We went to our local library to see Santa. I love this Santa. He looks real, and and he really listens to the kids when they talk to him. The kids get a fun bag of goodies and they have crafts and treats for the kids.
Kaylee
Last year, Averi wouldn’t even go in the room that Santa was in. This year, she was excited to sit on his lap and talk to him.
Thomas
Matthew
All the kids with Santa.
Kaylee and Matthew’s preschool had a cute Christmas Program. They were so excited for it. They had been practicing their songs for weeks. They did a great job!
Afterward they had parties in their classrooms. I bounced between the two classes.
They had a special birthday cake for Jesus.
It was a great day.
We went to our county Christmas parade this week. It was a lot of fun. Our kids hadn’t been to a parade before. I have many memories of going to the Christmas parade in downtown Hot Springs when I was growing up. this is one of the things I love about living in a small(er) town.
The weather was perfect, just a little cool. We found the perfect spot to watch it without too many people by us.
Matthew wanted to wear his cowboy hat.
We had fun waving to everyone and came home with lots of candy canes.
I love this look on Matthew’s face, a priceless moment.
We even saw our favorite librarian!
Averi didn’t like when all the fire trucks came through with their sirens going.
Santa was on the last float. We didn't get a picture of his float, but the kids were so excited to see him. It was a nice start to the Christmas season.On the way home we got apple pies from McD’s.
Here are a few of our Christmas decorations. I love having the Willow Tree Nativity on the mantle. It helps us remember what to focus on this busy time of year.
I made this banner and I LOVE it! I saw the idea on Pinterest and pulled out my paper stash from Stampin’ UP to make it. I used my silhouette to cut the letters and banner. I put chunky glitter on the letters. I saw on another blog to spray the glitter letters with clear sealer and they don’t shed any glitter! A fun new addition to my Christmas décor.
The mantle in the playroom, I put the stockings up in there with all the snow globes. The kids love to look at the snow globes.
Our Christmas tree..I love the décor mesh, It makes decoration a breeze and there aren’t as many ornaments for my kids to pull off!
I’ve made a number of the charger plates for friends with vinyl and my silhouette. I love how they turned out!
This is one of my fave things that I made years ago. I love the glitter on it.
I made this sign and put ribbon on it to clip Christmas cards to. I love getting cards from old friends and family and catching up with everybody.
I made these wreaths for the front door. they were super easy to make with the décor mesh. I put lights on them, but they drain the batteries so and I’m all out of batteries that go in them. We added the garland and lights and bows. Maybe next year I can add more to the garland.
So that is our house at Christmas time. I always have more things I want to make and do but it is hard to have time for everything!
We went and saw Santa at our Library last week. I love our library and all the fun activities they plan with Santa. I love that I can take my own pictures and not have to pay an arm and a leg for Santa pictures. The kids were so excited to see him and tell him what they want. We started out with some treats, some yummy donuts that the kids made into a reindeer head. I think Thomas made and ate about 5 of them.
We had to get our picture with Charlie Brown
There was a bean bag toss that the kids enjoyed.
They also had a fun puppet show that the kids LOVED!!
All night Averi had been saying, “HO, HO, HO!” when ever we asked if she wanted to see Santa so when we got to Santa she said NO! and struck this pose. She would not even get close to the room Santa was in. I wasn’t going to force her to sit on Santa’s lap so this is her Santa picture, pouting and looking at Santa.
Thomas had a big list, most of which was different Lego things. Santa had no idea what he was talking about!
Matthew had an equally long list including Lego Ninjagos and some star wars stuff
Kaylee asked for some new princesses and stuffed animals.
The kids minus Averi.
We finished up with one more craft, a reindeer on a string. It was a fun night.
Here’s the Christmas Tree after Santa visited.
He left Santa piles for all the kids. Averi didn’t notice she didn’t have much in her pile.
The kids got to open their stockings. They were excited for the candy and little treats Santa left for them.
Matthew and Kaylee got scooters
Thomas was very excited for the Boba Fet helmet.
Averi just wanted to dance with Santa. She didn’t really care about opening any presents.
We took a little break from opening presents to enjoy Grandma DeVaux’s delicious Christmas bread.
Almost done…
Jim hard at work putting together a race track.
The aftermath…
So much trash!
We had a great Christmas day. We stayed home and the kids enjoyed playing with all their new toys. Grandma DeVaux and Gabe came up for Linner (a late lunch/early dinner). Grandpa was sick so he stayed home to sleep. I made a yummy pork roast with a cherry salsa, roasted red potatoes, spinach salad, roasted asparagus and fresh bread. For dessert we had a chocolate chip pie and a gingerbread cake with a warm cream sauce. It was all so good! We had a great Christmas day.
