Christmas 2011

Christmas has become more and more exciting since Grace was born.  This year was definitely the best yet.  Three is such a fun age at Christmastime.  Not sure if it was more fun for her or for me.

Dave, Grace and I enjoyed a Christmas Eve church service together as a family, and then had dinner with my parents and brother.  Grace loved spending more time with her Uncle Seth and Grandma and Grandpa. When we got home that night, I put the finishing touches on everything for Christmas morning while Dave put Grace to bed.  Grace woke up around eight o'clock and had a great time opening gifts, despite the fact that she was a little miffed that she received a purple camera instead of a pink one (she blamed Dave for the screw-up).  But she did get a pink phone and a pink guitar, so I think that made up for the purple camera.

We didn't spend too much time talking about Santa before Christmas, but did read "Twas the Night Before Christmas" a few times and watched the Veggie Tales movie about Saint Nicholas, who was a Christian and would disguise himself when he went out  to give gifts to those less fortunate.  Great movie for kids. 

Christmas afternoon was spent with my family opening gifts and making a rather labor-intensive horseradish encrusted beef tenderloin.  It was very good, though.

Today was spent with Dave's family.  We opened gifts in the morning and then my sister-in-law Lisa and I took Grace and Megan to see We Bought a Zoo (which was very cute).  Then we dined on prime rib and homemade pies.  Grace and Megan put on lots of dance routines for us while we all sat on the sidelines with stuffed bellies and watched.

Tomorrow is our last Christmas with the Lower side.  More food and more fun.  Not sure how much more food I can take, but I'm looking forward to the fun part.  

The Night Before

The face says it all--she loves her "kintar"

This year she loved to open gifts

Love this little shopping cart

At Grandma and Grandpa's house

Getting her stocking

Bitty Baby-Grace's new favorite doll

Love

A purple accordion from Uncle Seth

 A new leotard for gymnastics this winter

Santa House 2011

Last night we braved the elements and went downtown to the Santa House in Midland.  It was freezing and so windy, and we debated (multiple times) throwing in the towel and coming back another night, but we stuck it out and eventually made our way inside.  After just moments inside, we were all sweating with our coats in hand, while poor Santa sat dressed in his coat and hat (and pants, of course), probably close to heat stroke with child after child climbing up on his lap.

After an hour of  waiting, we finally got to meet Santa and he looked so much like the "real thing", he almost made me a believer.  He was, of course, portly and had a real beard and a very gentle spirit. When we were at home Grace told me she was going to kiss Santa's beard.  Iwas so glad she changed her mind by the time we arrived. 

When it was Grace's turn to meet Santa she became pretty upset, saying she did not want to sit on Santa's lap. But she was brave and let Dave hold her while she talked to Santa, and  very quickly she relaxed and started smiling.  She let him know that she wanted  "a phone and a camera."  Santa told her he'd be bringing her some surprises, but that she needed to help out around the house and pick up her toys.  Hopefully she'll take his words to heart.

Jolly Old St. Nick

Candies are a sure way to her heart

Santa's Bells

Babies R Us

Big or small, she loves them all...

Getting in the Spirit

As much as I've wanted to, it's been hard for me to get into the Christmas spirit this year.  Because of the holidays, orders are coming in like crazy (which is a good thing), and I don't have time for much else. Grace, who usually is very good at playing independently, has reached her limit, too.  Now when she sees me open my laptop, she wants to sit on my lap and snuggle, and how can I say no to that?

We have managed to sneak in a few Christmastime activities here and there.  During the last hour of the last day of this year's collection, we dropped off our shoe box for Operation Christmas Child.  I can't recommend doing this enough-it has made a real difference in Grace.  It's helped her to understand that there are children in the world that don't have families or homes or food, and who don't receive gifts for Christmas. It's a very tangible way of showing that we care about others and want to help.

We let Grace pick the gender and age of the child we would give a box to and she chose a three year old girl. The three of us went shopping to fill our box, but let Grace pick out most of the items.  She never cried or made a fuss because she couldn't keep things for herself.  She was excited for the little girl to receive her gifts, which made my heart  happy. The best part is we get to track where the box goes and possibly have contact with the little girl who receives our box.
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Since I had two photo sessions on Saturday and the weather looked terrible for Sunday, we decided to get our Christmas tree Friday afternoon.  We met my parents at Doumel's Tree Farm.  While we waited for Dave, Dad cut down their tree.  I ended up going back to the pre-cut section and buying an 8 foot Fraser Fir that looked nicer than anything I could find in the field.  Grace enjoyed trudging around in the snow and watching the dogs at the farm chase each other around.  After the men folk loaded up the trees, we headed off to Bennigans for dinner. 

Decorating our tree has been a three day process.  Friday we bought the tree, Saturday Dave hung the lights, and this morning Grace and I decorated the tree together.  I can't count how many times I heard Grace say, "Wow, it's so beautiful!"

Last week Grace remarked that she wanted to write a letter to Santa.  She has been saying that she wants a camera, a phone and a green puppy, and apparently Santa needed to be made aware of this.  So, while Grace told me what she wanted to say, I wrote the words down for her.  She was pretty excited!

I'm hoping that I can get the majority of my work done in the next few days and that I can really enjoy the weeks to come. Three is going to be such a fun age for Christmas.  I can't wait!

First Snow Day

Tuesday night we got over six inches of snow and fortunately for Dave, he had his first snow day of the year.  Grace was super excited about the chance to play outside, but didn't last long after repeatedly taking off her mittens, trying to make snowballs with bare hands and then crying about how cold her hands were.  Not sure it was worth the hour it took to get both Grace and Graceyn ready for what seemed like five minutes spent outside.  But I'm on the hunt for some 3/4 length mittens and determined that next time will be way more fun.