Christmas Festivities

Well, I'm still trying to catch up with my blog--here are some bits and pieces of our December activities leading up to Christmas. It was a very fun holiday season this year--Sadie was really into decorating, baking, seeing lights, and much more. Kinnick is pretty happy and easy going so he had fun doing whatever.

This was the 2nd time the kids got to see Santa. The first was at a Christmas party with my dad's family. Sadie had been talking about seeing Santa for awhile but when he showed up at our party, she was glued to me. She wouldn't sit on his lap, talk to him, or even look at him! After this experience I was hesitant to visit the mall Santa, but she said she wanted to go. As we were waiting in line she got really excited and kept walking in front of the two boys in front of us. When it was her turn she walked right up, climbed on his lap, and wasn't shy a bit. She boldly told him that she wanted balls and candy for Christmas! Afterwards she told me "Mom, this Santa wasn't even scary!"

We went the first weekend in December to pick out our Christmas tree. We usually go to a little nursery that is just down the road from our house. They get a nice assortment of trees and we usually have the tree up in our house within an hour of leaving. The kids had fun running around and exploring.

Sadie requested a picture of her and Kinnick on this wooden cart...

When we got home from picking out our tree we made hot chocolate. Sadie got a bit spoiled with her hot chocolate this year--she always has to have marshmallows, whipped cream, sprinkles, and a candy cane to stir it!

Kinnick's first time to try hot chocolate--he was a big fan!

We had fun decorating our tree together. Kinnick only last about 5 minutes and he had to go to bed because he was helping a bit too much... Sadie, however, did a very good job this year. She hung up all of her own ornaments (it took her at least 20 minutes). She also had quite the opinion about all of the other ornaments and wanted to hear stories about where all of them came from! Sadie LOVED this Little Einstein ornament that plays the song from the show!

Sadie really liked helping me fill the shoeboxes this year. She continually asked me who they were for. We talked about it a lot and she told me "I am happy to send presents to those little kids!"

Sadie was also a big help in the kitchen this year (for the most part). She wanted to help anytime I was baking anything. She always asks to help read the recipe and she knows the names of most common baking ingredients. She loves to stir and of course taste test everything!

This was a special "Santa" dress passed down from Sadie's cousin Jadyn. She LOVED it--she requested to wear it many times (and she looked very cute!)

This year was Sadie's first time to participate in the Christmas program at church. Her Sunday school class (2's--4's) along with the youngest Awana class performed a song. When we were driving to church she asked Marc and I if we were going to come into her classroom to watch her sing with her friends. When I told her she got to go on the big stage to sing for everyone she got very shy and said she didn't want to. However, when it was time, she had no problem hamming it up for all to see! It was fun.

Sadie's song was called "Does the Baby Need a Blankie?" She was very proud of her little blankie!

Sadie and Emma

Carson, Megan, & Sadie

This Christmas picture was a bit harder than last year's due to the fact that this little boy can now run away... I needed Marc's help (he's the poser), but we were successful in only a couple of tries.

These are Sadie & Kinnick's friends at Miss. Jennifer's house. The oldest girl is Kyra (Miss. Jennifer's daughter) whom Sadie adores. They had a fun Christmas party the Tuesday before Christmas. Sadie picked out new toothbrushes and toothpaste for all of her friends (they brush their teeth frequently throughout the day.)