So, for memories sake, here's a very brief peak at December!
We always welcome our elves the weekend after Thanksgiving. Our tradition in the past has been a special "North Pole Breakfast" , and this year was no different! As a mom, it's been so fun to develop yearly traditions and special things that we do...just us. Loving and living! :) As I mentioned before, we now have 2 boy elves and a girl. We welcomed back Mac Jingles and Ella Twirl, and Grady got his very own elf to name and love this year! After some thought, he decided on Charlie Tinguin! Penguins are his favorite things right now...except to him they aren't penguins, but tinguins. ;) I think it's an absolute perfect name, and we had a blast with the three of them this year!
After our breakfast, we set out to the tree farm, pick out our tree and bring it home where the fun begins! :) Before bed, they each wrote their letter to Santa. This year was especially fun! I really think it gets more fun every year. Ada's request this year was of "glass slippers and a few little things". Grady wanted a reindeer. And Grayson wanted a fire station Lego set and drum set.
And just our elf fun round-up!
The elves left a random act of kindness countdown chain on the first day of December and this could have possibly been the highlight of the year! Each day we had a "job" and we had so much fun doing it! The first day was donating a bag of toys to those in need! I was so proud of how willing they were do each of these little acts of kindness. We had such a wonderful time putting quarters in candy machines at the mall, making cookies for special people who may need a smile, socks for the homeless filled with self care items. It was such a fun thing to do and definitely something we will continue in years to come!
Some days our elves were silly and sometimes they delivered important messages, but always a sweet little reminder of Jesus! ;)
"Keep your heart pure and clean!"
Donating food to acts.
Reading the story of Christmas and "Love each other with a warm love!"
Happy Birthday, Jesus! And our advent candles :)
Countdown. Mac Jingles had a piano recital himself, the same day as Grayson's! ;)
"Go the extra mile for one another!". Once again reminding us why we celebrate and they even got caught in the fridge, "share joy and friendship with one another and others."
They had lots of fun decorating gingerbread houses.
This year Grayson was a narrator in the church play and also played two piano pieces to start the play. He really enjoyed his "big boy" role, and he made us very proud! Ada played a very sweet Mary in the church play and was very tender and loving with baby Jesus! <3
One of our standing traditions is a polar express night. We have the best time with this...the kids don't see it coming! ;) We tuck them in and then we blast a train whistle, Daddy calls for the train riders and they get their ticket punched and hop aboard. The big kids had a fun time with a Christmas light scavenger hunt this year. I've said it already, but the older they get the more fun these things are. Hopefully these fun family memories will last for years to come!
They each left their kid a sweet note and a little picture decoration. They thought this was so funny! :)
Couldn't miss making reindeer food! Wouldn't want to leave out the hardworking, tired reindeer!
Before the elves departed on Christmas Eve, they children were able to get one small hug and kiss. They really begin to fall in love with these little guys and they learn so much from them. I know some aren't fans of the elves, but we just all enjoy it and we shall continue to for several more years. :)
Christmas Eve is such a fun day! We did it a little different this year and opened our gifts to one another. That was fun, because it had their full attention so they really were able to notice what they individually picked for each other and what mom and dad got them. We started with Grayson as a baby getting him something to wear, something to read and something special for gift giving. It works well, keeps us on a budget and isn't overwhelming! It was non-traditional to open on Christmas Eve, but we enjoyed it and will probably continue to do that! We also got our birthday cake for Jesus made and some family visiting done.
And Christmas Day! It was merry and magic and so wonderful! We always sing happy birthday to Jesus before even the first gift is opened and then they can dive in. We also abide by a 3 gift rule for Christmas. If three was good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for them...or that's what we say! ;)
This Christmas was very family focused and very wonderful! We already can't wait until next year! I thought I enjoyed Christmas as a kid...I'm pretty sure I didn't enjoy it half as much as I do now! ;)
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