Christmas Fun & Checking Stuff Off The List!

I’ve been steadily checking things off my Christmas To-Do list.

With less than a week to go, I’ve made decent progress.  I think I’m going to have to forgo a few items because I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas has become I’m Dreaming of a Wet Christmas here in the mitten state.

It’s seriously more like a cold spring than winter.  And, as much as I hate driving in the snow, I do wish we had some to make it feel a little more like the holidays.

But, I digress…

On Saturday we checked 2 things off the list and had fun doing it!

After a long day inside, Grace was itching to go “bye bye” and blow off some energy.  She’s a girl that loves to be out on the town!

We headed to Somerset Mall in the early evening to check out the awesome Christmas decorations and do some window shopping.

The Build-A-Bear store caught our attention shortly after getting inside the mall, so we made a spontaneous detour and Grace built her first “bear” which was actually a dog.

I’d seen this store at the mall years ago and had never given it much thought until I actually went inside this summer with my sister-in-law and niece.

Watching the process of picking out a floppy animal “skin”, getting it stuffed just right at the fluffing machine, picking out a heart for the little guy, making a wish before slipping the heart inside and then finishing off the process with an imaginary bath and blow dry really is a fun process!

Grace is too young to fully appreciate the whole operation, but she does love her new pal Rusty and I’d like to think she enjoyed the experience too :)

Grace scoping out the other kids stuffing their bears.

Getting a little sleepy waiting in the long line.

Watching Rusty getting into “stuffing” position.

Pushing the pedal to run the stuffing machine.

Group shot while Rusty is getting stuffed.

Picking out the perfect heart for her new friend.

After making a wish, she’s putting the heart inside.

Watching Rusty being stitched up.

We didn’t manage to get pictures of his wash and blow-dry because a certain Little Miss was getting antsy.  Plus, the loud noise of the blow dry freaked her out so we just packed up and headed out of the store.

Here’s Rusty chilling on the couch at home :)

After Build-A-Bear, we wandered around and let Grace run free with the kids who were waiting to see Santa.

All in all it was a great evening and made me excited to keep checking things off!