Christmas celebrations were kicked off December 12 with Claire's Christmas program at school. She was awesome of course. She was one of the only ones up there that knew all the actions and words to her two songs: "Up on the Housetop" and "Behold That Star." She had been practicing both at home and at school since mid-October. She LOVES to perform so she was in her element. She also was of course, the cutest one up there and may have stood above the rest....literally, a whole head taller than all of the rest. Sometimes you don't realize how tall she is when she's just hanging out with her older sister. She loved singing and we loved seeing her practice be put to work. Aunt Kate and Papa Randy and Grandma Lori were here to enjoy the performance as well.
Aunt Kate stayed with us for the week as we baked cookies, finalized Christmas shopping, and just enjoyed time with her. It's always delightful to have her around!
The Friday before Christmas we all loaded into the cars and headed back to Iowa. Anna was pretty excited to carpool down with Aunt Kate because she was afraid she would "be lonely." The weekend was great. We celebrated Christmas with Kate, Uncle James, Denise, Lane and Papa Dave and Grandma Lynn. We spent Saturday at James' house eating and playing and enjoying the day. Anna got Monopoly Junior and Daddy beat everyone at regular Monopoly. Anna is practicing so some day she can beat Daddy at his own game! The girls were spoiled with many gifts and sweets. We enjoyed breakfast on Sunday as a large group and headed north again that afternoon.
We were officially on Christmas break as of Friday, so we were excited to stay home on Monday. Monday we just hung out and enjoyed our time at home. On Tuesday we spent the day with honorary Auntie Pam and went to Chuck E. Cheese and she gave each of the girls $5 to spend at the dollar store. They love going there with her to pick out some treasures. They get a basket and carefully select their five items and even pay for them when they get to the front. They love the whole experience.
Wednesday the girls and I spent the day gearing up for our Christmas celebration at home. We got soup cooking for supper and got ready for Christmas Eve church services that afternoon. After church we came home and the girls got to open their Christmas Jammies. It's our family tradition and it's become a popular one among the girls because they are so excited to open just one present! We enjoyed our soup and then cuddled in for a Christmas movie. This year's pick: Merry Madagascar. After the movie they put out some cookies and carrots for Santa and his reindeer and easily snuggled into bed. They were excited and had a sleep over in Claire's room so they would be together in the morning.
Bright and not too early Thursday morning Anna came into our room to announce the day had arrived. She was so excited, she ran downstairs to see if Santa had delivered and she was pleased to see he had! She was a little disappointed because Claire wasn't waking up as promptly as she wanted her to...but eventually Claire came around and we all headed downstairs. Anna was a pro and was pumped to dig right into her presents. Claire, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with present opening. She found some fruit snacks in her stocking and wanted to go no further. Anna tore through the paper and was thrilled to find the Rainbow Loom she had been dreaming of. She also got Free Willy 1-4 and some new books. We got Claire to finally open her presents, she got a Minnie remote control car, Despicable Me 1-2, and a matching game. The girls then were so excited to give their gifts to each other and to mom and dad. It was a fun morning of togetherness and gift exchanges. We enjoyed a delicious breakfast and then played all day. The mess was huge, but we didn't mind.
Our newest addition of traditions started this year with a trip to the local Chinese restaurant for supper. Apparently this is a very common thing, that we were totally oblivious to, so we had to check it out. It was a fun new tradition we plan to try again next year.
Friday we packed up again and made our way back south. It was a two Iowa weekend kind of year and it really worked out well.
We got to Iowa in time to enjoy Hickory Park for supper--the girls LOVED the ice cream part! Then Saturday was spent with Great-Grands and extended family on Brian's side. It was great to see family we don't see often and spend time all together. It was the first year in a while that Great G & G didn't head south, so it was fun to celebrate with them. Sunday we celebrated with Grandma Lori, Papa Randy, Amy, Jason, Will and Thomas. It was a fun day of more food, presents and lots of play together. Anna and Will both got Lego sets and dove right in, putting them together happily. Claire got a marble maze she loved dropping the marbles into over and over again. We headed back north that afternoon and everyone was glad to sleep in on Monday.
It was a busy week with lots of travel and lots of fun, but we are very thankful that all travel was safe and we were healthy for the entire holiday (including Thanksgiving) which is rare! It was a very wonderful time and the girls were great travelers (most of the time).
This week we enjoyed more time with friends, we had playdates on Monday and Tuesday and our friends Jason, Emily, Aaron, Simon and Lilly came down for New Year's Eve. The kids had a big sleepover in Anna's room and had a great time playing together. They all play together so well and have lots of fun. The adults enjoyed time to catch up while the littles were sleeping....finally.
The final weekend was spent getting our projects done around the house and gearing up for the second half of the school year. It's bittersweet to be done with break. We love to stay home and have the freedom to spend with friends and family, but it will feel good to get back to our school lives too.
Happy 2015!
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