As you can see we have had a lot of fun things happening recently. As much as I love the holidays and staying busy I am so excited to just have our "normal" schedule for awhile.
Here are some of our Christmas highlights.... We tried Santa twice with Mimi. Didn't work either time. :). Haha. The first was at MOPS while Bumpkin was at school. The second was at a grocery store.
Next was Santa's helper, Jewel. She was very helpful for about two minutes. But she was super cute with her stocking hat.
On Christmas Eve we went to visit Aunt Marilyn and take her the present we picked out. She was surprised. Then we came home and started our Santa watching. Wow did the kids think that was cool. They asked for updates every five seconds.
Later that night Santa showed up and spent a lot of time organizing and cleaning. It must have been a lot of hard work and I wish I had a before picture but at least I got a picture before the kids tore into it! Santa got them a gymnastics mat. He also organized the kids dress up clothes and the American girl doll clothes!
Finally, Christmas morning. Here are some pictures of the fun. There are lots of videos, and I will post them when I can, but they are on the big camera and that requires assistance because it is out if my jurisdiction. Ha. So pictures for now.
This year was the first year we had an elf visit us. We named him Tobias, Toby for short. I did really well at catching Toby's antics on camera at first but then I kept forgetting.
The girls loved to find him in the morning. I have to admit he was the only way I got them out of bed a few times. My favorite antic of his was when he painted the girls noses like Rudolph. I didn't get a picture because it was one of the rare mornings that daddy came straight home from work so he was up and the girls didn't even bother waking me up. And daddy, not knowing why both their noses were red, made them wash up. So no pictures. But it was funny when they found Toby with the paint and paintbrush and figured out what happened.
A couple days after Christmas we loaded up the van and headed to grandma's to celebrate with mommy's side of the family. We barely got in town before we went to our first party at our cousin's house. It has been a long time since we saw them and the girls had a great time playing with their cousins. They were all so silly while eating dinner.
After dinner we passed out presents. Mimi surprised me when she managed to get one of her presents.
One mninute she looked like this.....
and the next minute she looked like this.
After presents from the greatgrandparents and great aunts and uncles were open the kids got to doing what they do best.... playing! I was amazed at how well they played together considering the last time they played together it didn't go this well. (lots of yelling and tattling)
The next day we had Christmas at grandma and grandpa's house. Grandma loves to buy presents, I think everyone know that. And although I don't object to it when the presents are coming my way, the girls don't need a million toys, our basement is already overflowing! So we have set a meaningful limit of three presents each. Three because that is how many presents Jesus got on his birthday. I love the fact that the girls connected the number without even being told. Our big family presents was an xbox and kinect, then we all got games that we would enjoy. The major hit for Bumpkin and Troublemaker was their new scotters which they used in the house for the remander of the visit. Here are some picture of opening presents there.
I finally got a video of Mimi opening one of her presents. She sat in Nana's arms and just kept ripping at it until it was finally open. The final picture is documentation of her reward. : )
The following night we had our first gelato vs. homemade icecream contest. One would think that it would be harder to make homemade ice cream with a hand cranked maker but I think Heather and I struggled with the gelato maker more. Come to find out a rasberry got stick in the bottom of the turner thingy (very technical term I know) which wasn't letting the lid shut right. Somehow we don't have a picture of Heather and I covered in rasberry gelato fighting with the machine. : )
Our final night at Grandma and Grandpa's was New Years Eve. They hosted a murder mystery and it was also a friend's birthday so Heather and I decided to try my mom's new never opened but two years old cake cricut. The fondant and gum paste was all new to us so we made some mistakes (like not putting frosting under the fondant or using any color) but we also made the cake and learned how the cake cricut works. It would have been cooler (like with bigger with some type of color) if one first set of guest hadn't shown up an hour and a half early for the party. But we will got to play. My Mom's machine is pretty cool!
Ohh, and finally, here is a picture of all three girls and great grandpa! A rare treat and such a good one!
