Christmas

I'm sure I've said it before but we had a really great time celebrating Christmas this year with the girls.  As I said in the last post, I've really recognized the importance of being intentional.  Caroline is picking up on EVERYTHING that we say and do so we made the most of it this Christmas.  If she's not being too shy or silly she can tell you the whole Christmas story from the angel telling Mary "Don't be scared." to the wise men bring frankincense and myrrh to Jesus as presents.  We also taught her a couple of Christmas songs, "Joy to the World" and "Away in a Manger."  The preschool did their job and taught her "Rudolph" too.  :-)  At times I thought it might be crazy to be teaching her so much stuff but she is a little sponge right now and it's sooo fun!   I'm trying to get her to soak it all in before her little brain realizes how big the world is and how much other junk there is to soak up.  Besides, who can resist hearing "Happy Birthday Jesus" for days on end.  :-)

Christmas Eve we all went to church together and then back to Brad and Lindsay's house for dinner.   

We then ate Jesus' birthday cake that we made earlier that morning.  Caroline insisted that Ariel and Sleeping Booty be on his cake.  At first I thought it was silly but I she was serious about it so I had to be too.  :-) 

Afterwards we put the girls in their Christmas pjs and played for awhile. 

We headed home, only to be back at Brad and Lindsay's at 9:30 on Christmas morning to open presents together.  We keep saying that eventually we are going to have to have our own family traditions but the girls are still so young that even though we teach them a lot, they still don't have a clue what is "supposed" to happen.  Maybe next year...

We had a good time opening presents.  I think some of my favorite were the handmade gifts.  Mark made a "helping tower" for each girl.  Caroline loves to help me in the kitchen and this little guy is perfect for her to stand in safely. 

I made little aprons for the girls too (and Mom monogrammed them).  Gigi also did a great job getting crocheted hats for the girls.  I love the one she gave Caroline! 

Caroline had a good time opening presents but she wore out much more quickly than I had anticipated!  I had a few pictures on my camera (that were deleted) that show Caroline and Kelsey sitting and coloring while they still had a stack of presents to open.  We really didn't get them that much but I wrapped everything individually thinking the present opening would be the most fun.  Wrong.  The presents weren't that fun anyway...a few boxes of towels for the girls bathroom redo that we just completed! 

I also had some pictures of Libby's new trick...she is now sitting.  It's hard to believe that she is growing so fast.  She is getting so big that even Caroline is beginning to notice.  Instead of "here you go Libby" it's turned into "no Libby, don't touch that." 

Oh what joy 2012 will bring!!