep warm while they handed out candy. They also had hot chocolate for the kids to warm up mid-way through their trick-or-treating.

Larry and I brought Anna Claire's Radio Flyer wagon for the girls to ride in from house to house. This ended up being a life-saver. The girls didn't tucker out as quickly and they were able to cover more ground than if they'd done it on foot. We were also reassured that they were contained, rather than walking down the road.

There was a ton of traffic since people come from all over Clarksville to this neighborhood. Guess word got out and they have quite a reputation now for being THE place to trick-or treat! Some people even resorted to caravaning carloads of kids in vans or SUVs with the door slid open, letting kids run in and out of the car. Nice for those kids, but making it unsafe for those of us on foot.

All in all, the girls had an absolute blast. They did a great job saying "Trick or treat!" and "Thank you!" to everyone. I would love a repeat next year. Great fun!

The only complaint from the girls was that they did not have time to play with Amy's toys. Looks like we'll need to have a follow-up play date.

October at Red Barn

October has been a big month for Anna Claire, moving more and more toward being independent. I see her becoming more persistent. She keeps on trying, whereas before she would try and give up. At the Red Barn this month, Anna Claire learned to make her nap mat all by herself and to flush the toilet by herself. She was so proud of both of these accomplishments!

She is pointing to objects when she counts them, and continues to favor reading center above others. She loves reading to her friends.

Most days her teachers report her as being cheerful and cooperative. I am also seeing her reported as sociable, helpful and energetic more often which is encouraging. Each day the children get between 1 and 6 super-friends stamps each day, rating their behavior. She typically earns 5. Out of 11 days at RB, she got the maximum 6 “super-friends” stamps three of those days.

Anna Claire loves the fun activities planned by her teachers and program directors. This month they made butter, wore their pajamas to school, brought their teddy bears to school, had a petting zoo where she was able to ride a pony, and a pumpkin patch and pumpkin walk where the children got to actually take home their own pumpkin. She loved her pumpkin so much, picking out the one with the broken stem that no one else wanted. I love her heart.

The Red Barn is such a wonderful place for kids!

Fright on Franklin

Continued our celebration of one of my favorite holidays with Fright on Franklin. Never been to this before, but I see it becoming an annual tradition. I love that it offers an opportunity to trick or treat in daylight. Kids can get quite a bit of candy quickly. Many of the booths and vendors handing out candy were in costume and had their booths all spooked out. These reasons alone give Fright an advantage over traditional trick or treating. I am a fan, especially for little kids. Larry and I also wonder what the weather will be like come Wednesday. If it does end up raining Halloween night, at least Anna Claire got to have a fun trick-or-treating experience.

When we got home she told Pop we went to "Frankenstein Street." Lol.

Larry asked how she knew about Frankenstein, and I explained she has a Franklin book where he dresses as Frankenstein for Halloween.

Anna Claire dressed as Cheer Bear, one of the Care Bears. I have a Cinderella costume for her too, but it just way to cold for it. Everyone loved her costume! I can't tell you how many people said, "Awww, look at the Care Bear!" nor can I express how much her face beamed each time someone said that. :)

Anna Claire and Daddy on "Frankenstein Street" :)

These guys had some of my favorite costumes.

Happy child, you think?

Loved seeing her friend "Pizza Slice!" Haven't seen him since Riverfest.

Hugs! Too bad the Leaf Chronicle dalmation was anti-hug. We chased him down for awhile to no avail. He would only wave at us.

Pizza Slice's friendliness helped make up for Dalmation's stand-offishness. If you aren't willing to hug or high-five, you shouldn't be allowed to dress as a character. We nearly had tears over Dalmation. Thanks Pizza Slice for making it better!!!

In this pic, AC spotted one of those air inflated dancers that bounce around with the crazy hair. "Look Mommy! There's man just like yellow man we see going to gymnastics!"

In this pic she had just spied bubble gum in her bucket. She was stoked because we don't normally let her have gum.

Daddy and Anna Claire walking down "Frankenstein" to our car.

Wouldn't you think we'd get home and she'd want to immediately plop down on the floor and devour candy? So did we. She wanted her Cinderella costume on. Then she wanted to go downstairs and get fruit. So we had kiwi and peach. Love our little healthy snacker!

Then she pulled three magnets together and said, "This say 'frog' Mommy." With r-o-g lined up. Then she said, "Wait," found the number 7 (there was no F magnet) and put it in front of the R.  four letter magnets on the fridge together to spell "frog." This is the first time we've ever seen her spell.

October Fun

I love October and I love the fall. It's my favorite time of year - not too hot or too cold.

From the pumpkin patch to trips to the park, we've truly enjoyed this year's unseasonably warm weather.

Tonight, while I had to attend parent-teacher conferences, Larry made Halloween cupcakes with Anna Claire. She told me all about it when I got home! "Daddy spoil me rotten!"

