Christmas!

Christmas and the week after were so laid back and quiet - it was exactly what I needed.  I even ordered our entire Christmas dinner from Whole Foods and let a plant die.  I'm talking pure laziness.  My dad, stepmom and sister came into town Christmas evening, so we had a nice quiet Christmas Eve and morning - just the four of us.

The night before Christmas Eve we went to a Christmas party where Santa showed up towards the end.  When he made his entrance Lyla was off playing with some friends.  A minute later she appeared, ran right up to the front of the crowd and grabbed his hand and attention to let him know how good she's been and that she'd like a pink puppy.  Ryan's coworkers that were in attendance were shocked that his daughter would be the one up front garnering all the attention.  ;)

We spent Christmas Eve in our traditional way - church followed by one present for the kids, bagels and lox, and champagne.  Sis enjoyed some sparkling cider, but Lyla has a new aversion to carbonated drinks, so flat out refused the bubbly.  A fun new tradition was Lyla's 3am wake up call after running downstairs, turning on all the lights, dumping out stockings and eating chocolate on her own.  So fun.

Christmas morning was completely amazing.  I made my homemade pumpkin cinnamon rolls the night before while Ryan built the girls' doll house, so we stuck those in the oven, poured some coffee and ripped into some presents.  It wasn't as neat and orderly as Ryan likes to have presents opened, but the girls were too cute helping each other open packages and just so excited about each and every gift.  We all got some great presents, but hands down my favorite was the fact that I had to do no work.  We didn't even get dressed that day, and everyone got a nap.  After the girls went to bed I headed to the airport to pick up our visitors.

The next few days were so much fun.  We got our first major snowfall and the girls bundled up several times to go play in the snow.  There were donuts, a Vikings game, ice skating, a trip to the gun range, very little cooking, and a whole lot of playing.

It was an amazing holiday and necessary break.  Here are some photos of all the fun!

- K

Because Tim doesn't get nearly enough face time around here.  :)

Fun with Auntie Kate.

Prepped and ready for the last outdoors game at TCF Field for the Vikings!

Grandma and the girls explored Gander Mountain.  The girls wanted to bring these guys home.

And these guys.

And this tent.

Where did this tall kid come from?  And who took my baby??

Lyla had a hard time in those skates - couldn't even keep her feet under her - but she was the cutest little motivational speaker.  She'd take a break and say "I'm doing great!" and "I can do this!" and "This is the best day ever!!"

This was Evie's favorite activity of all time.  Dad would get going fast then hold her down on the ice like she was skating on her own.  Not to mention she was killing it in those shimmery tights and that fur coat.  :)

Love her!

Lyla eventually ditched the skates and had a lot more success in her boots. :)

Sis had no interest in leaving when family skating time ended.

Christmas Things

2016.  I cannot believe it's here already!  December just flew by, and I have to say that the week after Christmas was a hundred million times better than the month before.  It's been a tough season, it mostly just felt like a lot of busy and not a lot of enjoying.  We didn't listen to nearly enough Christmas music, and my very favorite memory from last year was listening to Lyla recite all of our Christmas books by memory, but this year we barely read any of them.  Life was crazy, and it just made it hard to fully enjoy what should be a fun, magical season with my baby girls. 

For the first time ever I actually felt relieved to have it all behind me, rather than my typical sappy self - blubbering like a baby that it was all over.  Until family left, that is, which meant it was officially all over, which is when I finally felt those first twinges of sadness.  So I've decided to just go on strike and not put Christmas decorations away until maybe March or April.  :)

We did, however, manage to do a few fun things.  Here are some pics!

- K

That Little People manger scene - still one of the favorite Christmas things around here.  Only this year there was a lot more sisterly fighting, I mean negotiating, involved.  :)

A couple years ago I got Lyla her own little tree for her room, so this year I had to do the same for Everly.  Lyla rejected any decoration that was not pink - her newly decided favorite color.  Sis was more accommodating and adopted the others.  :)

My mom sent me a little clay tree I'd made when I was little, and Lyla was obsessed with it this year.  She kept asking for clay to make one, so I got some clay and we replicated my little tree.  I also tried making one of those paper chains with her to count down the days until Christmas, which she flat out refused to partake in.  I made the chain by myself, and then it promptly got ripped to shreds by the girls.  The chocolate filled advent calendar went over a little better.

I realized this year that we accidentally adopted a Chapman tradition of adding an ornament each year for the most monumental event of the year.  There's a framed picture from Lyla's first Christmas, a framed picture of Kevin as a puppy and a framed picture of Evie's first Christmas.  This was the first year in a while we haven't added to our family, so this year the monumental event was our new house.  We got this ornament to commemorate it.  :)

For the first time we checked out the "Holiday Lights in the Park", which we nicknamed "The Christmas Light Adventure".  I don't know if it counts as a nickname since it's actually longer, but it really did feel like an adventure.  We packed up the girls and stopped at Qdoba for mom and dad, and McDonald's for the girls.  I sat in the middle row while Dad drove and fed the girls their food and we kept our eyes peeled for Christmas lights.  We finally got to our destination, which is really only a 10 minute drive through some mediocre lights, but all the cars turn off their lights and crawl along, about 2 miles an hour.  The girls got to get out of their car seats and thought it was the coolest thing ever to wander the car and even sit up front while driving.  Lyla had to pee approximately 2 feet into the lights show, so we had to pull over and provide a show of our own.  Ahh, memories.  After we got back in the car I don't think Lyla stopped singing her version of Christmas carols, or had her head inside the car for the rest of the light show.  It was a complete blast, and I'm pretty sure those girls will remember that night for a long time.