A part that I loved (and Isabella loved, too) was the dressing up part. We had different Christmas outfits for you for every Sunday. I couldn't get a picture of all of them but here's a few . . .
We went to Lights of Lakeland for the second time this year and we loved it just as much. It's amazing how much effort goes into that event but they make it so special. We met up with the Rogers clan and Isabella had a great time playing with Wesley and Anna Kate. Christian tried to play with Carigan but that didn't go so well.
I was so proud of Isa when she saw the Marine. She went up and told him, "Thank you for protecting me." He smiled and his eyes filled with tears. It made me tear up a little bit, too.
We took full advantage of our Disney passes. Christmas at Disney is like no other. We met with Layne's family to see the lights and we were all blown away by how beautiful they were. Seeing that definitely put me in the Christmas spirit. Layne and Isa had a ball together, too. The next day Layne came up to me and asked, "Is it okay if I marry Isabella?" Before I could say anything Isabella chimed in and said, "Of course we're getting married!" It was precious.
Of course the kids liked playing in "Pizza Planet" from Toy Story as much as anything. Christian got in on the action, too and kept yelling "BALL! BALL! BALL!" He's all boy!
Our next event was the Christmas party at school. Ms. Libson goes out of her way to make every event a special one. The kids started by decorating the classroom. I think they loved the idea of helping and contributing. It was a great way to get them involved. Isabella is in a great class. Riley and Alexis are some of her best buddies. It will be heartbreaking to have them seperated when they go to kidnergarten next year.
Christian had a gift exchange in his class, too, but he loved the eating part more than anything!
Christmas Eve was at Mimi's and it was a blast! After a few pictures in the official Christmas gear the kids changed into something more comfortable and the madness began. Isabella was so sweet when she opened presents. She was so grateful and enthusiastic. With each one she'd squeel, "This is what I always wanted!" Christian meanwhile just threw stuff around. He's going through a throwing phase right now and I hope he outgrows it fast! He earned his Mr. Destructo nickname that night for sure.
One of the things my sweet girly girl Isa had been begging for was Dr. Dreadful's Zombie lab. It's like an Easy Bake oven but it makes zombie brains, zombie throw up, worms, etc. Auntie Autumn was proud to get it for her and they had a ball using it that night.
And then Isabella and Christian decided to wrestle Auntie Autumn. . .
Isabella slept in until 6:30am on Christmas Day and she peeked her head in our room and asked, "Do you think Santa was here?" We ran downstairs to check and the mayheim began.
Isabella was a good big sister and always made sure that Christian had something to open. He was only interested in the bubble gum machine toy the entire time. We couldn't pry him away or entice him with any other gift. It had balls so we should have known!
This year Christmas fell on a Sunday so we headed to church after opening presents. I wish it was like that every year. Getting to go to church and worship our Lord was such a beautiful way to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas.
I took two weeks off at Christmas this year. The week before Christmas Mimi and I cleaned the house from top to bottom. The week after Christmas was spent doing crafts, going to the park, to Family Fun Center and cuddling in the bed together. This has been such a wonderful time for me. I have loved every second of my vacation with the kids.
As the year closes I am constantly reminded of how Blessed we are. We have the most amazing children in the world who bring us constant joy and laughter, we have too many presents to count, our family close by, everything we could want and more. God is good!
