Christmas Morning

Christmas morning was an exciting and very fun morning. The whole day was festive, and the girls seemed to enjoy everything. 

I did a haul on what we were buying the girls for Christmas. It all still stands. But many family members sent the girls money and asked that we buy them something on their behalf. Since I felt like they were getting plenty, I decided to pass some of the gifts we had gotten them to those to claim. As you can see, they didn't go without. Everyone sent way more than we could have ever expected, and we are thankful and appreciative of everyone who thought about the girls during this time.

Here are a few photos!

Secret Santa Christmas Party

I hosted a Secret Santa Christmas Party for the kids here in the area. We had a lot of fun. I had someone come as Santa and Mr. Man was Rudolph. This was the only time I got a family picture, and the only time I could get A to sit on Santa's lap.

Licking a balloon?

Getting her secret Santa gift. 

Mr. Man as Rudolph with each of the girls.

One of the only family photos.

They loved the balloons.

Time to eat! 

The Family Tree

About two weeks before Christmas, we were able to get a tree to our house and start setting it up. It was an interesting experience. The girls wanted to get into everything. Mr. Man and I were busy setting up the tree. When we turned around, most of the ornaments and tinsels were all over the house. 

Some of my favorite pictures from the day:

All the kiddos!

Making sure all the lights work.

Digging in the ornaments.

A's School Play

Every year, the Italian school that A attends does a school play. It's a Christmas play, and it is mostly caroling. It takes place the Thursday or Friday before they get out for their break, and it is late in the evening (8pm). This year was of course A's first year, so we were excited to bring her.

Three days before this event, we discovered she had an ear infection. It was causing her to throw up and her cold to relapse. We got her some antibiotics and she was feeling better instantly. Luckily, she was able to attend her play.

She was very excited about the play. She was always eager to practice for it, and she always insisted she stayed at school during the whole practice. When she got sick, I was devastated that she may not get to go and attend the actual event. Thankfully, she was able too.

She really didn't do much singing. Mostly staring and wondering why so many people were in the room watching her. She said, "we didn't practice that part Mommy." She was start struck. The priest for the church also spoke. Of course it was Italian so Mr. Man and I really didn't understand much, if anything. He did talk to her and share some jokes and so on. A replied to him and then laughed. She even clapped when he was done. That was about the most she did for the event.

It was fun and she still talks about it. It was fun to watch the kids interact and place their faces with their parents. It was interesting to see who A enjoyed being around and who she wasn't as interested in.

She starts back school next week. She terribly misses it. Just about every morning, she tells me she is ready for big girl school and ready to see her teachers.She misses them.

Christmas Tree Lighting

Mr. Man was on nights during the first week in December. It was the week that all the fun things were going on. There was the Christmas Tree Lighting, Visit with Santa, the Harlem Globetrotters, and Duck Dynasty. Unfortunately, we didn't get to do much since it was me and the girls and all the events were too late (7pm-later).

We did go to the Christmas tree lighting. I needed to run to the post office, and it was taking place right on the side of the post office. Santa would be making his arrival as well, on a firetruck.

It was fun. The announced the card winners, and then they counted down to the tree lighting. Frosty, Rudolph, Mrs. Claus, and a nutcracker were all there. Santa later arrived by firetruck. You could wait in line to see him as well. They even were serving hot cocoa and cookies.

It was pretty chilly out so both girls were dressed all nice and warm, in their cute hats and big coats. In fact, I had E in a snowsuit. 

A got to see and play with all the characters. I only took a couple of photos though. 

A insisted we wait in line to see Santa. She really, really wanted to see Santa, but when we actually got up to him and it was her turn, she cried and just stared. I gave him E to see if that would persuade her to go see him, but it didn't work. I did manage to get a picture of E with him though. 

Then we had to run to the BX. Right inside the BX they had a dancing Santa. If you step on his little plate that he is standing on, he will sing and dance for you. She wasn't afraid of him so this became her Santa picture ;) 

Not the best picture, forgive me. But I did get a picture of the tree once it was lit. A absolutely loved it. Every time we were in the area, she insisted on us walking by to see it. 

Decorating for Christmas:

I'm going to back track some since it has been a while since I blogged. I really just want to document this past holiday season, so I will start with where I left off and never got the chance to write about. Once Mr. Man had gotten off of work, it became family time and strictly our break away from the everyday things we do. For me, this included the blog also because I wanted to spend every second with the girls and Mr. Man. We've had a lot of fun. We've had an amazing Christmas, and our New Year is looking bright too!

At the beginning of December, we made the decision to allow A to have her own little Christmas tree in her bed room. We were having a hard time finding the time to grab a tree because we always use a real one. The hours to pick one up and the struggles to tie it on the top of the car to drive to the house is really always time consuming and causes us to put a tree up only a week or two before Christmas. Always a bummer....

This year A put up two Christmas trees at school. She loved it and constantly told me she wanted one at our house. Since we had a prelit 3 feet tree that is never used anymore, we decided to pull it out and let it be her's until we could get the family tree. This turned out to be the most amazing idea ever.

She spent an hour one day putting it together and decorating it. Her own little Christmas tree in her room, on her bed side table, that soon turned into her lamp.

She used the base as a hat.

Helped Mr. Man fluff the tree.

What it looked like in her room.

She saw me taking pictures and went and grabbed her camera to take her own.

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E and myself just hung out and watched the fun.