December Recap

December is already a blur. With Thanksgiving so late in November, the Christmas Season seems like it came and went so fast! I felt a little jipped.

Matt's parents came to visit for a few days in December. Kaitlyn and Skylie relished the attention. We visited Garfield Park Conservatory, the Lilly House, and the surrounding grounds outside the Indiana Museum of Art. We also saw Santa and Mrs. Claus at the nearby library. I'm kicking myself for not getting any pictures of the kids with Nana and Papa.

Hiking outside the the art museum

Hiking outside the art museum

Visiting Santa at the library. Skylie bravely told the jolly red elf she wanted a trampoline for Christmas.

The kids and I visited the Children's Museum a time or two.

As a family we checked out the holiday lights and ate frozen yogurt downtown. This is one of my favorite holiday traditions.

Matt and I opted for a low-key Christmas Eve and Day. Two families joined us for Christmas Eve Dinner. I'd said I'd come up with some holiday activities for the kids to do. It ended up that they watched the Nativity movie put out by our church. (I am just that cool and creative these days.)

Early Christmas morning Skylie burst into our room exclaiming that Santa had come and had brought two great big presents. We made her wait for over an hour for Kaitlyn to wake up before we began opening gifts. The suspense about killed her!

Each year I claim that the kids are only getting "one or two things and that's it!" But somehow by Christmas morning the amount of presents under the tree explodes--thanks to grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins who spoil these girls.

It took our family three-and-a-half hours to open presents! Even though everyone got a somewhat modest amount of gifts (about eight each) the girls loved taking their time opening presents and playing with the loot. It was so, so fun, and I definitely recommend taking that approach if your kids will allow.

Camelot Jr. game. I highly recommend this game. It's puzzles increase in difficulty so that even older kids are challenged. One night after the kids were in bed Matt and I tried to do some of the "expert level" puzzles. We weren't successful!

Kaitlyn loves her shopping cart. For some reason, I adore the look Kaitlyn's giving Matt in this picture.

My brother, who has no children of his own, is surprisingly good at giving gifts to my kids. Both Skylie and Kaitlyn love this flower building kit.

Santa granted Skylie's wish.

Matt and I gave the kids art supplies--washable paints, a few wooden and ceramic toys to paint, markers, and construction paper. They may have loved the $1 birdhouses as much as they loved the trampoline. Both painted birdhouses are hanging in our tree now, and Skylie says "maybe it can be a bug house because it's too little for birdies".

Later in the afternoon Matt took us to see the movie, Frozen. So cute!

When Matt and I got our Christmas tree this year I told him that the day we set up the Christmas Tree may be my favorite day all year long. To me, decorating the tree kicks off the holiday season and fills me with anticipation of all the fun that's coming.  But I've changed my mind. Christmas day is definitely the best!

Hope you had a great day, too!