Jolly

One of the best Christmas traditions we have started has been Elf on the Shelf. If you are unfamiliar with it - it's basically a little elf who watches over the children and report back to Santa each night to tell "the man" how the kids had behaved throughout the day.

We adopted "Jolly" last Christmas and it has been so fun to see the kids hunt for Jolly each morning during the holiday season. This year Jolly even left them a note and told them to tell mommy to check her email because Santa had sent them a message. It was the coolest thing.

I wish I had both kids reaction recorded as they each sat and watched their video from Santa. It was so precious and I got tears in my eyes to see how sincere they were listening to Santa's message. Dylan was mesmerized and shook his head yes and listened so intently with a big smile on his face. I didn't know what Mackenzie would think as she got older - but she is still equally mesmerized. She does ask a lot more questions, but is always satisfied with our answer.

During this time of year I love all of the magic that the kids believe in. It's so fun to see it all through their eyes. I hope they will carry the innocence in their hearts for many more years to come and enjoy all the traditions we do.

Social Butterfly

This past year Dylan has really become quite the outgoing guy. I love to see how confident he has grown.

When I run into someone and I don't introduce him, he will speak up and say, "Hi, I'm Dylan" and give a little wave, or extend his hand for a handshake.

When we go into restaurants he likes to acknowledge the wait staff and is very proud to place his order himself. I also love that he is very polite whenever his cup is refilled. However, if the wait staff does not respond to his thank you's he gets a little peeved and speaks even louder until they acknowledge him back with a "you're welcome".

This Christmas season he has also been into telling people "Merry Christmas!". It doesn't matter if it's the waiter, the cashier, the bagger or the mailman. It's quite charming!

I love this little guy who is growing up to be quite a charming social butterfly.

Gingerbread Houses

Every year the kids get to decorate gingerbread houses. The tradition started when I taught first grade and I would make houses with the kids. Now looking back I think I was crazy to actually build houses with the kids and then let them decorate once it set. Every year I would think to myself "I am not doing that again" - until I see the pure joy on their little faces and I would forget all the mayhem of the house building. So I decided that it would be fun for my own kids to have the opportunity to experience the fun - and now we decorate houses every year.




I pre-make the houses the night before so that they are set and won't collapse.



The girls before they began . . .





and the boys !



Dylan was the first one done. He couldn't wait to . . .





dig in - face first! He was hilarious! If I would have let him, he would have ate the whole thing in one sitting.




Mackenzie's gingerbread girl.



Mackenzie's house.


She took her time . . . But the prize goes to . . .






Aunty Tiff! She looks forward to making houses every year. Next year she has requested a bigger house on cardboard covered with foil so she can expand her scenery. Wait . . . who is this event for?