Christmas Day

Christmas was good this year.  Mark and I feel very blessed to be able to provide for our girls an amazing Christmas. 

 "Sign your name big.  Take your food and Rudolph's!"  From Lauren.  I love it.  This was sitting under the tree for days. 

 Lauren got the Kindle Fire she dreamed of...and has really enjoyed it this week.  She also got a Barbie doll, a sleeping bag for our camping trip with Girl Scouts this spring, 30 Junie B Jones books, lots of stuff from Justice, Barbie movies, and Madagascar 3. 

 Addison got the Leap Pad and has picked up on it very quickly and loves several of the games. 

Lauren requested several outfits from Justice, and she knows that she gets clothes from Justice for Christmas, birthday, and maybe back to school outfit.  She was thrilled.  She wore this dress first! 

The girls gave each other jammies for Christmas.  Lauren really wanted footie jammies.  She loves them. 

 Addison told Santa she wanted a teddy bear for Christmas.  Honestly, she has played with that thing non stop the last several days.  One of her favorite gifts, along with the Barbie house I showed you a few days back.  (oh, and yes...those are my gifts.  Mark was very good to me this year!) 

Addison wanted this Christmas Cabbage Patch doll.  She also got a Barbie doll, some babies and a bunk bed for them, Leapster games, some clothes, a Cinderella baby doll, princess dress up shoes, Barbie movies, and Brave. 

 

 I really wanted this North Face coat and I told Mark to surprise me with the color.  I love it! It is so warm and fuzzy.  Addison is also obsessed with it.  She calls it "softie" and wants to hold it, rub it, sleep with it, drag it around...ALL.THE.TIME.  I had to put a stop to that.  This was is a little too pricey for that.  Thanks Mark.  I love it.  Lauren got me a new cup from Starbucks, and Addison got me a warm, long sleeve running shirt.  Mark got me some new running gloves, a sleeping bag for the camping trip this spring, a Coach purse, and of course he made our family calendar for 2013.  He did a great job!  Oh, and Santa brought me Just Dance 4 for the Wii.  We love it. 

 Mark enjoyed jammie pants, a Nike sweatshirt, a Husker sweatshirt, a muscle roller thing (don't really know the exact name of it...but you roll in on your legs after a run to ease the pain and speed up the recovery process!)  He also got a new I-pod.  Oh, and the trip to the Big Ten Championship game in early December. 

This picture looks worse than it really is.  Really.  We enjoyed monkey bread for breakfast, and some coffee before tackling this room. 

My parents came by late morning with my Grandma to see all the girls stuff and eat lunch with us.  We had a great visit and a great meal.  After that we ALL took naps, stayed in our jammies all day, and really enjoyed hanging out as a family.  It was a Merry Christmas. 

 

Christmas Eve

Mark had to work for a while on Christmas Eve, so it was just me and the girls making cookies for Santa (chocolate chip and sugar) and a cake for Jesus's birthday.  The three of us always have fun in the kitchen together. 

Addison took her icing very seriously!  Both girls really enjoyed icing the sugar cookies. 

All dressed up for church.  We went to our old church since the time worked out better.  It was great to see Father Jim and some old friends at the church. 

 

We got a few great pictures as a family before we left for church.  

 

After church we headed to Mama's for dinner.  It is a Christmas Eve tradition and has been for as long as I can remember.  I did my best to get some pictures of all 4 girls.  This was the best I could get.  

 This one of Addison, Lauren and Claire is really good. 

I tried again later with Christmas Eve jammies...

After we headed home we got milk and cookies ready for Santa. 

Then we got the reindeer food ready for Rudolph.  

 

Addison got Mark some new jammie pants for Christmas so he got to open them on Christmas Eve.  I also got to open some new jammie pants that night as well.  The funny thing is Mark and I both bought Nautica jammie pants.  I guess we both have good taste! 

 

Before heading to bed we said bye to Zach (our elf.)  Lauren totally freaked out and had a melt down that he was leaving, going back to the north pole, and that he would not be around each day in a new spot.  Totally. Freaked. Out.  Apparently she still believes...so I tried to savor the moment, because I don't know how much longer she will still believe. 

 

After the girls finally got to sleep Mark and I got everything ready for Santa.  Christmas morning is one of my favorite times of the year, and it truly was magical. 

