Prepping For The Big Man

(For some reason the order of these pictures got very mixed up---sorry)

The 2 days before Christmas were full of giddiness and excitement in our home!  Rhonald was working so the kids and I stayed in and prepped for Santa.  We made Christmas cookies (and ate a few), we read all of our Christmas books one last time.  We danced to Christmas songs...oh how we danced!  We made Reindeer food to sprinkle on the front lawn.  We talked about Christmas and the fun it brings and also about Jesus and the real reason we celebrate.  We kind of holed up at home...wearing our jammies and enjoying the quiet.  It was wonderful and exciting and everything it should have been. 

Merry Christmas 2012

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!!!!

A Christmas Scavanger Hunt

I found the cutest idea on Pinterest the other day (Pinterest has made me a much more creative mommy for sure!) to do a Christmas Light Scavenger Hunt.  As soon as I saw it I knew it would be something that Cole would love to do...and I was right!  After a busy afternoon and a yummy dinner we all piled in the car, turned up the Christmas music and headed out on our hunt.  Luckily we live near a very festive neighborhood and we were able to find lots of items pretty easily (that always helps to keep the kids interested).  We ended up driving to several neighborhoods to find our items.  We were all getting in to it and Cole kept saying "We have to do this again next year!"  Rhonald treated us all to Egg Nog Milkshakes from a local ice cream shop (yum-0) since it was 65 degrees outside and that made the night even sweeter!  We didn't find everything on our list which really bugged Cole...he actually said, "C'mon guys!  Searcy's never give up!"  But we were all a bit tired from the day so we headed home.  It was a really fun memory to make and something I can see we will definitely do again in the future.

The Square

When I got Rhonald's December schedule I instantly starting filling his days off with Christmas activities.  One thing that I have always wanted to do was take our family to the square and walk around.  We have always driven thru, which is beautiful, but I knew I wanted to really experience it this year.  I was so happy that I chose a week night for this activity because it was pretty dead and we did not have to wait in line for anything.  Although it was freezing outside the night on the square did not disappoint.  There were camel rides, pony rides, carriage rides, junk food and 500,000 beautiful Christmas lights.  We had not planned on visiting with the Big Man while we were down there....I actually did not know he was there....but when we saw a sign for Santa we knew we had to visit.  Before we got to see Santa we got to meet "baby Rudolph" who is so used to being spoiled and fed by visitors he nearly ate a hole in my coat!  Cole was so into it and truly believes that we saw Rudolph's baby last night....we love it!  Cole has always loved seeing Santa.  I do not have one picture of him crying or being afraid.  This year he was so excited...he has had his list of 3 items down since October.  He knew what he wanted to ask for, however things changed a bit when he hopped up in Santa's lap.  If you have ever seen the movie A Christmas Story you know what happened next....Cole froze.  My sweet boy looked at Santa in awe and smiled so big and could not remember his list.  It was so sweet and so funny.  He looked up at me and whispered, "tell him!  tell him!"  and so I did tell him, while Lily Kate clung to me for dear life and Cole stared up at Santa with a crazy look on his face.  Lily would have no part in sitting with Santa, something we totally expected, and that is fine.  She will have her time....maybe next year.  It was a night full of magic and laughter and fun!  A new tradition for us for sure.  Rhonald summed it up when we got back in the car to go home. Loaded with cotton candy, runny noses and good memories, he said, "That was so awesome!"  And it was.

Cookie Decorating 101

 

Who doesn't love a good Christmas cookie?  In this house we love them and we also love the idea of decorating them with friends.  Ben and Claire came over this week and we had so much fun....and made such a mess....decorating cookies.  This was Lily's first time to be in on the action and she totally loved it!  And, in true Lily fashion, she ate as many as she decorated.  I think Cole's main goal was to get as much frosting on each cookie as he possibly could.  It was so much fun to see these kids, who have been friends since birth, decorating cookies and talking about Santa and all things Christmas.  Once they had decorated as many cookies as they wanted the kids ran off the play and Kellie and I decorated.  We both agreed that it was so nice to be able to let them play alone upstairs while we sat in the kitchen talking and decorating cookies.  The laughter was so loud that we knew everyone was having fun.  I just can't describe how lucky we feel to have such amazing friends to live life with.  We are truly blessed. 

A Gingerbread Tradition

I love a good tradition and as the kids get older we are finally feeling like certain things are traditions for our family.  One of those being building a gingerbread house.  Lately things between Cole and Lily Kate have been....rather territorial.  Lily wants everything Cole has and that was ok with him for a while but now he is tired of it and fights back.  Thinking that this project might take a turn for the worse I went ahead and bought 2 gingerbread house kits.  Brilliant idea!  It was really fun and we made it a "girls vs boys" kind of thing.  The kids loved having their own houses to decorate and one on one time with a parent.  Lily was so silly about it....and ate half of the candy in our packet.  Cole was having fun but was a bit more serious and only ate 1 gumball so that he would have enough candy to decorate the whole house.  Such a great example of their personalities.  The kids still look at the houses everyday and have fun talking about them.  Rhonald and I had so much fun working with them as well...drinking egg nog and singing along with Alvin and the Chipmunks Christmas album.  You really have to love a good family tradition!

Lily Kate's first Haircut

This past Tuesday we took Lily to get her very first haircut.  We had not really thought about it doing it honestly....I wanted her hair to grow long and beautiful....and then someone said something like, "the shaggy look is so cute on Lily."  Well, that did it.  It opened my eyes to the real truth.  Her hair was growing in all different ways and lengths and maybe a little trim would do her some good.  Lily is so shy I really thought she would have a hard time with this so I took Rhonald to help me.  I thought he and Cole would play and I would stay with Lily.  Well, Lily had other plans.  She was very excited about her haircut and we talked about it all morning.  When we got to the salon she jumped into Rhonald's arms and would not let go.  It was so sweet and Rhonald beamed with joy that he was the "chosen one" to protect her at that moment.  One thing about Lily - she is brave.  She has never cried when being dropped off at Sunday School or Mother's Day Out, rarely does she cry with a babysitter.  Even when she is nervous or unsure she just gets quiet and that is just what she did for her haircut.  The candy cane did help a little too I think :).  Our sweet girl looks so darn cute and grown up after her little "trim."  I am so glad we did it!!!