I can't believe that Christmas has already come and gone. This month has been a crazy whirlwind. It felt like the leaves changed color, fell off, we got snow, had Christmas and then more snow (one day shy of a white Christmas) and now it's time for a new year. Where does the time go? We spent the last couple of weeks baking many, many cookies, making salt dough ornaments, cooking, eating, playing and just being together. Dan's company gave him extra vacation time this year and he got 12 days off for the holidays which means we have had a lot of good daddy time around here, and the mama has gotten a lot of good sleeping in time! :o)
Christmas is definitely not so magical for me anymore as an adult, but it has been a lot of fun making it magical for my kids! This year both girls knew what was going on, and it was a blast getting them excited and ready for Christmas. The nights before Christmas I enjoyed putting the girls to bed and staying up with Dan watching movies, eating cookies and wrapping presents. It was even fun staying up on Christmas eve until 2:00 AM putting bikes together. We were tired no doubt, but arranging presents under the tree and getting everything set up for the Christmas morning surprise was a really good time!
And boy were they surprised! The girls were very blessed this year with presents from Mama and Daddy, grandparents and aunts and uncles and they got some great stuff! I would say their most favorite gift was actually something over 20 years old. All of my old care bears from when I was a little girl. They have not stopped playing with them since Christmas morning! They both sleep with all of the bears every night, and they want to take them everywhere they go. It's fun to listen to them figure out how to divide them up.....who gets which bears. Who woulda thunk my kids would be in love with the same toys I loved as a child? Crazy. We had such a great Christmas, I wish that we could rewind and do it all over again.
We still have 5 days left of our vacation before life goes back to normal. I am not looking forward to taking down the tree and ornaments, I am not looking forward to Dan going back to work and I'm not looking forward to leaving the cocoon of our cozy home. I love Christmas time so much and it's always a bummer when it's all over. For now, we'll keep playing with fun new toys, keep eating way too much sugar and keep sleeping past 8:00......or past 10:00 for certain mamas. :o) I hope all my friends and family had a lovely Christmas and have a safe and happy new year!
Christmas tree decorating
The girls had their own tree again this year
The girls had their own tree again this year
I love the ornament placement
Our big tree
Making salt dough ornaments
Don't you just love Charlotte's shirt choice??
This is what happens when you let them dress themselves
Tank tops in winter :o)
Preschool Christmas party
Maddie the red nosed reindeer
Maddie the red nosed reindeer
Charlotte and some of her friends from school
Preschool Christmas performance
Cookie making
Charlotte drew a happy face......she was SO proud!
Oh, did you notice that Maddie got a haircut?
Mama got tired of the screaming and crying over hair brushing.
Chop chop.
But doesn't she look cute!?!
Christmas eve sugar cookies.....
or maybe we should call it cookie dough eating!
or maybe we should call it cookie dough eating!
Christmas eve matching pajamas & ornaments and
annual "non cooperative, kids high on sugar cookies" picture in front of the tree.
These are the best shots.....after threats were made lol
Santa came
Christmas morning
You can't tell from the picture,
but she had a TON of chapstick ALL over her face!!!
Santa baby
The bears
The day after Christmas
Playing with toys!
Such a little princess
