mb

december daily : 12.25.10.

 

 

 

all three of our littles on christmas day.  christmas at our house is all about jammies and being comfy.  and about present opening taking hours about hours.  as in we started opening around 8a-ish and didn't finish until 4:30p.  with two naps and taking time out to play with things, we simply go with the flow and see where the day takes us.

santa was kind enough to bring C her coveted kitty cat keyboard that she's been talking about since september.  L was happy with whatever was going on and isn't quite so sure about the pair of pink shades that were in her stocking.  and the naughty kitty even had a few things in his stocking and waited patiently for C to help him unwrap his goodies.

december daily : 12.24.10.

christmas eve was a busy day - so many things that we wanted to accomplish, so little time.  i had originally planned to make martha's devils food cupcake recipe for our "happy birthday jesus cake" but at the last minute decided to just go the funfetti route as i knew C would enjoy them and their crazy sprinkles instead.  she loved being able to put the sprinkles on after i had done the frosting.  even if she did drag her sleeve through the frosting of one of them repeatedly.

 

this was our first year of taking children to christmas eve church.  we've always attended the candlelight service that lets out at midnight and i've never wanted to take C out in the cold so late at night.  instead, this year we decided to go to the 7p service with both of the girls in their pajamas.  of course, since L was dressed for bed she decided not to sleep at all through the service.

once home from church it was hurryhurryhurry to get everyone in bed.  but before bed we had to put out cookies and milk for santa and a couple of carrots for the reindeer.  it was almost 9p and L was still awake.

 

after the girls were finally in bed, last minute wrapping was the activity of choice for both andy and i and grammy.  those are a couple of pairs of new pajamas for L.

before going to bed, everything was set and ready for the next morning.  two lucky little girls had no idea what was in store for them the next day.  i love that you can see thomas' tail in the lower right corner as of course, he too had to check out all the loot under the tree before retiring for the night.

december daily : 12.23.10.

 

 

 

another activity from december's parents magazine.  when i originally looked through the issue, these reindeer cookies caught C's attention and she immediately wanted some.  i took that as a sign we should give them a try.

i wasn't sure if trying to make cookies during L's morning nap was a wise idea but figured we could get at least the cookies baked and antlers attached.  lucky for us, we completed the cookies and even enjoyed one before L woke up.

while C wasn't at all interested in forming the cookie in the shape of a triangle for the reindeer head, she loved her task of seperating the m&ms into three piles - browns for eyes, red for noses and all the others to go back in the bag.  in fact, she separated the entire bag and then wanted to do more.  go figure.

after the cookies had cooled and anters were on as well, i piped the frosting to glue on the m&ms and let her put them on by herself.  she loved the independence and i reminded myself that baking with a 2.5 year old is all about throwing perfection out the window.  especially when some of the red m&ms became eyes instead of noses resulting in blood shot eye looking reindeer.

the best part?  the cookies were not only cute but they tasted good as well!  i can't imagine what our reindeer will look like next year with not one but two assistant bakers in the kitchen.

december daily : 12.22.10.

 

 

 

checking out a local light display had been on our list of things to do all month and we almost didn't there.  with the blizzard earlier in the month and andy being on call our weekends were always full of other activities.  an early dinner was scheduled for tonight so that we could get everyone in the car and drive over to check out the "special lights" as we referred to them for C.  we had taken her last year, but i'm sure she didn't remember them.  the lit tunnel near the end of the drive through the park is always my favorite.

 

 

C loved every minute of our little excursion.  L slept through most of the trip except for the few minutes before we got there and the few minutes before arriving home.  there's always next year, little baby.

december daily : 12.21.10.

 

you know you're a mama when you schedule to meet friends at target for coffee and shopping after your children are asleep.  oh, and that you spend three hours doing just that.

becky, amy and i were so excited to meet up and get last minute holiday odds and ends picked up together.  we shut down the starbucks inside of target.  as in, the barista told us she was turning off the lights in advance so we wouldn't be concerned.  and then it was an hour and a half of wandering the aisles.  the three of us walking three across down the main aisle chatting about this that and everything else under the sun.

a perfect gift to get extra time with girlfriends while in the midst of the holiday hustle and bustle.  we've decided we need to do this more often.

december daily : 12.20.10.

