Leading UP to Christmas

Look at me getting all caught up on the blog!  :)

I haven't uploaded the actual Christmas pictures, but here's a general idea of leading UP to Christmas!

 Our elf was so naughty this year.  She was always causing trouble!

We went to a gingerbread house party at our friends' house again.  Even though the house collapsed within moments of construction, she still had fun.  :) 

Mike went out on Black Friday (crazy man) and got us an amazing deal on an artificial tree! 

The kiddos had fun doing Advent activities. 

Grayson really enjoyed eating the decorations.  :) 

Maddie took a little more care with hers.  :)

We went down to the canals with our friends and looked at all the pretty lights (and million dollar homes, haha). 

My pretty girl! 

And our handsome boy. 

Maddie loved her class party and was so excited to have a special part in one of the songs with her teacher. 

Proud mama moment: She was the only student in her class that did NOT write about Christmas and getting presents.  She has such a sweet heart. 

Cookie decorating at her class party 

Silly Maddie! 

We also got to decorate cookies with our buddies! 

Hard at work! 

This little guy ended up with frosting in his HAIR.

Opening presents early! 

Grayson and Landon hung out  :) 

And, we surprised the kids with special tickets for a drive to look at lights!  They were so excited to all be in the SAME car. 

Our elf left a note that on the last day of her visit, Maddie was allowed to hug her and kiss her (normally, if you touch the elf, she loses her magic). But Santa had approved it and Maddie was so thrilled and overcome that she almost cried! 

Christmas Eve!  Grayson (and therefore Mike) lasted about 45 seconds in mass before having to walk (gotta love a church that provides NO childcare!). 

We went to our same Italian restaurant afterwards but found out that it's the LAST year of it being opened!  We'll have to find somewhere new next Christmas Eve! 

 And of course, Nana and Papa let the kiddos open a present and Maddie got the Lalaloopsy spinning hair doll that she really wanted!

Okay, next up will HAVE to be Chrsitmas!

Christmas Party!

Our friends, Lori and Angelo, hosted a super fun Christmas party that Mike and I attended.

It had been a long day and it was SO great to go out with Mike and just have fun!

 There was yummy food, a white elephant gift exchange and... karaoke.  

Mike's favorite.  :)

 The boy sang and sang and sang.

I watched.  From the couch.  :)

What a fun night!!

And sorry for the grainy pictures... iPhone failed me!  :)

Spirit of the Season

It's almost Christmas and something has been nagging at my little Maddie.  It's really been bothering her and because of a recent change of circumstances (that I WILL blog about at some point!),  I didn't think I'd be able to please her.

She wanted to buy everyone in our family presents.  She wanted to buy a gift for her Nana, Papa, Grandma, aunties and uncle.

I tried making handmade ornaments and gifts with her, but she really, really wanted to pick out something special for each person.  And truthfully, this year, we just can't afford it.

And then I read about The Dollar Tree and I knew we were set.

 We sat down and made a list of the people she loves and wanted to buy something for.  There were nine people (well, one of those was Nana and Papa's dog, haha!) so we counted out ten $1 bills and had a brief lesson on sales tax.  Ha!

Then, we left Grayson with Daddy and headed out on our special Christmas mission.  :)

She sat in the cart, pen in hand, waiting to cross off names when that person's special gift was found.

 Honestly, it was one of the most special experiences I've ever had with her.  

She talked about each person, and what she thought they might like.  "Papa likes baseball and coffee, so let's look for something like that, " and, "Nana loves picture frames and pretty things so I want to find something like that," filled our time.  She swapped out gifts occasionally, finding things that the recipient might like better ("Grandma actually has a candle so I want to get her this instead.").

It wasn't about the money or what each present cost.  It wasn't about getting them lots of gifts or buying just to buy. 

It was truly and whole-heartedly about the spirit of giving.  Each present was so carefully selected by our sweet 4 year old and she was (and still is!) so thrilled.  Together, we wrapped each one and she's asked ever since how many days until she can give them to her family.

This season has definitely been a different one for us.  At one point, I was ready to scratch the whole holiday, but then you have moments like these and you know you're on the right path.  

