Jingle Bell Rock

A kick line and some dancing along with Gran...

And the dancing Santa on her table.

Christmas Day 2014

I didn't take one single picture yesterday.   Not one.

But I did a whole lot of living in the moment.

The kids loved their gifts... Barbie dream house,  a keyboard,  a guitar, Skylander Trap Team for the Wii,  and on and on and on.

My homemade cinnamon rolls have never turned out so well, which was a relief.

We stayed in jammies all day. I made shredded chicken burritos for dinner.

A very relaxing day.

Then... after dinner.... I put Christmas away.  :)

It was a fantastic week of celebration,  but I'm always eager to put it all away.

Pics from Fishero Christmas

A fun time! Complete with karaoke.

If you need me to do a rendition of New Kids' "Hangin Tough", I'm there for ya. :)

North Pole Express

We went to Grapevine to ride on the North Pole Express.  It was our first time and we had a lot of fun! 

 

 

 

The conductor was very friendly... and ridiculously tall.  You can't appreciate it here, but I'm telling ya, he was a giant!

 

 

The expression on the lady's face behind me kills me.. :)  She's beaming with holiday cheer. 

 

  

Mrs. Claus gave the kids their "We Believe in Santa" bells...

 

  

And we took a commemorative photo with the Big Guy himself...

 

 

But the highlight of the trip was stopping by Krispy Kreme and getting glazed donuts hot off the line!

 

 

We took a few home too! :) 

I don't know why the Krispy Kreme left Frisco.  We would've single handedly kept that place in business!

 

Continuing the Christmas light tradition

Tuesday night I took Caroline through our neighborhood looking at lights.  She's the only one who really looks forward to the lights in our neighborhood.  Mostly because they're kinda pitiful.

But she oohs and ahhs.

I always let her sit in the front seat because the window rolls all the way down... And because we stay in our neighborhood.

We sang "Holly Jolly Christmas" and "Santa Claus is Coming to Town".  She was impressed with everything she saw.

Friday night we are going to take the kids to see more lights, but Tuesday was fun with just Caroline. :)

Ahhh...

December 26th and Christmas décor has been put away. 

(With the exception of the exterior lights.  They're still up and on because I don't want my neighbors to judge me or label me as "Grinch-y".)

But I LOVE to be cleaned up and de-Christmased. 

As an aside, Caroline wanted me to text her teacher and ask her when she could come back to school.  I think she's over it too.  (I wonder if Mrs. Missy would be up for a 4 yr old live-in visitor for the next 10 days.  hmmm..... )

..............


But to clarify-- I'm loving the break! I'm just glad to have the clutter put away. :)

Christmas morning

This morning was sweet. 

Santa came and was very minimal.  He gave some PJs and candy.  A notepad for each kid and a little Disney accessory.

Then the kids opened presents that they made/wrapped for each other.  Some they made at church.  Some they made at home. 

Caroline went around the house and wrapped things the kids already owned and gave it to Sarah and Jack.  She wrapped Jack's Hot Wheel and gave it to him.  She wrapped up Sarah's lip gloss and handed it back to her. 

If she could've gotten her hands on a cat or a Jell-O mold, she'd have wrapped that up too, I'm sure. ;)

The box in this pic had a Milky Way, an ear that had fallen off of one of his stuffed animals, a pencil, some coloring book pages, and something she had made for Thanksgiving at school. It's wrapped in white printer paper that she drew "boyish drawings [on]. Because Jack's a boy".

The kids' reactions to each other's presents was priceless!  They were so grateful for the colored pages or the "Best Sister" certificates. 

And when Jack opened his Hot Wheel that he had forgotten he owned, he said, "Caroline, you're the only person I know who could give me something I already had and make it a fun surprise.

The Rainbow Loom , the Barbie Dream House, the Monsters University Speak n Scare, etc came from Jason and me.  The kids were so excited.  I think they got just about everything they asked for.  And I'm grateful that they didn't ask for anything expensive. :)

 

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is always a busy day for some reason.

Yesterday I woke up and went for a jog, and then started my Christmas baking.  Four hours of Christmas baking.


Running clothes still on.
With my Christmas apron.
And my cap turned around... because that's when you know the baking has gotten serious. ;)

I appreciate that Jason documented this snazzy look.

Caroline started running a fever that afternoon.  :(  Jason stayed home with her while Sarah and Jack went with me to church for our Christmas Eve service.

While we were gone, Gran came to visit Caroline and gave her an early Christmas gift to cheer her up.  It's no fun being sick on Christmas Eve.

Thank you, Gran! :)

Christmas Eve Eve

This is a picture post.  Minimal explanation required. :)

On the 23rd we went over to Mom's house to have the Fishero Christmas.  We open all cousin presents and presents from my Mom and Dad.

It's tradition.

Stopping here for a sec... This is my favorite pic of the night.  Aunt Hilary reading instructions to Jack with Kate on her back.

Being silly.  Documenting the MOMENT we got our presents from Hil.

Michael Kors flip flops. Woo hoo!! And you can't see it from the pic, but they are gorgeous.  So glad my toenails were painted red. :)

TOMS for the boys. Super great, super comfy shoes. 

The new tradition we started that night was a cousins sleepover.  Rachel came home with us.  Jack went home with Alex.  I think the kids really had a good time together. 

Merry Christmas Eve Eve!