This weekend we will likely carve our jack-o-lanterns. I can't wait! We always bake the seeds with plenty of butter and salt, of course.

Looking ahead to the biggest October event, Halloween, we've picked out two costumes: one for indoor and one for outdoor.

I found a snuggly warm Cheer Bear costume at children's clothing sale several weeks back. Anna Claire LOVES Care Bears, so score one point there. I remember how cold it was last Halloween and how grateful I was that we had gone with a warm costume, so that seemed like a good choice.

Then I read that Anna Claire's dance teacher would allow them to wear a costume on for Halloween, IF they could dance in it. So that was the reasoning behind costume # 2, a Cinderella gown.

I am looking at different Trunk or Treats and other Halloween events around town to see if they might be something we'd want to go to. Can't do it all.

Check out some pics of the fall fun we've had so far!

Pumpkin Patch!

Coy Lacy Park

Moving Meme

Moved Meme out of rehab center and into assisted living this week. Took a couple days off to get everything done to keep things as normal as possible for Anna Claire. Worked out pretty great. We did end up taking her along for several trips over, but tried to keep them brief so she wouldn't expire.

When I ask Anna Claire to go to Walking Horse with me, she could easily say, "I don't want to go Mommy," and it would be fair and fine. But she never does. Instead, she says, "I get to see Meme again! I'm gonna take my (insert toy of the moment here)!" She is just precious and full of love.

Today she was so excited to go eat dinner with Meme. Larry and I have decided that is something we can do every Sunday. The dining room is beautiful: cloth napkins and tablecloths, stemware, menus, and really yummy food! AC calls the dining room "Walking Horse Restaurant" because they give you a menu and take your order. How awesome that they allow families to come in and eat with them. I can tell you, Anna Claire sure did put a smile on a lot of residents faces! 

My cousin Joan brought a case of Barbies for Anna Claire to play with when she visits Meme. She absolutely loves them. What a thoughtful gift.

I feel good about where Momma is. Anna Claire even said, "This a better place for Meme, Mommy. It nice. I do like it here."

Shrine Circus

Anna Claire and I loved going to the Shrine Circus. I have many, many wonderful memories of going to the Shrine Circus with my mom and dad. Daddy was a Shriner so we would get free tickets each year.

How excited was I to find out Freddie and Mom had free tickets for us! I couldn't wait to share the magic with Anna Claire. I knew she would love it. I also expected her to want everything. I was right on both counts. ;)

I wish Larry could have gone, but having just returned from our vacation and coming to an empty fridge, he opted to get us stocked up for the week while I took AC.

That left me with an extra ticket. I prayed God would show me who to give it to. Someone who needed it. We got to Municipal and I zeroed in on a lady in line for tickets with 5 kids. She was the one. She refused at first explaining she didn't have any money to give me. I told her I didn't want money, that it was free to me and for her to just pay it forward. I think I saw a tear in her eye. God bless her inside because shit was crazy-expensive.

Highlights of the big show? The "princesses" and their costumes (trapeze artists), tigers, elephants, clowns, and the motorcycles on the tightrope were Anna Claire's faves.

At intermission, they offered pony rides, inflatables, face painting and more for a price. We went for the pony ride and tried inflatables, but there were too many big kids being rough so we asked for a refund.

Anna Claire really wanted a butterfly glow stick more than anything. I could see how much she wanted one and many of the other children had glow sticks. I bought it, despite the price tag and had one very happy little girl. She loves is so much. It also plays music.

As we were leaving, Anna Claire pointed to the clowns handing out Shrine Circus coloring books, and said, "I want one those, Mommy!" So of course we got one.

I thought to myself at that point, "What would Larry do?" He would wait until the crowd dissipated to even attempt to go to our parking garage. So, I asked AC if she'd like to sit on the steps outside Municipal. This allowed her to people watch and munch popcorn, so she was a happy camper.

After about 10 minutes or so she handed me her popcorn and said, "I don't want anymore Mommy." Then about 100 yards away I saw a couple of homeless men sitting on a bench. I said, "Hey, why don't you take those men the rest of your popcorn." "Yeah! They might be hungry!"

She took it over to them. They looked at her and their eyes lit up. They said, "Thank you!" and then I have never seen anyone inhale popcorn quite so fast in my life. Bless their hearts.

The rest of the way to the parking garage I answered questions about homelessness:

Mommy, why they sit on that bench?
They sit there for long time?
They don't have food Mommy? Why not?
Where they live?
Why don't they have a house?
Where they sleep?

I love Shrine Circus, and even more than that I love opportunities to teach my little girl how to show love to others.

 

Clown attempted to give Anna Claire a hug, but she run away.

Then she turned around and gave him this big smile.

Pony ride!

The ever-important butterfly glow stick.