december daily {12.25.10}

Christmas Day! Aiden crawled into bed with us at 7am and an hour later we went and woke Amelia up. We had to get the day started sometime! Of course Santa had come overnight and there were lots of presents to open! After a late breakfast we got ready to head north. We visited a few friends and then arrived (a little late) to my sister's. The food was delicious but the visit seemed too short. But we had an early morning the next day and still some packing to do. It is crazy to go somewhere the day after Christmas!

december daily {12.24.10}

Christmas Eve day, the longest day of the year for most children. We let the kids open their gifts from the Aune side of the family. Aiden loved his new skateboard and vest and Amelia loves anything fancy so she LOVED her gift of fanciness. The kids and Dale watched a movie while I prepped the food for tomorrow. Cranberry sauce, sweet potato supreme, stuffing and trifle. Whew. I finished in time to shower for the candlelight service at church.  After church the kids put on their new Christmas jammies, put out cookies and milk and read a Christmas story. The kids were asleep by 8:30pm and Dale and I weren't far behind.

december daily {12.23.10}

This year we tried something different with Christmas cards. We have an empty wall in the dining room and made a collage of all the cards we received. It was a nice way to look at all the cards we've received. When the holidays are over I'll make a collage to fit into our holiday scrapbook.

december daily {12.22.10}

We had a pre Christmas family dinner. Aiden and Amelia were happy to see their cousin Ethan. Lots of Lego playing, munching and laughing. The kids opened their gifts from each other after dinner. Lego for boys and Scaredy Squirrel books and puppet for Amelia. Scaredy Squirrel is pretty funny and reminds me a bit of someone I know...

december daily {12.21.10}

Today the kids and I assembled the prebuilt (totally loving it!) gingerbread house from Costco. The prebuilt concept has changed my life the way sliced bread must have felt for earlier generations. Instead of a whole bunch of frustration and maybe even a few swear words popping out of my mouth - decorating the gingerbread house was a pleasant experience this year. (If I ignore the kids fighting over candy and Amelia shovelling sneaking copious amounts of sugar into her mouth)

december dailies {12.18.10}

Our first Christmas tree as newlyweds Dale went to the local Rite Aid while I was at work and bought a 9 foot live tree. It must have been mis labelled because it only cost 16 dollars.  Then he spent all his birthday money buying ornaments for the tree. I came home from work that night to the most beautifully decorated tree. We still needed more ornaments and that started our yearly tradition of exchanging tree ornaments. A few years ago we realized we could really stop that tradition because our collection was getting huge. I still like to get an ornament each year on vacation or as a symbol of a favorite memory. This year we had picked up two - a circus ornament from Cirque de Soleil in Portland and a seahorse from the Vancouver Aquarium.

december daily {12.17.10}

This morning was books and breakfast at Aiden's school. Amelia loves to go and act like a big school kid. Afterwards, Amelia and I had a special lil date at Starbuck's. Pink donut and chocolate milk for her, strong coffee and holiday gingerbread for me.  We did the last of our brunch grocery shopping. The beautiful clear day inspired us to walk to pick up Aiden from school.

december daily {12.16.10}

Today was my last morning to myself before Christmas vacation. I had a game plan and it was executed perfectly. I scored a great parking spot at Costco, maneuvered the crowd and picked up all the brunch ingredients for Sunday. In an out of the store in less that 30 minutes. I left the store with a self satisfied grin on my face. The grin was quickly wiped off my face when I realized I had to visit Walmart's cousin Kmart. For the same amount of time and way more hassle I located the last item on Amelia's list. Luckily it was time to go watch Amelia's preschool class sing carols. Nothing makes you smile like two preschoolers giving their all to Jingle Bells. Very cute.

That night we went to cider and songs at Aiden's school. It was pretty fun to sing all our favorite holiday songs. Aiden had to wear my Christmas gift from the hospital. A very classy blue fleece scarf that made him look very glee club.

december daily {12.15.10}

Today was dance class day. The highlight of Amelia's week. She wore her special Christmas tutu, holiday tights and shirt. The tights had a red frilly bum that looked pretty cute until she started to dance and the ruffles would not stay on her bum. She mooned us a few times at the end of class performance. Amelia was all about playing with her dolly and insisted it went to dance class. The teachers were very accommodating and let the doll have a special job. They layed the doll on the floor and the girls took turns practicing their leaps over the baby doll. I'm not sure this is what Amelia had in mind taking her doll to class. I finally finished Amelia's Christmas nightie! When I asked Amelia if she wanted a bow or buttons she said both (of course).

december daily {12.14.10}

Books! I love books especially children's books. We store our Christmas books with all the other holiday decorations so they seem extra special when they reappear in December. We are starting to amass quite the collection and look forward to adding to it each year. I remember reading The Night Before Christmas to my little sister each Christmas Eve.
Our family favorites:
Dale: Frosty the Snowman
Jen: The Night Before Christmas & You Are My Miracle
Aiden: Snowmen at Night & The Polar Express
Amelia: 'everything girlish'  Olivia Saves Christmas and Olivia Claus are the ones we seem to read over and over...

*our all time favorite book around here is The Night Before Christmas recorded by Grandma Judy in a special Hallmark book*

december daily {12.13.10}

The kids have mini trees in their rooms. Last year I was too lazy (overwhelmed) to drag their personal ornaments down from their closets and let them decorate their trees. This year Dale helped them cleanup their rooms (he's the best kid room cleaner I know). Afterwards he helped them with their little trees. I love to look at them each day and see how even at their young ages they have their own ornaments and a little story behind each one.

december daily {12.12.10}

Today was Aiden's Christmas play at church. My parents drove down to see the performance as well. Aiden was an angel this year but I was a little distracted when I realized Aiden was barefoot. I guess Aiden did some last minute costume changes and turned himself into a hippie angel. He did a great job reading his lines and speaking clearly but he still is not comfortabe performing. He spent most of the time fidgeting, rolling his eyes and making fish faces. Oh Aiden, I don't think he even realizes what he is doing.  My parents came back for lunch and a visit and then it was time to head north. We stopped by the Loffler's for a quick visit and then it was on to Ashleigh and Burton's for dinner. They made us a yummy dinner and we got to hang out with the coolest lil guy for lots of snuggle time.