Christmas!

The weekend before Christmas, our elf returned from the North Pole with Christmas pajamas for the kids.  They were so excited. :)

We made another trip to the local Christmas light display with our friends who recently moved here from Indiana (we have friends!!!).  They have a 7 year old daughter and an almost 4 year old son.  We have a great time with them!  The kids all enjoyed playing in the fake snow and drinking hot chocolate in the 80 degree weather. :)

I had the great idea to bake cookies with the kids while Matt was at work one morning.  I should have known that finger licking, dough sampling, and all out craziness could not be avoided without a 1:1 ratio of adults to kids.  So, we ended up with some very sloppy, germ filled cookies.  But the kids had a blast. :)

Santa didn't seem to mind how sloppy they were though. :)

The kids were soooo excited Christmas morning.

 

After checking out their stockings, they went right to work opening their gifts from Santa.

Charlie received a remote control dinosaur.

Reese was thrilled to discover the Snow White dress she asked for. :)

She was reasonably happy with the chapstick she received in lieu of the lipstick she requested. :)

Charlie is absolutely OBSESSED with all things Toy Story. He had a great Christmas!!

My sister and I made homemade cinnamon rolls on Christmas Eve. They were delicious!

We headed to my sister's house to have a nice lunch and exchange gifts. We had a great time with her family, my mom, and grandma. We missed my dad, but were able to Skype with him while we opened gifts, which was nice.  He will be here this month! :)  Unfortunately, I somehow don't have pictures from our Christmas celebration at Jacqi's. :(

Our excitement continued after Christmas.  Jordan, Olivia, Audrina, and Beckett made the journey through the night to come and see us.  None of the kids knew they were coming to visit.  These kids have been missing each other so much, especially the girls.  Audrina even had Reese at the top of her Christmas list this year, which concerned Reese a little because she wasn't sure how Santa would fit her in a box to get her there. :)  

Anyways, Olivia's kids thought they were driving until they found somewhere warm enough to swim.  My kids thought they were staying up late because the UPS man was bringing our family one last Christmas surprise.  The kids' reactions when they saw each other was a little surprising.  We expected screaming, jumping up and down, etc.  But it was very quiet!  They almost seemed stunned and confused to see each other.  I think they were all extremely tired, and honestly just didn't know how to react. They were SO happy to see each other though, and the crazy quickly kicked in and had them up playing until after 11! 

On Saturday, we headed to the beach. It was the first time their kids had seen the ocean, and they loved it.  Audrina became quite the seashell collector--she's an official beach bum! :)

The last few times we have been to the beach, there have been a lot of jellyfish, which is a real bummer.  We saw this freaking looking guy chilling in the sand. 

We headed to South Beach on Sunday.  We had a yummy lunch at Big Pink and then the kids got to play at the beach a little again.

Such a cute crew!!!!

We made a zoo trip on New Year's Eve.  The zoo was very quiet, which was great! 

Their family left early Friday morning to head up to Disney for a couple days.  The kids keep asking when they're coming back.  It was really such a great time having them here!  

The kids have been staying busy playing with all of their new Christmas gifts.  Reese is really loving little Lego sets right now that she can follow directions to build things.  

Reese did her first 300 piece puzzle yesterday.  As a puzzle lover, it was soooo hard to sit and encourage her and not do the whole dang thing, but I behaved and gave her minimal help with the hard parts.  She was so proud when she finished!  Unfortunately, we are missing one piece. :(

She has been loving playing UNO.

She also got Connect 4 for Christmas.  She is enjoying playing, but having a harder time catching on to how it works.  We are finding she is a pretty sore loser, but she sure has no problem gloating when she wins! :)

Reese and I got to sneak in a quick run together yesterday too. :)

I have to take a minute to mama brag.  When the Andersons left, they left gift bags for the kids.  In Reese's bag, there was an early reader Frozen book.  It was just a little book with simple sentences. 

Reese wanted to read it right away, so I started reading the first couple pages to her and she said, "Wait, wait!  I think I can read this one!"  So, I stopped reading, and she took over.  She was able to read me the whole book with minimal help.  It was incredible!  

So that afternoon, we took a trip to the library and I picked up a handful of other early reader books that are at the same level.  Last night at bedtime, Reese picked out three bedtime stories as usual, but this time, she chose one for me to read to her and two for her to read to me.  Reese read bedtime stories to ME.  It was one of the most amazing and proud parenting moments I have experienced so far.  I sat there smiling and fighting tears the whole time.  I am SO incredibly proud of her.  

I think that's it for now.  Chuck, Mary, and Brian are heading down next weekend for a visit and to celebrate a belated Christmas with us, and we can't wait!!!!