It's that time of year again!

Christmas is sneaking up fast this year. I think it's Thankgiving being so late. Despite my plans to have it all done in November, I dropped the ball again and spent the first three weeks of December rushing around like a mad woman.

We put all the Christmas swag up over Thanksgiving weekend. I figure if it's going to be worth all the effort to drag the stuff out, we might as well enjoy it as long as possible (I have no idea what Dayven accused me of being a scrooge this year). The kids helped this year while we listened to our favourite Christmas tunes. Tate pulled the ornaments off the tree as fast as we could put them on.  Dayven decked the yard with so many lights, Clark Griswald would have been proud. The kids were loving it.

Tate insists on participating in the crafts now. "I color page too!!" We find sticker shrapnel everywhere.  

Hadley insists on dressing herself each morning. The wilder the outfit, the better! 

Advent Calendar time! 

It almost kills her to only eat ONE chocolate each day! 

 The Elf on the Shelf made his appearance in mid December. I was no where near as creative as I was in year's past, but he managed to crank out a few good tableaus. He left them coloring books one day and did some decorating with toilet paper and paper chains. He even left them a note reminding them about good behavior after a rough day. I was amazed how well this guy worked. They were even reminding each other "Remember, the elf is watching!!" during the day.  The highlight of each morning was running around the house excitedly, trying to see who could spot him first.

He drew "Rudolph noses" on the kids with a red marker while they were sleeping. 

Hanging out in Hadley's room. 

So tempting not to touch him!

We went to see Santa at the mall and despite being very excited about the idea, the boys choked when it was their turn. Tate started balling and Wyatt stood off to the side, quietly tearing up. Hadley turned suddenly shy and needed a lot of prompts to remember what she wanted. She finally squeaked out "cake pop maker". Wyatt was so worried about how Santa would make Skylanders or Nintendo games and kept asking us "But HOW will he make those in his workshop?" that when it was his turn, he told him "I want Skylanders, but you better go to Gamestop to get them!"  I jumped around in front of everyone coaching them into cooperation and smiles. We ended up with one looking like a mug shot and the other two miserable.  It was quiet comical really.

Have a holly jolly Christmas! 

Everyone was much happier playing at the toy store afterwards

and making a general nuisance of themselves at Restoration Hardware. 

That store has the best chairs! 

Although we don't go overboard with presents for the kids and don't exchange with any friends or extended family, it always feels a bit rushed and stressful getting things together. We have a lot of people in our lives that help us (and our kids) out and we're so appreciative of that and don't want to leave anyone out. Between the three kids, I had 22 people on my list! I generally drive myself nuts, pouring over Pinterest for some creative delivery method. This year I did a lot of Starbucks gift cards and WINE for Wyatt's teacher! There were also the classroom gifts for Wyatt and Hadley to hand out at their parties. We did the same thing for both classes, "Snowman Soup", so we could crank it out assembly line style. I was glad when all that was done!

I was the party mom for both Wyatt and Hadley's parties at school. It's fun to be a part of these celebrations. Hadley's class did a "Journey to Bethlehem" with little songs and games. I read a story to the class and we had treats. There are 15 kids in Hadley's class and I was amazed we collected over $300 for the two teacher gifts from the class. Wyatt's class collected enough to get his teacher two very nice necklaces she wanted and matching earrings, along with gift cards to Panera and Macy's. We love our teachers and are so grateful for all they do. I'm so glad that everyone was so generous so we could thank them in such a nice way. Wyatt's party had 4 stations - 3 games and a craft. I volunteered for the craft, a "silver bell", made from tin foil and a paper cup with pipe cleaners and jingle bells inside. I love manning these little stations because you get to chat with the kids and get a chance to know them better. Wyatt loved having me there and every time I looked over and saw him looking at me, he beamed ear to ear and gave me a big wave. It was so sweet.

My parents are here now and we're excited to spend some nice quality time with them over the holidays.