PJ Party with Santa
Our first Christmas activity was welcoming Santa at the mall. They had a welcome party for Santa with cookies, milk, story time, and dancing. The kids all wore their PJs. We took Emory and Miles, and Emory loved it! She loved decorating cookies and she waved at Santa when he came out. Now she thinks going to the mall means that she gets cookies. She will get her baby doll and take our keys and say "Bye Bye". We ask her where she is going she says "mall". Then we say "what are you getting at the mall" and she says "cookies". Then a few seconds later she comes into the room and says "Emory back". Clearly she enjoyed Santa time at the mall.
We went to Cheekwood for Christmas last year and loved it, so I couldn't wait to take her back this year. Cheekwood is a botanical garden not far from our house. Christmas at Cheekwood is so much fun! They have pictures with Santa, live reindeer, cookie decorating, arts and crafts, and beautiful decorations. The first thing we wanted to do was get a picture of the kids with Santa. We had talked to Emory about Santa, and she seemed ok with it....until it was our turn. As soon as Martin tried to hand her to Santa she gripped his neck and wasn't letting go! So our picture with just the kids and Santa turned into a family picture with Santa. After we left Santa's workshop she kept telling us she wanted to go back in and see him. Martin kept telling her Santa wasn't going to bring her presents since she didn't tell him what she wanted. She did not like that, and she kept pointing back to his workshop saying "Santa, baby doll".
Breakfast with Santa
Emory and some of her friends went to breakfast with Santa at the Franklin Recreation Center. Molly, Morgan, Ruby and their families joined us. The breakfast wasn't the best, but we only paid $8 so I guess we got what we paid for. After the girls ate breakfast they had their faces painted. Emory got a blue snowflake on her cheek. The chick-fil-a cow was there too! Emory kept pointing at it like she wanted to go see it, but as soon as we got close she would say "no cow, now cow!". Luckily the visit with Santa went better than the visit with the cow. Ruby went first, and she did NOT like Santa, so I was sure that Emory would be the same way. Surprise, surprise...she loved Santa! She sat on his lap all by herself and told him she wanted a baby doll for Christmas. It was precious!
Class Party and Santa at School
Emory's school had Santa come for a visit, and Emory sat on his lap too! That morning I was taking her to school, and I told her Santa was going to be there. I told her she needed to tell Santa what she wanted for Christmas, then I asked her what she was going to tell him. She looked at me and said "baby doll and juice pack". Hahahahaha. All she wanted for Christmas was a baby doll and some juice. So sweet. That afternoon they had their class Christmas party. The kids ate way too much sugar, but it was a good time.
I wanted to start some fun Christmas traditions this year, and we started with the Christmas Angel. The Christmas Angel is similar to Elf of the Shelf, but its centered on doing nice things for others. There is a stuffed angel and every morning the angel is placed somewhere around the house. The angel writes a message in her "gold dust" (glitter), and the message tells Emory something nice to do that day. I realized that Emory didn't quite understand it this year, but she did better than I thought she would! As she gets older we can do some fun family things like donate to toys for tots, hand out hot chocolate to people,ect. This year I kept the acts simple. Some of the things she did this year were making a special treat for Sage, giving out hugs all day, and coloring a picture for the grandparents. I loved seeing how excited she was every day to find the angel! I hope this will help teach her the true meaning of Christmas is to give and help others.
Emory helped us decorate the tree this year. She got very excited every time she found a new ornament. I don't think she quite grasped the concept, because she put all of her ornaments in the same place on the same 3 or 4 branches. She sure did love the Christmas tree though. Every morning when she woke up she would point and it and say "look, Mommy! Christas tree!".
Emory LOVED looking at Christmas lights. Every time she would see lights she would point to them and say "look, mommy!". We took her and Miles to a neighborhood close to our house that has a massive light display. She really enjoyed it!
I also started the tradition of getting the kids Christmas PJs to wear on Christmas Eve. I made a Christmas Eve box for Emory (sorry, Miles you will get one next year) with PJs and some Christmas books.
Emory left cookies and water out for Santa on Christmas Eve along with carrots for the reindeer.
We also decorated a gingerbread house this year which was quite interesting. Emory really just wanted to eat all the candy and play with the icing, but she tried to decorate the house some.
We packed up the kids and Sage and headed to Clinton for Christmas this year. Unfortunately Dustin and Mindy couldn't make it this year, but Josie, Bobby, and Parker joined us. Emory loves Parker! She gets so excited when she sees him and has a great time playing with him. We arrived in Clinton Tuesday night. The drive went great! Emory watched Elmo the entire time, and Miles slept most of the way. Miles cried the last 30 minutes or so, but for a 3 month old he did awesome on his first road trip. Emory and Parker had a great time playing with Nana and Grandpa. Grandpa took them for rides on the 4 wheeler, on the tractor, and in the wagon. They fed the chickens, Emory fed the horses, and saw the cows at the neighbor's house. She also went to look at sheep. Christmas Eve everyone went to church, but I stayed home with Miles so he wouldn't have to be around all the germs. Emory and Parker opened a few presents Christmas Eve, but they opened their presents from Santa Christmas morning. Emory got a ton of stuff, and of course Santa brought her a baby doll and a juice pack so she was happy. We left Saturday afternoon, and the kids did wonderful on the trip home. We had a wonderful time!
Hello 2015
We spent New Year's Eve at the Conover's house. Us, the Conovers, and the Picketts rang in the new year with Chinese food, drinks, and card games. The kids played for a while then we put them all to bed and had some much needed adult time. It was the first time in 3 years that I actually made it up until midnight!
The holidays are over, and it is back to the real world. I started work the beginning of January, and we are settling into a new schedule. Miles is home with Nana, Martin, Gran, or myself until April when he starts daycare. Martin is starting a new job, and I am back at Belmont. We could not have asked for a better year. I am beyond thankful for our health, wonderful family, and friends that are like family. And Hilary and Kevin are engaged, so our family will be growing again! Here's to another wonderful year!
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