Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! We hope you and your family had as wonderful a day as we did. I'm sure Santa made his rounds to your house.

He certainly came to ours.

Fortunately, Rachel wasn't awake to see it because he would have just made her cry.

We only got this picture of her smiling because she didn't know Santa was standing right behind her. He's good at sneaking in from behind!



Rachel wouldn't sit on Santa's lap for anything.

He even tried to lure her over to just stand next to him with the promise of a candy cane. She walked up to him until she got a foot or two away from him and then she wouldn't go an inch further.

She still wanted that candy cane though.

So she held her ground and leaned her little body over as far as she could and S-T-R-E-T-C-H-E-D out her hand to that candy cane.



But that's as close as she would get to the man in the big red suit.

Not an inch closer.

When You Wish Upon A Star...or A Wish Lantern

It's Christmas Eve and we're enjoying this wonderful time with our families.

But I know the kids in our family are all making secret wishes of their own tonight...wishes about what Santa will bring them tonight while they sleep.

The sky is clear and beautiful. It's a perfect night to wish upon a star...



...or a Wish Lantern.

Stuart's brother got a case of Santa Claus Wish Lanterns. I had never heard of them before but I think we need some of our own. Wish Lanterns are super cool lanterns that are made of rice paper so they are very lightweight. You have to be very gentle when working with them so they don't tear. Extra hands help too.



You light the lantern.



Let it fill with the warm air from the flame.



Then you let it go and make your wish as the lantern floats up and away with the wind currents.



Wish Lanterns typically stay in the air for about 12 minutes and can float up as high as a mile.

There are lots of ways to use Wish Lanterns and Christmas Eve is just one fun way. I love the idea of creating a yearly tradition of releasing a Wish Lantern for each child on their birthday.

Wish Lanterns can be ordered online at http://www.wishlantern.com/. However, they are located in Irving, TX and although they do not yet have a retail storefront, you can contact them about a local pickup to save on shipping costs.

While Mommy Packs...

While I was packing this morning, I realized that it was unusually quiet. I looked for the boy. Nicholas was in his room building a spaceship with his Legos. But the girl...where was Rachel?

In our bathroom.

Decorating it with various shades of lipstick.







At least she was laughing as I made her clean it up from the cabinets, the doors, the walls, and the floor.








And this was about the time that she decided she was all done with cleaning and went scampering away to look for big brother. Oh, the price I pay for a few moments of quiet...

Christmas Cookies

We had fun in the kitchen this morning baking and decorating Christmas cookies. Rachel helped pour the ingredients into the bowl and helped me mix up the dough.

Nicholas helped roll out the dough. It was a little sticky at first but he sprinkled the dough with flour and all was well.



He gently pressed the cookie cutters into the dough.





Rachel was obsessed with pouring all of the red sprinkles on one cookie.



A little cookie with your sprinkles?





Nicholas chose a more colorful style and decorated them all with a mixture of red and green sprinkles. Any other color just wouldn't have been Christmasy enough.



We impatiently waited at the window of the oven, watching the cookies slowly rise and turn a beautiful golden color.

Then the moment of truth came...time for a taste test!



They got a thumbs up all around. And we got the bonus of the whole house smelling like sweet sugar cookies!

Celebrating Christmas With Our Friends

The Greater Lewisville Early Childhood PTA (GLECPTA) had their annual Christmas party at WinKids in Flower Mound. Every kid loves this place. They have foam block pits, trampolines, rock climbing walls, balance beams, parallel bars, gymnastic rings, swings, tons of balls, and fun staff.

Nicholas was excited to go but it was Rachel's first time there. She didn't hestitate to jump in on the fun.



Nicholas slid right into the foam block pit. It's just a giant pit that has been filled up with big red foam blocks. Kids slide into them or jump right in. Then they sink down in the blocks or climb over them or throw them at each other. It's tons of fun!



Rachel was cautious and watched others in the pit but she eventually crawled in and was soon right at home.



Nicholas had a great time even though there were lots of kids there that were younger than him. Two of the staff people were young guys so they enjoyed playing a little rougher with Nicholas.



After everyone had burned off some energy, we sat down for a break of cookies and milk. Rachel, of course, just smooshed her cookie to her face so she could lick the icing off of it. That's her favorite part of any cookie or cake anyway.



We had a great time playing in the gym and eating yummy treats. But the most special part was spending time with our wonderful friends in GLECPTA!