We had a fantastic Christmas this year, and it started out with the bonus of two snow days for me. After those days, which passed so quickly getting ready for all the Christmas parties and traveling, it was off to the races as we just went from one fun event to the next. Our highlights...
Thursday, December 20: "Oh, no - you two are on the naughty list."
Thursday was the last straw in some behavior issues we'd been having for the last couple of months regarding the girls treatment of Brian. Mostly, Miss Grace was this issue here, but Liv wasn't being ideal either...basically, both of them were just being plain old mean to Brian. He couldn't do anything...get a kiss, give a kiss, tuck into bed, pour cereal, read books, etc. This was, to say the least, both hurtful and frustrating; we'd talked about Santa quite a bit, and the girls love the song "Santa's Coming to Town," so we decided to follow through with the idea of the naughty list. I'd sent the girls to daycare so I could work on grading for the day; when they came home, the presents were hidden away and a note on the tree read this:
Dear Olivia and Grace,
I saw you be naughty this morning. You have not been very nice to your daddy. You must learn to listen and to be kind. Otherwise, there will be no presents on Christmas. Be good and don't hurt other people's feelings.
Santa.
I have to say...this note turned out to be quite effective; it was amazing the turn-around. And, while, by no means, are my girls perfect angels, they developed some angelic qualities after this note made it's appearance. Thank you Santa...next year, I'm getting "Elf-on-the-Shelf" too!
Sunday, December 23: Max, Mya, and Ivy arrive!!!
As always, hanging with their cousins, is a favorite of the girls. They were so excited for the Hoden family to arrive and jumped into playing. As Beth said in her blog...we never have had to break up a fight between these five. They had a blast playing both at our house and at Pat and Roger's, sledding, and burning off energy at Luther. (Sledding post and pictures coming soon!)
Monday, December 24 (morning): Santa came!
We wrote a note to Santa explaining how the girls had tried to be good the last couple of days in order to earn their presents back. After this - which included Olivia writing "I love you, Santa" - we tried to bribe him even more with some cookies and a carrot for Rudolph. I guess, it worked because all the presents were back under the tree Christmas morning! By far, the favorite presents were the ballet outfits (Liv's wearing hers in the pictures), play cookie set, and puzzles.
Monday, December 24 (evening): An evening at the Huinker's
Sunday afternoon we headed up to Pat and Roger's for more gift-opening and appetizers; we all officially over-ate and decided that next year we're separating appetizer night from "official Christmas dinner night." It was fun watching the kids open gifts and play with everything! I have a feeling that this year along with the next few are going to be the best; I love how they get so excited and happy for others who get cool presents too! The highlights of the evening were the kids riding around on the
batter-operated "motorcycle" Beth got for the girls from a friend
who didn't want it any longer and the baby dolls with long hair! Later in the evening, the kids' belief in Santa was further strengthened when he officially made an appearance; Liv and Grace were a bit shy (okay, a lot shy), but they were definitely intrigued!
Matching expressions...
Not so sure about this Santa...but, hey, where'd he go???
Tuesday, December 25: Thornton Festivities
We left the house by 8:00 on Christmas morning leaving only one present standing lonely under the tree - and, since it was for a gift exchange and I claimed that as my gift, all worked out well. :) We had a great day - opening presents with just close family first and then extended family later in the day. The girls were troopers through all the activity; they both took mini-naps at some point and were in good moods despite being very short on sleep. The American Girl dolls were a huge hit, and they've continued to be so...not a day goes by that we don't spend time combing their hair!
Wednesday, December 26: "Home Sweet Messy Home"
We headed back home relatively early on Wednesday; Brian needed to work in the afternoon, and I didn't mind having more time to put the house together. The girls and I managed to go through old toys, packing many away while we made room for the new and played with pretty much everything!
Thanks to all who helped make our Christmas such a wonderful experience!
