This year, Kiley had her KinderCare Christmas show... this girl loves to dress up, so she was super excited to wear her new holiday dress, complete with sparling tights and sparkling shoes. Jaxon was pretty proud of her and very impressed that she actually sang, er screamed, the music to Rudolph and Feliz Navidad. Let's just say, we had no trouble hearing Kiley. She's definitely come out of her shell (to the point I'd like to sometimes put her back in it).
We even managed to get a family shot this time. Kiley really just wanted to get after the cookies she knew were in the other room.
We headed up to West Fargo the weekend before Christmas to celebrate with the Walkers. There were a lot of serious games played...
bazingas with Grandma...
jokes and pranks from Jaxon...
and more dressing up from Kiley... 'aren't I pretty'?
The kids even took some time to put on a play for us- 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' with Zoe reading the script from her iphone. My how times have changed. I remember just making stuff up!
Jaxon was the Grinch of course and really got into it...
After our weekend in Fargo, it was a much quieter and mellow time at home. It was different, but good. I'll remember a lot about this Christmas. I'll remember the sadness of now having two grandmas no longer with us and how different and strange it makes the holidays. I'll remember waking up in the middle of the night, wondering if Scott or I had moved Fred the elf and how we snuck downstairs to move him so the kids wouldn't think he was lazy. I'll remember the questions that started to come about whether or not Santa is real. I'll also remember so much joy...
Jaxon decided he best be believin' if he was going to get any presents from the big guy, so the kids once again this year put out some reindeer food for the furry friends. Notice- they are barely wearing jackets and there is no snow on the ground. I'll also remember this as a very brown Christmas :(
Once the reindeer were taken care of and could find their way, it was time to write some letters. Jaxon took care of writing a note to Fred, while Kiley wrote one to Santa, complete with many hearts...
The notes were carefully decorated, and placed with a plate of treats- carrots for Rudolph of course and cookies and pretzel rods for Santa. we also left him some Cotton Candy flavored milk. Because, I'm sure he gets sick of the regular stuff.
Christmas Eve we had a nice dinner- crab legs for Scott and I and Mac N Cheese for the kids. Delish. Then it was time to rip into some presents. A season of shopping, wrapping, and agonizing over finding an equal number of gifts for each kid was over in about ten minutes. Maybe 7.
But there were plenty of smiles. I think the highlight was a lava lamp for Jaxon. He could not believe it. They kids have been trying to win a lava lamp at PINZ for six months and are always a few thousand tickets short. Good thing for us, you can just buy them at Menards for $6.
Christmas morning came pretty quickly... the kids were up around 7 and Jaxon didn't even bother to put on a shirt. As we walked downstairs, I had flashbacks of when I was a kid and the magic of the lights twinkling on the tree, stockings filled to the brim with goodies, and presents galore. Then I heard, 'Hmm. That's all Santa brought us?"...
Yes. Santa has scaled back over the years. Get used to it son.
I am pretty sure the PS4 he got, more than made up for it though. He was pretty darn excited. Until someone in North Korea decided to hack into Sony Playstation and we couldn't actually use it for a week...
And Kiley got her 7 Disney Princesses... which I now spend my time putting shoes and crowns on...
All in all, it was a fun holiday season this year. And Scott and I were just thankful that Fred, our elf, left with Santa so we don't have to see him for another year!
