Merry Christmas

We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. It was a great day here. It started pretty early, as you can probably tell from this picture that it is still dark outside.

The kids had oodles and oodles of presents.  Serafina got lots of dress up clothes, including this Doc McStuffins lab coat that went perfectly with the talking Doc McStuffins doll her dad got her.

Leo had a very Chima Christmas and received multiple sets of Chima Legos.  A lot of Lego assembly happened today.

Here they are in their matching Christmas pajamas.

The grown ups got some good loot too.  Here's the flavored salt set that Tom got from Nana.

The kids indulged in some Christmas chocolate after dinner.

Tom got comfy in a geeky t-shirt and the super soft lounging pants Leo gave him.

Serafina got a very special present from her teacher, Mrs. Mouritson.  She had colored this Pooh during class and Mrs. Mouritson made it into a pillow for her.  She unwrapped it this morning and I thought it was so touching.  Here's a picture with the Instagram treatment.

Christmas Eve (AKA the longest day for my kids)

I went to a yoga class this morning and it was the longest stretch of the day I wasn't pestered by a kid about opening a present.

We made our traditional Christmas eve cookies (a butter cookie decorated with sprinkles and some get turned into jam thumbprints), but that only took up a few minutes.

As we got into evening, they got to open a gift.  They picked the ones from Ito and Grandma Sharon, which were Lego sets.  It was the perfect thing to do while Tom worked his magic in the kitchen.
Serafina got a Lego Friends treehouse.

Leo got a 3-in-1 truck set.

Tom was hard at work as usual.

After dinner they talked us into one more gift with encouragement from Nana.  They opened gifts from her.  Serafina got the princess dress she had asked for.  Leo had put on his Nana list "something cute" so she picked this minion (from the Despicable Me movies) and it was very cute.

My contribution to the meal was made last night and needed to chill overnight.  It was a pumpkin cheesecake, which I added a caramel drizzle and whipped cream.  It turned out great, but I forgot to take a picture of my piece until I was already half way done.

The kids went to bed late, so we can only hope they sleep in a little.  Either way, it's going to be a crazy morning, but fun.

Star Wars exhibit

In my continued effort to stay busy, I made some cookies yesterday.  I decided not to go too "Christmas-y" and made chocolate chocolate chip and orange pecan cranberry cookies.  I packaged them up cute and we delivered them to some friends and neighbors.

Next week when I go to Arkansas, Tom will have to entertain the kids on his own.  He considered taking them to the Star Wars exhibit at the Tech museum while I was gone, but I had to lay down the law on that one.  No going to the exhibit without me, so we all went together today.  

There was not flash photography, so the pictures aren't great, but the exhibit was awesome.  These are the real costumes from the movies.  

There were a lot of hands-on exhibits too.  Tom and the kids built robots and the boys tried this hover craft.

Leo took it seriously like always.  

Vader!

Serafina was excited about seeing Leia's costume.

The actual Yoda puppet.  It was like a celebrity sighting.

There were lots of models from the movies as well.

After checking out all the Star Wars stuff, we saw an IMAX movie about outer space.  I was worried it would be too intense for the kids, but they like it.

Santa's helper and kindergarten party

Last week, my dad was admitted to the hospital.  It's been a rough road and I'll be visiting him after the holidays.  In the meantime, I'm trying not to worry too much and stay busy. This time of year, it's very easy to keep busy.  

Today was the three-year-olds turn to have Santa visit their class.  My friend Aida was Santa's helper in the morning and I babysat her son, Navid.  Navid and Serafina are good friends and played happily together the whole time.  On the way to my house, Serafina was talking about opening presents on Christmas.  Navid told her "Christmas isn't only about presents.  It's about giving and love."  Wow kid.  He's like a walking Lifetime Television Holiday Special.

I relieved Aida of her elf duties and took over as Santa's helper for the afternoon class.  Santa said I was top elf of the day.  

After Santa time, Serafina and I went to help set up Leo's kindergarten class for their Holiday party.  The preschool completely embraces Christmas, but the elementary school has to be more politically correct and culturally sensitive.  The kids don't sing and carols, but instead they sang this song called "Holidays around the World".  

 Serafina enjoyed eating all the treats.

Santa at preschool

Every year Santa visits the preschool; I show up to take pictures and enjoy seeing the kids with the man in red. Turns out that Santa doesn't just magically appear on a sleigh in the parking lot and the books don't get into his sack with a twinkle of his nose. It actually takes a lot of coordination and work, which I've handled as preschool president. According to one of the teachers, it isn't suppose to be my job but it landed in my lap this year and we can't have a year without Santa Claus.

Serafina was happy to talk to him.

One kid burst into tears the minute he saw Santa and wouldn't go near him.  He wouldn't even be in the group shot.

At the end of the day, they all turned into Rudolphs for the song.

Christmas Dance

Serafina's dance class performed a little dance to Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer.  She looks cute and about a foot taller than everyone else.  I was sitting off to the side, so I couldn't get a good angle with the camera.  Also, the little girl next to her was attending her first class as a trial to see if she likes it.  She's pretty clueless, which is to be expected, but she ends up blocking my view of Serafina during most of the video.

Here it is.

Christmas cheesers

We attended our friends, the Priesoff's, annual Christmas party today. The kids were dressed up and looking cute so I tried to take a nice picture. This is what I got.

Kindergarten Gingerbread Houses

Thursday afternoon I joined some other parents to assemble 60 gingerbread  houses out of milk cartons and graham crackers.  It wasn't too bad.  The next day, 57 kids (Leo's kindergarden class and their 3rd grade "buddies") decorated the houses.  I was covered in icing and passing out candies; I felt like Willy Wonka.

The kids had a blast.  Here's Leo with his buddy Zach.

 Lots of candy-covered houses.

It was only two hours of my life, but it was exhausting.