Polar Express

Last month, we headed out to Arizona with our buddies and rode the Polar Express.  It's a book, a movie, and an experience.  :)

What an amazing time.  We made so many memories and had a blast.

 Mike and Grayson are kinda inseparable.  :)

Grayson and Maddie.

Maddie and Emma.

Grayson and Landon.

Dynamic duos, for sure. 

Remote (but beautiful!) cabin, early morning hikes, matching jammies...  Surrounded by friends. 

The train we took to the North Pole did not disappoint.

Maddie still sleeps with the bell that Santa gave her.  She shakes it gently and reminds us that she still hears the jingle and she still believes.

Love this season... Both the magic and the age.

Polar Express next year, friends?  :)

This Season

This season, I've filled 25 tiny doors with service activities.  I've got 25 crafts, ready to go, in a basket by the tree.  The Advent calendar is hung, and Maddie carefully moves the marker each morning.

But, my favorite holiday tradition of the season?

Wrapping 25 books.  Unwrapping one a night.  Listening to Mike read.  Watching both my babies listen, giggle, and sometimes... eat the wrapping paper.  :)

Thanks to Nana, she has a drawer full of cute pajamas.  

But.

What's the only thing she'll wear?

Mike's Angry Birds shirt.  If it's clean, she's sleeping in it.  :)

Oh my.  Her hand protectively on his shoulder.  Her face, soaking in Dora's Christmas Story.
The wrapping paper, stuffed in Grayson's cheeks.
What a wonderful time of year.

Some Christmas Crafts

I know this is a tad late, but I'll post anyway. Ha!

I've had such a hard time keeping up with the blog (hence my ten posts in one morning today!).

I painted Maddie's hand and she stamped a "tree" on cardstock. With glue and jewels, she decorated the trees and dictated what to write on each card.

Lots and lots of printables from MakingLearningFun.

Her favorites lately are mazes and connect the dots.

I drew triangles on green paper and she cut them out and glued them on red paper, putting them in size order.

Then, she went a little wacky with the glitter glue. :)

This was a cute directional art activity where I cut out all the pieces beforehand and she glued them on the paper.

Patterning with finger painting on a candy cane, paint and sequins on a tree (a preschool craft) and a glitter star.

We also had friends over to make these trees with us. The green one is a sugar cone she covered with green frosting and M&M ornaments. The styrofoam one has gummies stuck to it (don't wait until the last minute to buy gumdrops in December because no one will have any in stock!).

Aside from these, we did a ton of prepackaged foam crafts (which I have a love-hate relationship with, given how many need a glue gun) and ornament painting. I just wasn't as "on it" with the picture-taking as usual!

Christmas 2010!

What a wonderful Christmas (and really, holiday season) we had! I have pictures of many of our Christmas crafts and Advent activities and I really do hope to post them.

But for now, I thought I'd just share pictures from our Christmas day.

On Christmas Eve, we went with my family to church and dinner.

Then, Nana let her unwrap one present from their tree and it was her final Christmas book! Every day in December, Maddie got to unwrap one book and Daddy would read it to her. Her last one was a brand new Fancy Nancy Christmas one!

We also baked cookies (well, "baked" is a loose term since there wasn't much work involved!) for Santa and left him some chocolate milk. The reindeer got carrots. :)

Maddie couldn't believe that Santa's snowy boot print was on our carpet in the morning! :)

And, look at all he brought our good little girl!

She was so overwhelmed/excited to see the singing Jasmine doll that she'd been pining for for months that she actually started crying!

Baby brother bought her a present and she marveled that he knew she'd always wanted a pink Zhu-Zhu pet! :)

Later in the day, we went to my parents' house for a huge lunch and visiting with lots of friends and family.

Nana, Megan, Annie and Poppa. :)

After leaving their house, we headed over to visit Mike's mom and grandma and our friends Brandie and Mason even joined us, too!

It was such a great day and a great holiday, made even better when Daddy took Maddie to the zoo the next day and I was able to go into clean-up/organization mode. Ha!