Pancake Christmas Party

Our first opportunity to see Santa this year was at the Ward Christmas party. I didn't get the memo that you could come in your pjs a la Polar Express. That's ok, the kids still looked festive.

Grandma was asked to be the "Apron Lady" this year because she's just so nice! She had a huge apron with dozens of pockets filled with goodies.

Aidan is such an angel...

 

...he's definitely on the "nice" list this year.

 

Jack doesn't care what list he's on. Santa is just worried that his jeans are showing.

 Can one of you elves make yourself useful and pull down my suit please?

 

Mia was so sweet with Santa.

And his jeans are still showing.

 

Mia's Christmas Program

Every year Mia's preschool puts on the sweetest Christmas program. This is our 3rd year with the school and every year, it's just as adorable as the last. The kids and teachers obviously put a lot of work into it.

"It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air." -W.T. Ellis

We're a family who LOVES Christmas. Aidan and Bob both have birthdays over the holidays, which adds to the festivities. Bob and I try to do something Christmas related nearly every day, without making it feel like we're checking the traditions off the list (sometimes I feel that way too!).  Here's what Christmas '09 looks like around here:

Every year, early in the month of December (or whenever the elves get around to it), Santa's elves drop off a gift bag with special Christmas pjs for the kids. We get their beds all made up in their winter flannels and they are snug as bugs!

I can't tell...is this naughty or nice?

Writing letters to Santa. Who knew it could be so stressful?

We wrap up all our Christmas books and the kids get to take turns opening a new one up every night during December for story time.

Annie was our guest reader one night.

It's nice that Aidan can read to the kids now...

 

 

Every year my mom brings all the goodies to make a gingerbread house. Sometimes they make individual houses, but this year, they made a big one.

 

Dad gets in on the action...

 

 

Thanks Grandma!!

 

We also decorated sugar cookies that night. I had several left over from Mia's class party earlier that day.

 

 

 

Jack is really getting into Christmas. He brought a ton of little toys to put under the tree...guess it was looking a little too lonely under there!  Speaking of lonely, looks like I need some more ornaments!!!

 

Christmas Creche Exhibit

Last week we headed over the the stake building for the annual Creche exhibit. Dozens of people donate  nativity scenes that have been collected from all over the world. It is so heartwarming to see how many people and cultures have used their talents to commemorate Christ's birth with their own interpretation of the nativity scene. When we walked in the chapel, a choir was singing Christmas hymns. They were visiting from the Catholic church across the street and sang so beautifully.

 This was one of Aidan's favorites...

 

The kids liked how big this one was.

 

 

 

This was one family favorite...it's from the Philippines and is made from newspaper!

 

I guess this just reflects my minimalist leanings...this was one of my favorites. It's very rustic and simple, and  the beautiful faces remind me of an old Medieval painting.

 

The kids loved it! With all the fun holiday activities, it's nice to take them to one that highlights the real reason we celebrate Christmas. 

We know we're doing something right because Aidan's teacher reported to me today that during their discussion of why we have the holidays, several children listed dreidels, presents, Santa, etc. Aidan raised his hand shyly and said that the season is also about love and loving one another. That boy just kills me sometimes!

Catchin' the Christmas Spirit

Every year I swear to myself that I will get my act together and have all our Christmas traditions organized and planned before December 1st rolls around. Let's just say that I always have the best intentions, but somewhere down the line it just doesn't happen. I'm still working on it.

We did manage to get the tree up and decorated  the day after Thanksgiving (and I even shopped that morning!). I still have a lot of Christmas stuff to get up, but as long as the tree is up, everyone's happy. Bob loves old Christmas music so much, he even made his own mixed CD for us to listen to while decorating.

At the Wallace Christmas Tree Farm

 

The kids thought the tree could be put to better use as a jungle backdrop for their stuffed animals...

 

 

The annual Festivus pole celebration! I did omit Bob's pole dancing photo. Didn't want it to end up in the wrong hands...note the open windows. It was WARM that day.

 

 

 

Regardless of my complete lack of organization (2010 is the year of the Christmas binder, I promise!), we have managed to do some fun holiday stuff around here. I had some coupons for a $12 dinner for a family of four at Backyard Burgers, which was close to a really fun neighborhood that goes all out with Christmas decorating. During the holidays it's called Christmas Card Lane. We piled in with my mom and Aunt Annie and cruised through the neighborhood. It's things like this that really warms my heart and reminds me of how many people truly love the holidays. The majority of the homes were decked out in holiday lights and blowups, along with a large greeting card standing in each front yard. To think that all these neighbors have been passing down this tradition for more than 25 years is really quite special.