 

 

 

when i received my december issue of parents magazine, i ripped out so many pages with different ideas that we could do as a family throughout the month.  i always enjoy looking through their magazine, but this single issue is causing me to renew asap.  so many great ideas.

i had everything on hand already to make these paper trees and C loved working with my craft punches.  andy was coming home a bit late so we had started the project and he was able to arrive just in time to put the paper ornaments on.  C loved telling everyone about her paper trees and showing them to anyone that came through our door.

definitely an idea that we'll repeat next year!

december daily : 12.18.10.

today's activity was going to see santa.  which i knew was likely  not going to go very well but it went better than i could've hoped for.  i knew that L would likely cry instantly.  and she did.  and i figured C would be dramatic as well but she was actually quite good.  on the drive there, she kept saying, "i can't like ho ho!"  i figured it was going to be even worse than expected but we explained to her that she needed to tell santa what she wanted so that he'd be able to make it especially for her if she had been a good girl this year.  her one and only wish is a kitty cat keyboard and microphone.  it has been since october when she first saw it.  i think L's wish was to be off of santa's lap and pronto.  the best part of the experience was that we had to wait maybe 3 minutes to meet him AND we got to take our own photos.  for FREE.  i told andy that we wouldn't have gotten better photos if we had paid for them so although they aren't perfect by any means, i'm happy with them.

 

proof that she wasn't really traumatized and was just fine once i picked her up.  silly baby girl.  thanks to aunt cuckoo for her festive outfit that she sported for the occasion!

 

next to santa was a giant gingerbread house you could walk through - as in big enough for an adult to walk through.  i was taking a few photos of andy and C when someone asked if he could take a photo of all of us together.

 

bless that random stranger.  he totally made my day.  not only a photo of us, but a photo of us where we're all looking/smiling AND we're in focus.  it's already the wallpaper on my laptop.

 

and on the opposite side of santa were bell ringers for the salvation army.  i originally wanted to do this as an activity this year but thought C was still a bit young.  next year.  i think she would absolutely love it.

 

we also got a surprise box from nana and papi today.  a bit of early christmas as we won't be celebrating with them until january.  i dubbed it faux christmas and i love that my mother and sister-in-law are now calling it this as well.  nana made my day by noting in her card NOT to wait until christmas to open the packages.  she knows me so well.  L received a new christmas book which i read through already.  absolutely adorable.

 

andy and i got gifts too - but we have to share.  homemade peanut butter cups and a gift card to mcdonald's so that we can have an easy dinner this week with all the stuff we have going on.  look at miss L eyeing that gift card!

 

she also had her eye on the peanut butter cups.  this girlie loves to eat - and she knows what's good, too!

 

C received an eye spy christmas book.  which we discovered she's really good at!  our entire family loves these books so it was a treat for us to see C get one and for her to enjoy it as much as have in the past.

 

and the last gift was for both the girls and so i opened it with L's help.  another holiday book for our collection.  love that we've got an additional one to add for next year already.  andy and C already read it this evening.  i'm looking forward to reading it tomorrow.

definitely a good day.  it's days like these that i'm so glad i took the plunge to document how we're celebrating the holiday this year.

december daily : 12.17.10.

 

andy's holiday party.  something he looks forward to.  me?  not so much.  granted, there's a couple of people i enjoy catching up with so that's nice.  the best part is simply spending time with andy and getting to have an opportunity to have a conversation without any interruptions.

the only bad part of the evening was that i actually forgot my camera and so this was after we had gotten home and were obviously exhausted.

december daily 12.16.10.

when my friend becky asked if she could drop something by i told her of course.  a great chance to chat with her for a few minutes right before i started making dinner.  and when i say few minutes, it was exactly that.  we were watching christmas countdown - see a trend? - and pretty much winding down our day.

the fact that she put this little goodie box together was so touching.  it included lots of goodies - pretzels, nuts, chocolate, something sweet that you can see in the photo and i'm not sure what it is but it's so good!, and two of my favorite local beers.  perfection in a box.

a simple gesture that meant so much to receive.

december daily : 12.15.10.

 

 

 

i didn't really have anything planned for yesterday and when that happens, i just wait and see what goes on throughout our day.  so it was a given that we'd need to document what has become our daily viewing of elmo's christmas countdown.  C got this as a gift last year and she loves it even more now.  and of course, now L is in on the action as well.  although she's usually more amused by her sister's singing and prancing about the living room.  this mama definitely has this dvd memorized.  i've found it's the perfect activity pre-dinner to keep everyone happy and entertained though.