December Activities and Christmas 2014

Whew!!  We had one busy, fun month around here at the Israel house.  I am always equal parts sad to see the holiday season end and glad to see it end.  Between the girls school parties, choir shows, office and friend holiday parties, neighborhood functions, and other activities, we had 26 invitations of things to attend and do...26 - that's a ton.  We couldn't do everything, especially with a little baby, but we tried to do as much as we could - and now that it's all over we are ready to sleep for a month!!

I don't have pictures for everything and some are on my phone, but I will do a quick recap of some of the highlights of our month!

I took the girls to the Mountain Brook Christmas parade with some of our friends.  It was a lot of fun and the girls loved seeing the "real live" Santa ride in the fire truck at the end of the parade.  Right after that we headed to the zoo for Zoolight Safari with some of our college friends.  It was BSC alumni night and we had a great time running into people that we haven't seen in years.

Caroline had a choir show and a school performance.  She was fantastic in both!!  She had a speaking part in the school show - and I was so proud.  She remembered her line and was the cutest one up there.  Not that I am biased or anything.  Also, the same day as her choir show she had her visitor week at dance.  She was GREAT!!  She knew all the steps and was happy to show them off for a room full of visitors!  Her teacher, Ms. Laci, is simply wonderful and let AP join in the class at the end.  That sweet girl cannot wait to take dance.  Now that she is potty trained we will let her take class!!

This is from the choir show.  She insisted on wearing her "big sister" medal for the show.  She was so cute!  The girl can really project...

These are from her school show.  Her class was the donkeys from the manger.

Ann Parker was one happy little girl!  One of her best buddies, Anna Glenn, sat right behind us.  Her big sister is the same age as Caroline.  AP and AG are in the same class at school and spend most of the day holding hands.  Precious girls.  I also love that they are playing with hair brushes.  So silly!

Adam;s office had a Cookies with Santa event at the office.  It was so cute!  Caroline sat on Santa's lap but AP did not.  She was scared and after the screaming Santa picture we got last year, I didn't force her.  I also decided not to take them to the mall.  After all, they did just see Santa and I didn't want to traumatize Ann Parker too much just for my own benefit.  I love a good screaming Santa picture...maybe next year!

Several other events are on my phone, so those pictures will come at another time.  On to Christmas...

Christmas was wonderful this year!  We loved celebrating Harrison's first Christmas holiday and every year with the girls gets more and more fun.  Caroline was so into it this year - even more so than last year.  They LOVED finding our elf, Leo, each morning.  It was the first thing they did each day.  I thought they were going to explode of excitement when Christmas Eve finally arrived.  We did some last minute errands and then went to Christmas Eve communion.  We made beef tenderloin, roasted potatoes, and broccoli casserole for dinner.  The girls made cookies for Santa and then they got to open two presents each.  Each year we get them Christmas jammies and a new Christmas book.  They got pj's that had Leo on them!!  Caroline's  book was Llama Llama Holiday Drama since she loves the Llama Llama books right now.  Ann Parker got Room for a Little One since she loves animals and she is our little one.  Harrison got Little Blue Truck's Christmas since he is a boy and every boy needs some trucks.  That is a series of books that we haven't gotten into yet but now that we have a boy I am learning all about it!  He got some sweet kissy kissy Christmas pj's too.

This year they asked for puppy surprise, tinkerbell toys, and a firetruck.  Caroline also asked for candy canes and surprises.  They got tons of fun stuff - new sheets, leap pad2's, flutterby fairies, magic dancing pumpkin dog, a new hanging tent from land of nod, sleeping bags, clothes, umbrellas, princess dolls, kinetic sand, shoes, art supplies, movies, easy bake oven, food items for the play kitchen, puzzles, games, and about a million other things it seems!  This was the sight on Christmas morning!

After the excitement of seeing the Santa gifts, they were about to jump out of their skin when we let them start unwrapping gifts from under the tree.  Their reactions were amazing!  It was truly a magical Christmas and one for the books!!  We spent the rest of the day playing with our new things and being cozy in our house.  It was the best day!