Christmas Eve 2015

We made it to Christmas Eve!!  It was touch and go there for a while!  Just kidding - it's been a fast paced fall and I'm happy that we have two weeks off from school to recover a bit before we jump back into the grind!  Tonight we had our traditional dinner of Chinese food - and after a year and a half here, we finally found a good place!!  The kids opened a present from us and a present from their siblings.  The Christmas Eve present opening is kind of a fluid tradition and changes based on what's going on each year and how old the kids are.  They seem to really enjoy opening a few presents and they really enjoy playing with the few things that they get - new jammies and a toy or two - pure magic!!!

A new scooter AND a BB8 sweatshirt!

Car carrier truck!

 A fluffy lap blanket from Aoife!

 Frozen legos!!

 Gramma and Daddy Jim enjoying the chaos:

 Headphones and more legos!

 a Stuffie!!

 gotta get those legos done!

Decorating Cookies on Christmas Eve

 I had made a whole bunch of cut out cookies with the intention of decorating them for Christmas but, let's be honest, that wasn't going to happen this year.  I made a bunch of buttercream frosting and got out all of the Christmas sprinkles and let Emmy and Aoife go at it.  It kept them busy for HOURS and they were so happy to do it.  The cookies turned out great, they had fun and I didn't have to stay up super late at night to get them done!!

Merrifield Gardens - Round 2

We went back to Merrifield today to actually buy ornaments and enjoy all of the beautiful trees in the garden center!  It was a great activity for a day before Christmas that was pouring rain!  Gramma and Daddy Jim came with us and we found a whole bunch of ornaments!!!

Emmy pretending to sleep:

Declan on the sleigh:

Visiting Santa at Merrifield Gardens

 We spent our afternoon at Merrifield Gardens today visiting Santa.  I thought it would be a quick trip but we ended up standing in line for three hours before we got to see the big guy!  In the end it was all worth it and even Declan sat on Santa's lap and didn't cry!!!  Afterwards, everyone was pretty hungry and we finished up the afternoon at the Silver Diner for some locally sourced hamburgers and milkshakes!  :)

Milkshakes for everyone!!

Christmas Cookies

 I've felt like I have been behind the eight ball this year and I haven't made as many cookies as I normally do but I was able to get a bunch of cookies decorated and they are pretty cute!  It's been a while since I've piped icing and my skills are a bit rusty but these were pretty simple and came out cute - they don't last long around here though - we've got some cookie monsters here!!

Declan's Christmas Pageant

 Declan's school had their Christmas pageant today and it was beyond hysterical!  The older kids went on first and then the Happy Apples came on to sing some carols.  Declan was super smiley and happy to be wearing his halo and wings (which I thought would never happen) but his pants were falling down during the first half until a teacher noticed and pulled them up!  He also thought that it would be good to turn around and talk to the person sitting behind him - so we got to see his wings for a little while!  After the pageant, they went back to the classroom for a snack.  They are seriously the cutest!!

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The Happy Apples build Gingerbread Houses

 Declan's class built gingerbread houses today in school.  Declan was not interested at all in building the house but he was very interested in shoving as much candy into his mouth as quickly as possible.  It was funny to watch the kids - some loved building the house and covered the entire house and plate with candy and frosting and then there were kids like Declan who just wanted to eat the candy!  Too cute - they are all getting big quickly!!