Let the Celebrations Begin!

"I believe Mommy!  I believe! I believe!"

OK - I'll get to that part.  Don't want to forget about the most precious moment that ever happened to me though!

It's Christmas Week!  We started the week off with the Wilson side of the family.  Due to everyone getting the flu, we decided to move the party to our house so nobody else got sick on Christmas!  It was fun to have everyone over to celebrate with our first presents of the season.  And the kids loved having all of their aunts and uncles over to play with.

How'd We End Up Here?

Diva

Presents from Aunt Kelley

Star Wars + Reading = One Happy Boy

Party Girls

Checking Out His New Presents By the Fire

Begged Him for a Picture

Hugs For Aunt Kelley 

Because Aunt Kelley gave Pay a sparkly shirt.  That's really all it took for Payton to finally give up a hug.

Parks Playing with Aunt Kelley

We spent the one morning reading stories with Mrs. Claus. She also handed out Christmas cookies and Hot Chocolate.  Parker and Barrett loved every minute of it.  They sang songs and listened to each story with such excitement.  And Payton loved watching it all in Mommy's lap.

Waving at Mrs. Claus

Barely Got Mrs. Claus in the Picture

When we left, Payton had been throwing a massive tantrum for about 20 minutes.  I was so annoyed. And was kind of wishing, even though the program was really cute, that we had just skipped it.  But, a couple days later, this moment proved to be the start of our most magical Christmas moment to date. 

It's hard to pull stuff over on Barrett.  He started figuring out that the Santa you see at the mall isn't the real Santa.  He still believes in the real Santa, but I knew that if I said too much I would burst his whole Santa bubble.  So just kinda ignored him saying that.  A couple of days after our Mrs. Claus event, we were sitting at a stop light in the car.  The kids noticed Santa and Mrs. Claus standing on the sidewalk outside our window.   We rolled the window down, and the girls were yelling "Hi Santa!  Hi Santa!" And waving their little hands.  Santa eventually heard us, and although the shouldn't quite spot where the yelling was coming from (there were lots of kids around), he started waving and looking around trying to find us.  When he moved, we could see Mrs. Claus's face.  And Barrett froze. FROZE.  He started shouting "That's the same Mrs. Claus!  It's the same one!" It was the same lady who played Mrs. Claus at the story time we went to.  That's all the proof Barrett needed.  So while we were sitting at a stop light, with the window rolled down so Santa could hear us, on a street that was abundantly decorated for Christmas, and Christmas music playing on the speakers lining the sidewalks ... my child started yelling in the backseat, "I believe!  I believe it now, Mommy!  I BELIEVE!!!"  And Mommy cried. :)

We always try to make a point to see Mommer Patsy during the Christmas season.  Mummer and I probably talk to the most during Christmas time. I mean, somebody has to call her to make sure she knows when Rudolph and Frosty comes on tv. 

Three Generations

The 4th little generation I brought with me was busy stuffing their faces!

When Gamma Doesn't Finish Her Food - Somebody Has To!

Giggles With Gamma

Can't Contain Her Excitement

Smiles and Hugs for Big Brother

Baking Christmas cookies!  Admittedly, not really my thing.  But we tried HARD. And the kids had fun. And they all took turns without fighting!  Even though they cookies didn't turn out like I had pictured in my head, I'm still considering this a mom win!

You Want Me To What???

Oh!  This is Easy.  Got It Mom.

Teamwork

My Little Cooking Buddy

The girls got hungry and lost interest.  But Barrett helped me finish every cookie.

So Cute .... Before the Oven

I'm just going to leave it at that!

One of our most favorite traditions is going see Charlie Brown Christmas and How The Grinch Stole Christmas at the movie theater.   For the past few years we have met another family there, and so it's become a tradition that both of us do together every year. This year, our playdate friends were there too!  The kids thought it was their theater, and everyone came to see them! ;)  

Cute Friends

Shhhhhh .... The Movie is About to Start

No Really .... Shhhh

I Don't Think Anybody Wanted to Take This Picture

So Sweet. Sharing Popcorn.

We spent the rest of the day eating and taking one last trip to see all of our Christmas favorites.

Looking at the Grinch Her Grinch Clothes

Too Excited To Stay Still

Kind of an awkward picture. But I love those moments when he can't contain his excitement.

Took Forever to Get Them In this Booth!

At the same time.  With no crying :)

Decorating Cookies! On Christmas Eve EVE, we decorated our cookies for Santa.  I was actually really impressed how long this held their attention.  And how little mess we made! 

All that was left now: Christmas Even and THE BIG DAY