Christmas 2016

Get ready. It's a photo dump. I feel like life has finally slowed down a bit and there's nothing like the end of the year to make me want to tie up some lose ends...

Here's our holiday festivities...

Me, at Mimi's dance performance. 

At Bode's performance...(tired Mimi)

Me and my colleagues at our preschool sing (man...teachers get younger and younger ;)

There's such a joy in unloading your kiddo's backpack at the end of Friday before break...look at all of these goodies (and a sweet card from a friend).

This is the first night of break...! PURE COZINESS.

Gingerbread House-making...

Bode walked around singing songs from Mimi's iPod all day...

(and he stumbled on Mimi's unwrapped Christmas gift for him...so Christmas came early).

Getting ready for our friend holiday party...

We had a progressive dinner party with our favorite people...of course it started out civilized but got inappropriate eventually...(just like we like our nights to go. Lots of laughs for sure).

...and this guy. What a hunk!

I was kind of obsessed with this drink.

(there's been a lot of pictures of this blanket. I sort of love it).

Winnie got a birthday present. Or three. 

Break means crafting for Mimi.

Because my kids don't love to ride bikes, we walked ALL THE WAY to the park a mile and a half away. It was a risky move. But we made it. And it was fun. And Ironman came. 

Our sweet friend Anne has three kids. And a job (besides that) and a slew of other things going on...and she made these melted snowmen and dropped off a kit to make a real snowman. I'm pretty sure she's a Christmas Elf. 

Mimi came with me to my photo shoot for our friends. Witnessing the light going down behind the mountain felt special. Of course the camera won't ever really capture its fullness..

Cute boy haircut...

Date night with Benny (courtesy of a sleepover at BT and Oma's...We napped, saw Rogue One, had dinner...wrapped presents and watched Christmas Vacation...all in all a very FULL time).

Christmas Eve. The most relaxed to date. It was a Christmas miracle. There have been Christmas Eves full of fights (the pressure to make everything special is extraordinary. Most of those Christmases also involved babies and toddlers who aren't thrilled to sit in church or go to an evening party in Denver...it was a pressure cooker. I'm thankful for older kids. But also kids who think Christmas is real and magical).

Church buddies

I wanted to be in the moment. I really did. I wanted to experience the candlelight service and NOT take a picture. But I just couldn't. 

This was our year to have Christmas Eve at our house...just us. So so great (said the girl who fell asleep on the couch under my special blanket while Ben made dinner...You can see why it was my favorite Christmas Eve..)

(That boy had been asking to go to bed since 3:30 in the middle of church. To say he was excited for Santa to come is a mighty understatement). We stretched him to 7.

(Insert Christmas morning pictures with my fancy camera here in a later blog ;)

But get this picture: Bode opening a giant lego set from Santa at 6. (Okay, who are we kidding? 5:20). 

Starting to assemble it....

The Christmas moon...

Mimi's special surprise from mommy...

 GF Cinnamon Rolls

(I capitalized that because they are THAT important to me)

Trying out Mimi's new American Girl Doll music set...

Ben and I's puzzle...we are so Norman Rockwell.. ;) But seriously, putting this together was a house highlight.

Notice, the sun is out. The boys is still working on his set.

Then it magically started to snow...

Uncle Drew gave us coffee. I love coffee.

Pete and Patty gave Mimi a Mary-Ellen doll Christmas accessories set...so 50's and nostalgic.

And wouldn't you know, the drink markers that I got from Nana had boys named Josh and Ryan...oh the texts that went out that day.. ;)

Different P.Js., but same spot...same set. EIGHT BAGS! The instructions looked like the War and Peace version. But seeing this boy work on Legos is so fun to see. It seems to balance out the TV time in my mind. YAY! I'm equal on the mom guilt meter! ;)

The final product, at 6 pm!!!

Mimi got a spirograph from uncle drew..

Without being too nauseating...this was the most magical Christmas ever. There will be others...some good, some bad. But this one I hope lands in the history of our family as a great one.  xo