Christmas re-cap

Christmas with children is simply magical. Especially as they get older and carry the magic themselves, instead of us having to do it all. I love it.

We had a terrific Christmas. On Christmas Eve Brian's parents came over for an appetizer dinner (a tradition I grew up with). Connor and I did some last-minute baking that afternoon, and I loved his Shrek and candy cane cookies that he fashioned out of left-over dough.

As we were preparing for the festivities, Isabel was quite the multi-holiday sight, carrying a pumpkin, wearing a princess crown and dancing to her heart's delight to the Nutcracker Suite. She has proclaimed this her favorite Christmas music, and I am fairly convinced it's because she thinks it's the Nutcracker SWEET. For real.I didn't do a ton of baking this year, but did manage to make Mexican wedding cakes, date balls and spritz (all my mom's recipes), in addition to dipped pretzels and homemade toffee (my favorite!).
The serene scene after Santa arrived, while the children slumbered in their beds.

Christmas morning was so relaxing, just the 5 of us. Opening gifts was so much fun, we got some fantastic reactions.




The after-opening scene was chaotic, and took 2 days to get fully cleaned up.
Connor's favorites: scooter, Marble Run, legos, Alphabet Magnetic Maze, lever-operated helicopter, wooden town building blocks, Madagascar DVD

Isabel's favorites: scooter, new Play-Doh set, art easel, keyboard, Horton Hears a Who DVD, Frosty Gumball lotion and chapstick, Color Magnetic Maze.

Lucas's favorites: lacing cards, wooden stacking shapes, bristle blocks, Elmo Pets DVD.




They were so excited to also get the trampoline, they started jumping on the box. It has yet to be assembled, but with warm temps this week, hopefully soon.

They also got some goldfish; one for each kid, although they reside in the boys' room and Connor has most of the responsibility. They each have a distinct look as to identify them. Connor's is solid gold, which he named Dorothy (surprise, surprise). Isabel's is white and gold, and she named it Whitish, then Cara, and now she has settled on Whitey. Lucas's is grey and orange, and the other two named it Brownish. Clever, I know.

On Christmas Day we also went for a big family walk in the snow and pulled the kids in the sled, which was so fun. Later in the day we went to Brian's Nanna's house for dinner. All in all a wonderful Christmas! And now it's over for another year. Hope you all had a fantastic Christmas.