Christmas Fun!

December so far has been full of fun! 

We put our Christmas tree up, and after some light issues, got it sufficiently decorated. And we decided that this year will be the last year for this crappy Meijer tree. (Side note: WHY do lighted trees and strands of lights come with those stupid extra light bulbs? Has anyone really ever made a strand or part of a strand work again by magically putting the new bulb in the right spot?!?! Please explain.)

But who doesn't love snuggling by a Christmas tree??

The first weekend in Dec was especially fun! Friday, we went to Fulton to enjoy their downtown "Christmas Walk."  Jeremiah's school was in charge of the warming area, where they had cocoa and cookies, a craft, and the choir singing Christmas carols. So we made sure to stop there first! Then there was free kettle corn, different displays in store windows (one store even had dancers dancing scenes from "The Nutcracker"!), horse-drawn wagon rides, lots of festive Christmas decorations, Santa, and also Sinterklaas by the big windmill! I think J might start liking Sinterklaas over Santa- Sinterklaas gave him a whole little sack of chocolate coins!

Saturday afternoon we went to see the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train, which stopped right here in Clinton! It was pretty impressive! After it pulls to a stop, one car opens up and they perform a short (I don't remember who the musicians were) concert, then there were fireworks, and then off the train goes to its next stop.

Adam came with us for a bit, but then had to work. The concert was hard to see (since Mommy can't hold J on her shoulders!), so we walked down by the train to see it up close. Then watched the fireworks from the warm car. :)

Sunday morning we awoke to our first snow! J is such a snow lover, so he was so excited and ready to get out there and play!

I don't get it.

I do have snow pants for Hope, but she has to wait for Christmas to open up her new snow boots (that's what both kids are getting for their "something you need" gift). She hasn't shown too much interest in going out to play with J, so I doubt she will last very long when she does. We'll see! I think J has gone out to play in the snow every single day since we got that first snow, even when most of it melted! Now we have a fresh new batch of snow, so he's so happy. Unfortunately our temps are taking a nosedive, so I won't be sending him out for an hour when it's barely above 0! 

Sunday afternoon we met up with friends and went to see "Disney on Ice"! It was so fun! J really had no idea what it was (he told me afterwards that he thought it was a movie. Ha!), and he really enjoyed it. Hope also loved it and stayed entertained the majority of the time (because PRINCESSES). The last part was about Rapunzel, so of course that was the favorite!

This must be documented:

I tried pigtail braids in Hope's hair! She hated them and cried until I put a ponytail in. :(

This past Saturday, J and Adam worked on decorating a (pre-assembled) gingerbread house.

It turned out so cute! And our little 2 year old snitch only snagged a couple M&M's and finger licks of frosting, before we moved it up higher.

Saturday night Adam was working, it was snowy outside- made for the perfect cozy pizza and movie night for me and the kids!

Monday night we did jammies early, made a stop a Starbucks, and then headed out to see some Christmas lights!

I was surprised how excited Hope was by the lights! We heard lots of "Lookit dat, Daddy!" And "Its so byoo-ful!!"

We went to the "Symphony of Lights" where you drive through Eagle Point Park and see all the lights. Very cool! Then on our way home, we discovered like 3 blocks away from our house (where we went trick-or-treating, actually) there is a street that decorates all the houses and calls it a "Neighborhood Noel." That was fun to see, too. 

And last night we took care of visiting Santa! He just so happened to be hanging out at the Pizza Ranch, so that just made it so easy and convenient! I wasn't sure how Hope would do since she doesn't know anything at all about Santa, and last year she cried so hard! But she heard J talking about telling Santa about something he wanted for Christmas, and she quickly decided she needed to "talka Santa" too. As you can see, she wasn't super eager to get near Santa, but from my arms she was able to tell him that she wants princesses (surprise!). J wants a conveyor belt and working excavator, by the way.

One more fun thing about December- sickness! Woohoo! Had to pick J up early from school today- sore throat (which he did complain about this morning- oops) and fever (which he did NOT have this morning). And it's Strep! Hooray. Hopefully once he gets his antibiotics, he'll be feeling much better. That also means he probably has to miss his school Christmas concert tomorrow night, since he can't go to school yet tomorrow. Such a bummer- I was really looking forward to it! :( But 'tis the season, I suppose. Now hopefully the rest of us don't get it so we can enjoy our next Christmas (and Adam's 40th birthday!!!!!) this weekend!