Daddy worked this year on Christmas Eve but the girls and I had a good time anyway. We started off the day by making cookies. We had some oatmeal that needed to be used and thought it would be fun. Then once we had 100 plus cookies on the counters we decided to play christmas cookie elves and deliver some to good friends. Even though nobody was home when we actually delivered them the girls had a wonderful time and I think we will do this again next year.
After delivering our cookies we took dinner to daddy's work and enjoyed Christmas eve with him. It was fun but the girls couldn't wait to leave because they wanted to be in bed before Santa came. So we hurried home and set up cookies for Santa and headed to bed.
I had reassure them that we would have time to read a couple books and Santa wouldn't skip over the house. So we brought out the classic Night Before Christmas. We also read Where, Oh Where, Is Santa Clause, and What Star is This? I loved that even thought it was Christmas Eve and the girls were overly excited about Santa, they still remembered the real reason for the season.
Daddy got home on Christmas morning and we were all still asleep. He woke us up and the girls rushed downstairs to see what Santa brought. They were excited to get Happy Nappers and their own umbrellas. Bumpkin got a unicorn, Troublemaker got a ladybug, and Mimi got a puppy. Santa even snuck in a new bike for me!
After our presents from Santa we had some breakfast and then opened our presents from each other. Actually Mimi chewed her present open....
The girls make craft presents for each other this year. Bumpkin made a bow holder for Troublemaker and Mimi and Troublemaker made a headband holder. They went straight to use. The also made a D-A-D picture frame for daddy.
After the excitement of the presents was over we completed the rest of the day with church, eating, decorating our princess mirrors, and making a leftover gingerbread house.
A few weeks ago at MOPS Pastor Casey came and talked about the real meaning of Christmas. He asked us to think about Christmas when we were children. He started talking about all the memories he had and it quickly became obvious that he was talking about traditions not presents. So, I sat there thinking in MOPS that I really didn't remember any presents I received as a child either. Sure there is one Christmas that I remember getting what I really wanted but I think the memory is so vivid for me because of the unusual way I got the present, not because of what the present was. (I was in a musical at church and my character unwrapped a present. It was supposed to be my stuffed animal Growlie but when I got it unwrapped it was really the Magic Nursery doll I had been wanting.) Really, I think I would have to think hard to remember what presents I received. But I do remember the traditions. The "routines" we had about whose house we went to on what nights.
Our family can't have the same traditions and routine though. Partly because we are a different family, partly because we have family in different parts of the country, and partly because of the job your daddy does. We will never be able to say we are going to have family movie night where we watch Home Alone on Christmas Eve. We will never be able to say we always go to grandma's for lunch on Christmas Day. It will change every year for us. So when Pastor Casey started talking about traditions I was determined to set a tradition that we could keep. One that didn't matter when we did it, as long as we did it. Then I remembered an article I had read recently about a gingerbread house decorating party. I decided to go for it. Even if it was only ten days away and I would barely have time to make the houses, let alone decorate the house. I hope to make this a tradition with family and friends, but for this first year I just invited our little kid friends.
I made the houses from scratch. They really weren't that hard to make. Next time I just need to remember that it goes in shifts. The dough has to sit in the fridge for awhile and I didn't realize that until I was already making them. So I was a little rushed this year but I will know for next year. Rolling them out, cutting them, and assembling them really wasn't that bad.
You guys were so excited. It took forever for the party to start. You guys kept trying to play with the houses and put your little toy Care Bears in the houses I was afraid they were going to be broken before the party even started.
But the houses made it and I convinced you guys to help me clean and decorate the house.
Finally, the guest started arriving and the party got started. We had a wide selection of candy and I set up a hot chocolate bar (which I forgot to get a picture of). Here are some pictures of the houses you and your friends decorated.
In the years to come I hope to make this a fun family tradition with the whole family. Maybe add in a contest when you are older. Maybe even invite your college friends home with you to join in the fun. Since we didn't have the room this year though it was just the kids and their mommies. Here is a great picture of some good friends that attended.
I hope you girls had a good time. I look forward to making this a tradition!
