My plan was to get my blog going during the holidays. But, as with most holidays, the time went by far too quickly. I find it hard to believe that all the festivities are over and 2008 is in full swing! At our house, the decorations are still up - the thought of taking them down completely overwhelms me. I'm not sure if I'm refusing to admit that the holidays are really over or just too lazy to take on the clean-up! So, instead of packing up things tonight, I'm blogging our holiday wrap-up. This is Part I, which will go through Christmas Eve!
We had a wonderful holiday season. I have to admit that I felt less stress this year than in years past - maybe because I'm stopped stressing quite so much about the gift giving aspect. But, it doesn't mean we did fewer things. I always have a long list of holiday events that I want to each year and, while I never get to everything, I felt like we did the things I really wanted to do and that I knew the kids would enjoy. While Katelyn doesn't understand much this year, she did recognize Santa and learned to say "Ho, ho, ho!" We started teaching her that months early just so she'd be ready! She also enjoyed looking at holiday lights and pulling all the decorations off the bottom two feet of the Christmas tree! Sydney loved everything, which is really no surprise. Her joyous spirit shines through during the holiday season! She loves the lights, decorations, projects, wrapping - everything!
This year, we made our first holiday visit to Hershey Park. We spent the weekend taking in the sights, having breakfast with Santa, and touring the chocolate factory. We're were lucky enough to spend some time with Kevin's sister, her husband, and their two girls. We loved seeing them but wish the weather would have cooperated so we could have spent more time touring the park with them - maybe next year! Sydney's favorite part was going on the chocolate tour ride. She loved it and still talks about it. It was so much fun that we're already planning next year's trip!
We continued our tradition of creating gingerbread houses. After 3 years of doing this, I think we've gotten the hang of it! The girls are always anxious to get started and, as the girls get older, the houses are more "kid created" than adult created! The girls really do love decorating the houses - and eating decorations along the way.
The weekend just prior to Christmas was especially exciting. Sydney's Girl Scout Troop sang Christmas carols at a local nursing home. Afterwards, she and I went for our holiday haircuts. Since Sydney had about 4 inches of hair cut off, it was quite a big deal! And, made her look like quite the big girl!!! We also continued our cookie baking tradition at a good friend's house. It is always a special day for Sydney, as she loves decorating special cookies for Santa. This year, she learned to make a special "ch,ch,ch" sound when she cuts her cookies. It was quite funny!
As usual, we spent Christmas Eve with my friends from high school and their children. It was especially fun, as all three of us now have kids - a total of 6 girls, ranging from 8 years to 3 months, and 0 boys!!! What are the odds of that??? We did a craft, made our reindeer food, and exchanged presents. I especially love this night and I'm so grateful that I have I still see my high school best friends and their families! When the evening festivities were done, we went home to get ready for Santa. We put on our pj's and hit the front lawn to put out the reindeer food. (It has been warm enough the last two years that we don't even have to wear a coat outside for this!) Then, we hang our stockings, read our Christmas stories, and put out the cookies and milk for Santa. The girls were both exhausted so they fell asleeep within minutes!
The Christmas Day and New Year's details will follow soon!
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