Christmas Eve 2013

Super Dad to the rescue!  I have the flu.  I am miserable.  Thankfully, Daddy is healthy and able to carry on the Christmas Eve traditions.  Ella and Emma spent the night with Memaw last night.  They made a Gingerbread House.

 When they got home, Daddy helped bake cookies for Santa:

 Later our girls opened their one Christmas Eve present, footie jammies and Ariel slippers:

Our Christmas Eve photo shoot in front of the tree:

 Putting out reindeer food:

 Sadly, our girls have to do breathing treatments every day, so this was part of our evening as well.

 Reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas"

 Reading about the true meaning of Christmas, Jesus birth:

 And finally, the children were nestled all snug in their beds:

I love Christmas Eve!  I hope I am feeling better to enjoy Christmas in the morning.

The Polar Express

We rode the Polar Express this evening!  Unfortunately, Daddy had a stomach ache this morning, so he wasn't able to join us, and we missed him greatly.  We still managed to have a great time.  

We had a little time to look around the train station before our train was scheduled to leave.

 All aboard and ready to go! From the time we boarded until we got off the train, they played music from The Polar Express soundtrack.

 Ella is so excited!

 Emma is too!

 Leaving the station:

 Hot, Hot, Hot... Hot Chocolate: (It was actually just the right temperature, but our girls are not big fans of hot chocolate.)

 And Cookies!

 During part of our trip to the North Pole, we listened to the book by Chris VanAllsburg.  The staff walked around showing everyone the pictures from the book.

 The conductor came by and punched all the kid's tickets.  Ella's ticket had an E punched into it, and Emma's ticket got a heart.

 The "North Pole" (I would hope it looks better for the rides that take place in the dark.)

 Santa boarded our train car!!!

 He took the time to speak with every child, give them a bell, and take pictures.

 Jingle, the elf, came too.  She was very kind to speak with our girls.  She even gave them some of her magic sparkle dust on their hands

 Ella and Jingle:

 Emma and her bell:

 Ella and her bell:

 The conductor, wait staff, and even Jingle did a lot of dancing in the aisles during our ride.

 Our girls even joined in on the fun:

What a fantastically magical evening!

Kindergarten Christmas Parties

Today, our girls had their school Christmas parties.  I went to the first half of Ella's party and the second half of Emma's party.  They both seemed to have lots of fun with their friends.  We are all ready for Christmas break!

Happy 8th Anniversary!

Today marks 8 years with my wonderful husband.  God greatly blessed me by bringing Bryan into my life!  I'm looking forward to spending the rest of my life with him.

Closet Tea Party

The girls and I had a closet tea party this afternoon.  It started with them putting me in jail in my closet.  After a while, they brought the prisoner food.  Then they decided we should have tea.  Before I knew it, the three of us where sipping tea and eating snacks in my closet by the light of their Minnie spinning light up toys.  For some entertainment during our tea party, we watched clips of our favorite songs from Frozen on my phone via YouTube.  It was a fun afternoon making memories.

Letters to Santa