Mom, the TV's broken. What are we gonna do all night? Celebrate the birth of Christ!

Blogger has the worst photo upload/import feature I've ever worked with and it seems to get worse every day. As a result, these pictures are in no particular order.

Making cookies for Santa with Papa.

Jake

Trying out her new exercise mat.

Opening a present.

Being thrown in the air by Papa.

West Side!


Singing in Rock Band 2.

Playing the drums in Rock Band 2.

Funkes

With her new doll house.

Play Doh!

Setting out milk and cookies and carrots for Santa and his reindeer.

Santa snuck a present into her crib while she was sleeping.

Playing with toys from the junk drawer with Grandpa Funke.

Zoo Lights

I think it can be said that the Lincoln Park Zoo has the worst parking lot ever. It can also be said that people who live in the city don't know how to drive and are wholly unfamiliar with the complicated physics of parking a car in a crowded lot. We left the house at 4:00. Due to traffic and some bad mapquest directions we arrived at the zoo around 5:30. Around 6:30 we finally parked the car. The line to park was so bad that Lisa and Grace finally got out and went in to the zoo while I sat in the car cursing the stupidity of the people in front of me. Kaitlyn and Amy would have joined them except that Kaitlyn was sleeping at the time.

So begins our annual Monday/Funke outing to freeze our butts off while looking at sleeping animals and Christmas lights. At least this year we didn't go in the middle of a blizzard.

Grace coloring some kind of thing they were giving away in the ape house.

Trying to catch a snowflake in her mouth.

Grace and Mom in front of the giant snowman.

Sitting on Santa's lap without crying.

On our way out, posing in front of the zoo entrance.

Snow Day!

10 Gazillion inches of snow is what they said on the news. Enough to make my district call a snow day so Christmas vacation started a day early this year.

Playing in her snow fort.



High enough to sit next to the mailbox.


Watching Caillou in the big basement chair.

Hello darlin'. nice to see. ya it's been a long time, you're just as lovely as you used to be

We went to the Christmas party at Conway Farms with Grandma and Grandpa Funke and Aunt Mary Ellen this afternoon. Characters from the Wizard of Oz were there as well as Santa.

Grace dancing with Dorothy.

Posing with the gang.

She wouldn't sit on Santa's lap but she gave him a hug and told him what she wanted for Christmas.

Grace and Mom in front of the tree.

Getting a rainbow painted on her face by Dorothy.


Eating a Christmas cookie.

Getting a balloon cat on a leash from Glinda the Good Witch.



There was a little show with all the characters doing tricks and songs. Grace was scared or shy during most of it, choosing to quietly watch. But when the Scarecrow came out with a bag of bells and asked for volunteers, Grace walked up and stood in the line ignorant of the fact that she hadn't actually been chosen. She's all the way on the left. I think she did better than he expected her to.

Getting Ready For Christmas

Grace and Baba decorating a gingerbread house.

The finished product.

Jake looking for a place to pee where the snow doesn't come up to his neck this morning.

Should have taken a before picture. This is the girls old dollhouse which we are tuning up and giving to Grace for Christmas this year.


At the Libertyville tree lighting ceremony.

Decorating the tree.

Downtown at the Navy Pier Christmas thingamajig.