Whirlwind

Oh I may be a bit behind, but here is to catching up...........

This was meant for last week and well it is pre Christmas fun. Then we had an ice storm and the rest is history so excuse the catching up. 

The new favorite game is peek-a-boo behind the columns.

A few things we have done as tradition every holiday season has been an Advent Calendar that I made. I never would have guessed that would have been the favorite thing for them to do everyday. It was though. Also, we made a chain to countdown until Christmas. They also loved that. 

They also have gone back to taking Anthony's hat when they can and wearing it. 

They also like to wear my cooking aprons........

These two could spend hours looking at the tree and playing near it. Lilliana would ask for me to take her pictures every day while she looked at it. 

More Christmas tomorrow I hope............

Santa Claus

This year was a year of firsts regarding Santa Claus. We have always not done Santa. We have read about St. Nicholas and focused on Jesus' birth. This year Lilliana has been talking about Santa coming and bringing presents. Eli would tell her he wasn't real and it would start a fight. I just finally said enough don't bother her. 

Every year they do the Christmas Light Parade through town. It always ends with Santa and Mrs. Claus coming through. They are a wonderful couple that does this. Really they are amazing and so generous with their time. After the parade there is always gatherings downtown and you can go and see Santa. 

We decided to walk down and see Santa this year. Before we left I had a talk with Eli about seeing him. I explained you can not yell while waiting that Santa is not real. Other families do things different than we do and that won't be nice. He agreed. Right before he left he said, "I am going to believe like the other kids." Anthony and I just said ok. At this point I think we have realized they know the truth and let them decide what they want to do. We also bought a book about St. Nicholas. I know deep down Eli knows the truth, but he likes the fun of it. He likes the magic of it and the pretend part. 

My poor kids waited in line for an hour to see Santa. They were awesome though! Out of all the kids there except the few in front of us I think they were the best behaved. 

Then it was time. Lilliana went first. 

She asked for a pink present for Christmas. Nothing specific, she just wants a pink present. 

Then it was Eli's turn. 

Eli asked for an electric toothbrush. He is insistent that Santa will bring it. He also was very worried when the shelf with the stockings fell, that Santa wouldn't be able to find his stocking to put his toothbrush in. Silly kid. 

Then Ari went. He was not too sure, but he held Santa's hand. 

I am glad they went as they really had fun. 

Snow Days

We started this month with not much snow. I was a bit disappointed as Texas seemed to have more than we did. Well God made up for that and last week we began to get PLENTY!! We have enjoyed it many days........

I have to laugh at the mismatched arrays of snow gear. Ari's are probably the best. He has a matching coat for those pants, but it is too big so he is wearing a different one. 

Then I pulled the kids around in the sled......

Then Eli asked to pull them. He was a bit frustrated with two so we went to one. Lilliana of course loved that. Ari did NOT. He screamed and was out as quick as could be. 

We ran errands and well this was Lilliana's attire for that sunglasses in snow that is falling of course and everything PINK!

Then we got even more snow and it was a bit warmer so I did what I have wanted to do and did some night snow photos. Snow at night is magical. It is not touched usually and just so perfect! I prefer to take the kids out to play at night in it. It always seems to fall the most then too. 

Lilliana has this coat that was given to her (yes, she has more coats than needed all given). I got it when she was a baby and I have been dying for her to wear it. Finally this year she can!! She looks adorable too. She is always up for photos too. She asks me frequently to take her pictures so we went out for this. She braved it even though it was cold. 

The next morning we went out for some daylight photos to show off that coat. She LOVED it. We took a nap and when I woke up she told me it was snowing again and wanted to know if I wanted to get her all dressed up to go take more pictures. She really is my perfect muse. 

After I took her I grabbed Eli and we headed to the school to play. We were hoping to sled down the hill, but it was not working with the sled we brought with us. As we were walking back I asked to hold his hand. He told me he didn't need to because he was big enough to walk beside me on the road. I wanted to cry. So I gave him a hard time about not needing me anymore. He preceded to tell me, "Mom I need you sometimes. I just don't need you to walk this way anymore because I am big enough to do it on my own." I gave him a hard time and then he proceeded to run and say we were having a race. Silly boy. He is getting too big. 

Ari was inside with Anthony all this time. He was very sick. The other two have since caught it and it has been a long couple of nights up with coughing kids. Thankfully we seem to be on the upswing of things and I hope they are better soon. Here is to hoping we keep our snow and have a white Christmas.