I wanted to document a few of the things we did during the month of December. As all parents know, children make the holiday season so much more fun and meaningful. I love experiencing the joy and magic of the Christmas season through their eyes. Rowen is a very festive little boy. It is one of the many parts of him that I admire and adore. I hope he always has such a festive heart! It brings others so much happiness- mostly his mommy :).
We made a list of things we wanted to do during the month of December and we did pretty much all of them. However, I have photos of only a few of the things we did...
Played in the snow every chance we got. I am so glad we did as now the temps are so low and cold it is hard to get out there to play for very long. Rowen made at least 3 snowmen and went sledding 4 times on the golf course hills.
Just a few days before Christmas Eric and I took Rowen on the North Pole cruise in CDA. It was so fun to spend some special time with our biggest boy. After the cruise we went out to dinner- pizza and dessert. It was a blast hanging out together and watching Rowen's big brown eyes as we approached the North Pole and Santa called out his name (even if he did pronounce it as Ro-hen :)). Santa wrote Rowen a letter that night that Gingerbread (our Elf on the shelf- more on him later) delivered to our house and we read the next morning. In the letter Santa said that he saw Rowen standing up on the top level of the boat and that he apologized for pronouncing his name incorrectly. Apparently, Santa had recently purchased new reading glasses but he couldn't find them that night so he had to use his old ones and he had a hard time reading some of the names. Rowen understood :).
Rowen was thrilled to meet Rudolph! He was wandering around in front of the pier where you board the boats.
Here we are about to approach the North Pole and Ro is soooo excited!
Here you can see just a few of the lights behind us. It really is beautiful, we just didn't get very many photos.
We had a great time hosting our annual Christmas Brunch with the Donnellys and the Sackmanns. We are so fortunate to have such loving friends who are like family to us. After our delicious brunch (more like breakfast since we started pretty early!) the big kids went outside to play in the snow while the adults stayed inside with the little ones, drank coffee and had a chance to catch up a bit.
These three boys are getting so big!
And these three little ones are so darling! We can't get enough of them!
Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer was a big part of our Christmas fun last year so when I saw this at Costco I couldn't resist getting it for Rowen. When we unpacked the Christmas decorations over the Thanksgiving weekend Rowen found him hiding in a large bag. Oh what joy! Rudolph received lots and lots of love all month long from both boys. He slept on Rowen's bed every night and was a part of many games. He even got into some mischief with Gingerbread!
We went shopping at Santa's Express
located in the Crescent Building downtown. This is our 3rd year to do this with Rowen. I think it is a great way for him to shop for his little brother and this year he shopped for his new cousin Henry. While Rowen shopped Grammy took Pax on a walk and they found this little Santa. Pax was pretty amazed with him.
We visited Santa on December 1st at Staneks Nursery on the South Hill. Not only did we see Santa but we saw 2 of Santa's reindeer! They were resting up for their Christmas Eve flight.
One of the best things we did this Christmas season was welcome an Elf into our family. He arrived from the North Pole on the night before December 1st. When we woke up he was way up high on a shelf in our living room looking at a photograph of Rowen and Paxton. A book was left on one of the side tables. Rowen figured it out within about 2 hours of waking up. It was pretty funny to watch him discover the elf and the book- neither one had he ever seen before. We read the book together and then named our Elf. First Rowen wanted to name him Pepperoni but then quickly changed it it Gingerbread. Gingerbread brought so much fun to our house! Each morning Rowen would get up and go searching for him. Sometimes he was simply sitting on a shelf with one of Rowen's favorite toys but sometimes he was pretty precocious! The following are just a FEW of the things Gingerbread did during the month of December... he wrote a note to Ro and Pax on the bathroom mirror with mommy's lipstick!; he made snow angels in sugar on the kitchen counter; he decorated one of our Christmas trees with Rowen's underwear and left him a new pair of LION underwear!; he read Christmas books with all of our Christmas stuffed animals; he ate popcorn in the kitchen; he played with Rowen's legos; he turned a glass of milk green and ate lots of our yummy Christmas cookies; he left MANY letters to Rowen telling him about how he noticed all of the kind and caring things he was doing for others. On Christmas night Gingerbread went back to the North Pole but he promised to return again in December 2013. It was a bit emotional to say good bye to Gingerbread but we know he is doing important work with Santa at the North Pole and we will see him again before we know it.
Grammy came over a few days before Christmas to do our traditional gingerbread boy and gingerbread house baking and decoration. This year we didn't plan well for the gingerbread house but Grammy is always creative and suggested using peanut butter and graham crackers on a graham cracker box. It worked out perfectly. Rowen had a blast making his little gingerbread house. Next, we read one of our very favorite holiday stories, Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett , then we got to work making our own gingerbread boys- one for Ro and one for Pax. While the cookies baked, Rowen finished his gingerbread house and put it under the tree in hopes that his gingerbread boy would end up in it (part of the Gingerbread Baby story). When the timer went off on the oven we went to get our gingerbread cookies out; however, the gingerbread boys were missing! Rowen started looking for them immediately and noticed a trail of raisins leading up the stairs, into mommy and daddy's room, into our bathroom, and into our closet. When he reached the end of the trail there were no gingerbread boys to be found! So, he followed the trail backwards and ended up at his gingerbread house under the Christmas tree. Guess who was hiding in the house? Yep! Those cute little gingerbread boys were! Rowen was thrilled to find them in his gingerbread house but it didn't stop him from taking a big bite of his gingerbread boy right away :)!
At Rowen's music class the week before Christmas we celebrated the holiday season with his music class friends by eating treats together, singing some Christmas songs, playing a few games, and listening to each child sing a solo with the microphone and spot light. Rowen also got his "birthday bounces" at class that week.
The day after Christmas, Ro, Pax and I got a chance to visit with my BFFs and all of their adorable kiddos! Maddy has been in California for the past 7ish months so it was extra special to see her, Clara, and Hudson. The kids played so well together. I had a great time talking with Clara. She reminds me so much of her sweet hearted mama :). A few days later all the mamas went out to breakfast with a few of our other high school girl friends. It was really fun to catch up with everyone.
Here are all 8 kids! I think they are the cutest kids ever :).
As I was trying to get us ready to leave I found Rowen playing with and giving Quinn of a hug. He just loves her. I am so curious to watch this relationship grow and change over the years :). .
Rowen also:
- made some paper ornaments with mommy using Rowen's feet and hand prints- and lots and lots of glitter :).
- made and decorated cookies with his cousins.
- went Christmas gift shopping with Grammy one afternoon and mommy another afternoon. He picked out such thoughtful gifts for his family members.
- read lots and lots and lots of our large collection of winter and Christmas stories while snuggled up with mommy or Grammy under a blanket on the couch or in bed.
- drank hot cocoa (or as Ro would prefer, luke warm chocolate milk).
- watched several Christmas movies with little brother and mommy and daddy.
- sang lots of Christmas songs in the car.
- listened to Christmas music in the car and in the house EVERY DAY of December leading up to Christmas Day.
- went on 3 Christmas Lights drives around our neighborhood while drinking hot cocoa (or luke warm chocolate milk :)).
- counted down to Christmas using our advent calendar.
- had many questions about the meaning of Christmas. It was nice to have these discussions with him this year, as he is getting older and better able to understand.
