I kind of took the last week off while the kids are on break. We weren’t super busy doing a ton of stuff (other than shopping for clearance) but were just hanging out. I think we all needed a little down time to recover after Christmas and New Year’s to get ready for the second half of the school year. I am going to start from the weekend before Christmas through New Year’s and then the few days after that. P went back to school today and S goes back tomorrow. It has been a long two and half weeks for me. I am so not looking forward to summer!
- P and I went to see Disney Frozen on Ice. She loved it and loved that she got to go with Baby L. They went as Elsa and Anna together. P agreed at the last minute to wear her Elsa dress instead of just a shirt so we also had to give her the Elsa hairdo. She was singing and talking the entire show. At times I had to shush her so didn’t upset anyone around us.
- We do our Christmas with just the four of us on Christmas Eve morning. All the presents for the kids are in snowman boxes or snowman wrapping paper. The way to tell the difference is by the color of ribbon. P had blue ribbon and S had green ribbon. They both grab a pair of scissors and sit down waiting to cut the ribbons to see what they got. The reason we started this was because I wanted the kids to enjoy what we got them before they were overwhelmed with gifts from the family and from Santa. It also works out well with B’s schedule that if he has to work we can float this around to ensure he is always there to open gifts. (Don’t worry Santa comes Christmas morning no matter what.) The kids wore there matching pajamas from Chippy.
- P got a bunch of Frozen stuff: Legos, dolls, Play-Doh and My Little Pony stuff: Play-Doh and more. S got his drone he wanted to badly, a few Minecraft Hot Wheel sets, and the Hexbug Nitro Circus to set up the characters to do stunts. He can then record them with his tablet and then post then animate them and post them to the Hexbug Nitro site. It is about as close as he is going to get to making and posting You Tube videos at this point. Baby steps.
- Now that the kids are getting older we were able to sit on the couch and watch them open the presents instead of having to be down helping them cut or hand out presents. They did great taking turns opening presents and had no accidents with the scissors.
- B was on one couch and I was in the chair. P came to get a picture with me (1 of 2 pictures I have of me on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, epic fail with B not taking any pics!) but she apparently was not to happy about it and this was the only face I could get from her.
- After opening presents it is time to get ready to head to Papa’s to celebrate with my side of the family. P looked so cute in the purple dress and I loved it. She actually wore tights today and kept them on all day. In the past she has not liked them and worn leggings with socks. S got a remote control boat that has a waterproof controller, and P got Baby Jack-Jack. She was ecstatic about him and would not put him down. She even took him with us in the evening.
- I made fruit pizza for both sides. The first pizza is one big tree. I pieced it together with sugar cookie dough and when it cooked it baked them together. I decided to use the blueberries as garland and the raspberries as big ornaments. It was entirely gone by the time we left. In the evening I did bite size fruit pizza cookies. Each cookie had one blueberry, one raspberry, one strawberry chunk and one pineapple chunk. I colored the trunk and star frosting so they were yellow and brown. Many mistook the brown for chocolate but I didn’t hear any complaints when it was eaten. That pizza was entirely gone, also. No leftovers for me to eat when we got home.
- This is the only family picture and the 2nd picture of me from Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. On my phone camera there must have been a crumb or something because B has a white spot on his forehead. I loved the shirt/dress that I wore. B had to track down the mail lady to find it for me. We knew it was supposed to be delivered on Christmas Eve but I wanted to wear it on Christmas Eve. It fit perfectly and was super comfortable.
- The kids played a game where a bunch of small gifts were wrapped in plastic wrap and they had to unwrap it to get the gifts. They had a short amount of time each time they got it. S loved it and was totally into it. P got about 5 or 6 things and said she was done and didn’t need anymore.
- Santa visited while everyone was at church and dropped gifts off for the kids. S got a new remote car that can go on land or water. P got a new set of My Little Pony horses that are bigger then the ones she currently has. She loved them and wanted to open them up right away so she could play with her cousin. These two are finally old enough to realize they are the same age and have things in common. They loved playing together and to hear them pretend together was so cute.
- The kids wanted to pick out particular cookies to give to Santa. They each got to pick 3 cookies to give to Santa. I cannot believe how excited P got about getting the cookies.
- I love the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve. It is always so magical. After the gifts get put under the tree I get nervous that the kids are going to come out and catch us.
- P got a real baby (anatomically correct, and it looks like a newborn), a new stroller that collapses to we can take it places, a carrier, and a walker. She has been showing so much interest in her baby dolls that I thought this was the year to get her a real baby. It came with a pacifier and bottle. Of course she got her LOL Glam Glitter ball to open and finally get her LOL doll. It is all she asked Santa for this year and all she has been talking about for the past month.
- S got a hoverboard (which makes me very nervous) with a go kart attachment. He has asked for a hoverboard but does not have very good coordination. Give him something with a steering wheel and he is a pro, anything else not so much. S can use the go kart attachment and when he gets control of that they we will attempt at learning to ride the hoverboard. He also got a drum set that is basically a bunch of drum heads on plastic. He can play them and get different sounds. The best part is he can wear headphones and we don’t have to hear it. He got a remote control truck. Since he was getting Disney Crossy Roads from Chippy, Santa brought him a claw machine that works for the Crossy Road characters.
- Both kids were so happy with what they got. They sat and played for hours with their new toys.
- P really not feeling the morning picture in front of the tree.
- In the afternoon, we went over to Grandma G and Grandpa Bob’s to celebrate with them. S was all about figuring out how each of his toys worked. He wanted to open everything and I think he actually did open everything. P loved everything she got. She got a few more LOL dolls. Of course she had to open them up right away to see who she got and to see what they did. When she opened up her Magic Pad she knew exactly what it was and what it did. If you didn’t know better you would think she is a great reader and read what it was rather then recognize it from commercials.
- P was in a very lovable mood. Her and S were cuddling in a chair together for a good 30 minutes. I thought it would break out in a fight or argument at any moment but it never did.
- Later I found P on B’s lap snuggling with him. Probably one of the best pictures I have ever gotten of them together.
- P was so excited to take her Magic Pad with her in the car to go see her Uncle and Aunt. She wanted to wear her dog dress and leggings along with pig tails for them. I love the outfit she picked out and it was so appropriate for her to wear since my brother’s family loves dogs.
- On New Year’s Eve we were hanging out at home during the day and this is how I found P playing. She was bouncing around on her horse with Charlie Brown in front of her. I love how she put the Elsa cape on her head. It made her look like a maiden in medieval times. She again did not want me to take her picture.
- On New Year’s Eve night we hung out at the neighbor’s. All of the kids were “ghost hunting” in the basement. This is the mask P decided to wear while she was hunting for ghost. I loved that it was full of sequins and that face she made is one of my favorites!
- It is all about P modeling for me. She did not like the reindeer hat I got for her. She did not like the “Frozen” top hat that I wanted her to try on. She did not like the Santa face (you can’t see her face, but trust me). P was exhausted from all of that modeling and decided to curl up on the dog bed and get comfortable. PJ was on the bed right next to her.