Merry Christmas!

Christmas day started off with these two girls jumping in our bed excited beyond belief!

Avery loves her new fluffy ear muffs!

The aftermath... all the gifts they got... what will they play with first?

Morgan picked her new Spirit playmobil sets. She got three of them and Daddy got to put them together!

Avery played with her new American Girl doll and changed her into her new outfits for every possible excursion she would go on!

Our annual family Christmas PJ's picture - this year we got the Justice League set, which is basically Wonder Woman for all the girls and Super Man for Daddy.

Avery decided to do her new Color Reveal Barbie. It comes covered in pink goo and you put it in water until it all washes off. Even Barbie has gotten into the surprise toys!

Morgan dressed her new American Girl doll in her snow gear, even though it was like 50 degrees outside!

We were hosting Christmas at our house and Matt made lasagna for the meal. It was delicious and I hope a new holiday tradition!

My family came over in the afternoon and we opened gifts from each other. I don't have any pictures of that craziness, but let's just say wrapping paper everywhere and happy kids everywhere! After we finished, my parents said "hmmm, I think there is another gift for the big kids, but we need to go outside to get it!" The girls and Grayson were SO excited. Of course, Morgan screams "it's a dog!" and I immediately think, "god, I hope she's not disappointed!" as my Dad is barking in the background. Ugh! But, she was happy with the gift... they each got new big kid bikes... with kickstands! That was their one requirement for the next bike! :)

Christmas was once again crazy and so fun and over way too fast! I just love watching all the kids and how excited they get. Avery was beyond sad when it was over. She literally laid in bed that night crying "I don't want Christmas to end" over and over. My heart hurt for her, because I feel the same way. It is so great to be able to spend the day with everyone you love and of course, get lots of gifts! It's like the best day ever!

Christmas Card 2019

Twinkle Toes

I should have taken more pictures of what that silly Elf did this year! She gave the girls giggles and left them sweet notes and some new books to read throughout the month. They were really sad to say good-bye on Christmas Eve. They each gave her a big hug and said "see you next year"!

Here's a just a couple of the ones I remembered to take pictures of:

Christmas Eve at the Wilkens'

My sister hosted Christmas Eve (afternoon) at her house. We had lots of goodies, some outdoor playtime and a visit from Santa himself (well, one of his helpers!) My mom always makes cookies for all of us with our names on them and the kids get a kick out of eating their special cookie! I love Christmas time so much and how excited the kids get about everything!

Back at our house, we got on our Christmas PJ's and got ready for bed. The girls said goodbye to our Elf, Twinkle Toes, and tucked her in for the night. The girls were so tired from the day's activities that they were able to fall asleep (although Avery proclaimed she was way too excited to ever fall asleep!)

Christmas Eve Mani/Pedis

Avery asks me all the time to go for mani/pedis - she loves them! So, after she heard that I went with Erin and my mom for mani/pedis the night before, she was so jealous! Morgan likes getting them, too, but is definitely not as obsessed as Avery. :)

We were there before the place opened on Christmas Eve day. Morgan picked red and green to be festive for the season. Avery wanted nothing red or green, so decided on pink with a gold glitter overlay.

Horse Camp

Since Matt and I had to work and the girls needed something to keep them busy the first day of break, we signed them up for horse camp. They love going because they get to interact with horses. They each get a 45 minute riding lesson and get to ride horses by themselves around the arena. The weather was really unseasonably warm, so that was an added bonus. And their cousins were all going, so they at least knew a few other kids there.

Gingerbread houses

Every year, we decorate gingerbread houses with Grandma Ruth. We have learned from prior experience to get the houses that are already constructed. Trying to put those things together is not fun! We've even resorted to using actual glue because icing is just not enough. This year, one of the pre-built houses I bought was cracked. I tried fixing it with glue, but it wasn't the same. Luckily, we had two others still, so grandma just helped the girls with each of them. We had lots of icing and decorations for the houses and they turned out great!

Decorating cookies with friends

The girls each had a friend over to decorate cookies to kick off the holiday break. So much icing and sprinkles!