Christmas Part 2

Brooklyn has the coolest school teacher ever.

Let me tell you just one small reason why I think this.

She decided that the kids would benefit from an evening caroling through the neighborhood.

She had to boldly advertise that this was not a school event.

It was her event.  

Her spare time.  

Just because she wanted to create memories for her students.

Awesomeness.

We loaded up our crew and spent the evening bringing a little joy to a handful of families.

It was planned many weeks in advance, 

but happened to land on the evening of the tragedy at Sandy Hook.

Hearing the kids with their teacher and families singing songs about our Savior brought a little peace to my heart that day.

Here are a few of her classmates.

(With a handful of siblings thrown in.)

All acting like their most charming selves.

The whole time we were out caroling, 

Bradley kept asking if it was time to have hot chocolate yet.

Clearly, that's what he came for.

Unfortunately for him, the comfort of the rolling stroller and Christmas carols was just too much for him.

He didn't make it to hot chocolate time.

And neither did Aubrey.

But I did want to eat their little faces.

I think that's just more cuteness than one stroller can possibly handle.

In other Christmas tradition news,

we did bust out a gingerbread house.

Well, actually grandma came to the rescue and gave us a kit.

Which is pretty much awesome.

Although, thanks to the Hansel & Gretel syndrome we seem to be experiencing,

these bad boys definitely weren't around to see Christmas.

Upon inspection of the picture above, 

I should mention that even though it looks like Jack is in pain due to Dave giving him a giant ear twist,

I do not believe that was the case.

We do like to give those floppy ears a twist here and there

(only in love, of course).

On second thought, after consulting the father,

he believes that he just might have been twisting that ear.

I guess we'll never know for sure.

Because there must always be one,

here is our most refined picture of the kids in their Christmas clothes.

Not bad, right?

Although don't let Jack fool you.

In every other one of the 6 million pictures,

he was slumping, or pouting or just generally giving me a full spectrum of faces and body language that says,

"Why must we always take these ridiculous pictures?"

Only to torture you, my boy.

Only to torture you.

Whenever we are in S. California,

we like to make sure we stop in for a visit with Nan Maureen.

(Who happens to be the most adorable and hilarious person, ever.)

She got Jack to sweeten up.

And Bradley is taking his 'guardian of the 20 dollar bill' job very seriously.

Christmas Part 1

I felt particularly festive this year.

We were spending our first Christmas at home

which seemed to light a new flame within me.

At the beginning of December,

I strapped my boots on and got prepared to have a wonderful and memorable Christmas.

Which we did.

BUT, there are certainly a few things that I will do differently next year.

When we got the tree out, 

I realized that it looked kind of pathetic with only a few decorations and no garland.

No garland?

We can fix that.

We will have a lovely family moment where we sing Christmas carols, drink hot chocolate and enjoy one another's company while we string popcorn for our tree.

Riiiight.

This looks more like reality, right?

Mother stringing, pouting Jack, naked Aubrey, busy Father, missing Bradley,

and picture taking Brooklyn. 

That could be some kind of Christmas carol of it's own, don't you think?

Needless to say, that wasn't exactly how I had envisioned it.

It didn't take me long to switch to Fruit Loops only.

Popcorn is kind of hard to string - no wonder the kids were prematurely quitting their post.

Well, after what felt like hours of stringing Fruit Loops,

our tree looked a bit more cheery.

Only to be repeatedly attacked.

We have our own little Hansel & Gretel at our house.

By the time this tree came down, we were missing the Fruit Loops on the whole bottom half.

Despite a fair amount of grumbling over the garland,

they all loved decorating the tree.

Or in Aubrey's case,

she loved decorating that ONE branch.

I just loved this picture that I caught of my girls hanging ornaments.

Once we prepared the house, the real fun began.

Now, I know this is a controversial topic, 

but I am personally a HUGE fan.

I have been wanting one for a few years,

but struggled to dish out the $30.  (Thanks grandma!)

Our elf's name is Roy.

And I am not sure who enjoyed the tradition more - the kids, or me?

One morning the kids came into the kitchen to find Roy flying through the air!

Brooklyn was beside herself with excitement.

She knew that Roy could fly.

And this proved it!

She ran upstairs to tell Jack.

(picture beyond giddy excitement)

Jack walked in the room,

stood there with one hand on his hip and said,

"I can see a string."

Then he sat down to eat his Cheerios.

Well Merry Christmas to you too, Jack.