Christmas with Gramps and Nana

Remember the book Addison got on the Plaza Saturday night?  Well, she loves it and shared it with Gramps as soon as we arrived at my parents house Sunday night to celebrate Christmas. 

 

Lauren helped Nana out in the kitchen getting dinner ready.  She is such a good kid.  

 

Then the girls snuck away after dinner to play "I spy" on the quilt.  They do this every time we are at my parents house.  

 

After dinner it was time for presents. Addison loved this princess stroller.  

The umbrellas were a huge hit too!

All Claire wanted was this cash register, and she really did not need to open anything else.  She was completely happy with the cash register....all night long.  

 

Addison was just as excited as Lauren with the Orbeez foot spa.  Both girls have played with it a lot over the last few days. 

Lauren also got a journal.  She wrote a very creative story that night for all of us.  She is very creative when it comes to writing and art work. 

 

Nana made the grand kids quilts with their names on them.  

 

Here are my girls.  

 

Addison and Mama, my grandma, healthy as ever! 

Sophie hung out all night, happy as can be.  She is such a great baby. 

 

 

These are the treasures from Gramps's workshop.  I have some pretty talented parents!  

 

Jen and I got together Friday night and made this Christmas tree for my parents.  

Here it is a little closer up with Lauren's hands on the bottom, then Claire, Addison, and Sophie on top.  

We had a great Christmas celebration with my family Sunday night, and the fun was only beginning with Christmas Eve activities and Christmas day activities. 

 

Christmas

was wonderful.  It is going to take me a while to get caught up on the blog. 

 Lauren got the Kindle Fire she wanted and spent most of they day in her comfy new chair playing with it. 

Addison got a new Barbie house and spent most of the day playing with that, and several other things as well. 

 

Mark spoiled me with a new Coach purse and a North Face coat, which Addison loved too.  Mark loves his new iPod nano and Husker sweatshirt!  It was a great Christmas

 



A Christmas Night on the Plaza

Saturday afternoon/early evening we headed down to the Plaza to do some shopping, enjoy some dinner, and see the lights.  We ate at Cheesecake Factory and had so much fun.  We arrived early and did not have too long of a wait (45 minutes.)  Mark and Addison looked at the horses and Lauren and I just sat and talked.  It was close to 50 degrees so we sat outside and it felt great. 

Thank you Lauren for the wonderful picture of Mark and I.  We all enjoyed a yummy dinner and cheesecake to top it all off.  Chocolate, peanut butter, Butterfingers and Reece's peanut butter cups.  Heaven. 

I was very excited to take some pictures of the girls and the Plaza lights with my new fancy camera (did I tell you I got a new Nikon SLR?  The D3200 and it is amazing.)  Well, I forget to put the battery back in before we left.  So I had my camera, but no battery.  I was so bummed.  So, I got a few pictures with my phone!

It was crowded after it got dark but so much fun to be in the holiday spirit.  After dinner we went to Barnes and Noble and let the girls pick out a book of their own. 

Lauren really wanted Diary of a Wimpy Kid.  I figured she was too young for it.  She is only 6 ya know.  So I opened it up and had her read one page and much to my surprise she read the whole thing.  Mark and I could not believe it!  So, we let her buy it.

 

Addison's book is very cool.  If you notice the cover, the chimney's are made of erasers and dog bones.  The whole book is like that.  Things in funny places.

 

Both girls have enjoyed their books over the last day.  It is so great to see their noses in books! 

 

It was a great night on the plaza.  We had so much fun.  I really enjoyed it and I am looking forward to starting another tradition of dinner on the plaza, a little shopping, and enjoying the Christmas lights every year during the holidays.  

Addison's Christmas Party

There is nothing cuter than a class room full of 3 and 4 year olds very excited for Christmas.  Thursday afternoon I was able to go to Addison's Christmas party up at her school.  Making time for things like that is a priority to me. 

 They were all super cute in their reindeer hats. 

 Charley, Maya and Addison.  Very good buddies. 

 And Jenna of course...her BFF and dance class buddy. 

 They did a small gift exchange of a book.  Addison was very exicted and apparently the little red hot was not :(  I can't remember what she was so upset about. 

 

Addison  opened a book from Maya.  Barbie.  The Princess and the Popstar.  She loved it.  Which is a good thing because a lot of her Christmas gifts are from this story. 

 

Merry Christmas Everyone!