There's another decked out street that conveniently runs just between two of my friends' houses. It's like passing through a nightly Christmas party outdoors...they even have a radio station broadcasting Christmas music, just on that block! We've driven through it several times, and it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy and cheery every time we do. Jack absolutely loves Christmas lights and shouts "pretty house!" at every decorated home.

Every year we dig out the holiday movies and make popcorn and drink hot chocolate. The year, the kids' favorite has been the old school Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer...I haven't watched it in years.

It's always more fun watching it on a really big, FREE TV. I know, it's really big.

Burl Ives is synonymous with Christmas...

 

I love the sound effects whenever Rudolph's nose lights up...

 

The kids loved the singing animals...

 

And remember this guy? I got a good laugh whenever he popped up.

 

The kids loved it. I had forgotten about the Island of Lost Toys, and the kids were running around singing "We're a Couple of Misfits" all the next day. 

Thanksgiving Ninjas!

After the cooking and feasting were over for the day, we got the kids in their jammies for a ninja training session with their Uncle David. I know, not your typical Thanksgiving tradition, but we're all thankful for ninjas, right? Uncle David is our family cage fighting martial arts teacher and the kids love learning his moves. Aidan was his student in his Little Masters class, and even earned his orange belt. Unfortunately, the twice weekly drive to Independence was too much after Jack was born.

Here are two of my ninjas

David taught them many ninja essentials:

Creeping (which looks strangely similar to Little Bunny Foofoo)

Sneaking...

...and general kicking butt...

kicks...

...and more kicks...

Our Kind of Thanksgiving!!

Thanksgiving around the Littlewood/Wallace family always involves lots of cooking, which always results in lots of eating. Mia and I took a "before" shot of the kitchen...before it looks like a comfort food grenade exploded in there.  I turned on the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade in the kitchen and got to work.

This is a list of what I was in charge of this year...yes it's a lot of cooking, but I love it! I have to write out a schedule so everything gets done on time. I thought I would have a two hour break, but it turned out that I only got about an hour the whole day to relax before the meal.

Everyone's favorite Thanksgiving dessert...we've traded in the traditional pumpkin pie for Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake. It's really the most delicious thing ever.

This lovely shot was a total reflection of how I was feeling at this point in the cooking...after Bob took it, I said "you had to take a photo when I'm putting canned corn in the mixer?" What would Martha say?

Roasted garlic. I can think of no other substance on earth that is this good...its applications in food are endless.

Every year, Bob gets a good share of the grunt work, and unfortunately, none of the glory. Besides peeling potatoes and washing dishes, his other job is stirring the Roasted Garlic Potato Soup. Since I make such a big batch, I have to make it in a huge stockpot that burns ridiculously fast. Let's just say that the last two Thanksgivings we've had Smoked Roasted Garlic Potato Soup. And both years I have shamelessly blamed Bob (well, he was supposed to be stirring constantly). This year, he stood and stirred for 10 minutes until it came to a boil. Turns out, all he needed was some football on the TV and he was good to go. And yes, I did ask him if he had his hand down his pants in this photo...he said he was just resting his thumb in his waistband. Men.

The after shot...it seemed like we were doing dishes all day on Friday.

The kids and my brothers Andrew and David

Get in really close Aidan...

I'm so grateful that we live close to family. In a perfect world, we'd live near all of our family, but it's just not possible. I'm thankful that we always have a place to be on the holidays, to be with the people who love us for who we are.

David asked me to throw him a roll. Since it's Thanksgiving and we try to put on some semblance of grace and good manners, I had to get Mom's approval. I love that she gave me a look that said, "He said throw him a roll, so throw him a roll!" I did, and David caught it. This was the moment of the Great Roll Toss...I'm grateful that I have a family where tossing rolls is acceptable at the table.

Thanksgiving dinner was delicious. After dinner we packed up the kids and headed over to my house for dessert and some relaxation. We had three desserts to choose from this year: Apple Pie, which my mom brought, the aforementioned Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake and Sweet Potato Pie which I made from scratch. It was my first foray into pie making, and I think it turned out pretty well! After we got the kids to bed, we all got comfy on the couch and watched a movie...not exactly a "traditional" tradition, but that's us...we sometimes just roll with it. Plus, I was totally pooped out after all that cooking! Happy Thanksgiving!