They're both in poofy princess dresses, Ella as Cinderella and Kate as Snow White. Presents cover every square inch of the living room, except a thin walking path that lets us get from one side of the room to the other. I haven't left my pajamas all day -- including the three hour drive it took to get here.
My cousins Molly and Olivia -- visiting from NYC -- who not so long ago were my Christmas babies -- are now 20 and 16 years old. Not accustomed to the gigantic "Ohio" feasts my mother prepares, Molly just said "I want mashed potatoes," and Olivia semi-excitedly told her to join her for late-night left overs in the kitchen.
We've once again been blessed with the perfect Christmas. And I feel so grateful. In a 'my-cup-runneth-over' way. I just can't believe how quickly this season flies by every year. So I'm celebrating by taking a look back at the month of December. To remind myself that, as busy as this time of year usually gets, we do a pretty good job at filling it with some really special memories.
Like....
A day-after-Thanksgiving visit to an early Christmas party at Mill Creek Park, in my hometown. My mom gave the girls these princess dresses that morning and they refused to leave without them. (Yes, these are the same dresses they're wearing as I type, 1 month later.)
24 visits from Melvin, our Elf on the Shelf.
Our annual, 10-minute trip to pick out a Christmas Tree. Kate has fallen asleep on the way, two years running.
Zoo Lights. And our first trip to see Santa Claus.
Ella and Kate both had their annual "holiday show" in ballet class. Complete with jingle bells on their skirts and galloping on horses disguised as rudolphs.
Ella's first-ever school Christmas show. She sang "The Lights on the Tree" to the tune of "The Wheels on the Bus." And I have the video to prove that she knew all the words, all the movements, and she sang the very loudest. She even curtsied at the end (after stepping in front of the poor little guy next to her to do so.)
A few fun homemade Christmas gifts, incliding these Disney princesses I painted (thank you, Etsy, for the idea. I just couldn't bear to shell out $75 for this set. Thanks to Hobby Lobby, the homemade version cost $8 plus 2 hours of time. The legit version of Belle didn't look like Eddie Munster, but you get what you pay for.)
A very fun Rudolph-themed birthday party for our little friend Claire's 5th birthday.
A really fabulous visit to Santa at the Worthington Mall. He's the real deal. I'm pretty certain of it.
Our very first viewing of the Nutcracker. It was pretty magical, and the girls were perhaps most excited to see Miss Jessica, their beloved ballet teacher, at the theater. They were on the edges of their seats, with anxious, magical excitement...for the first 15 minutes. Fidgety with ankles in the air for the last 15....but oh, those first 15 were pretty cool.
Decorating Christmas cookies with my best friends and their kiddos.
Taking gifts, donated by Chris's clients, to our local fire house's Toys for Tots campaign. We need to do more of this next year; not just giving financially. Giving back in ways the girls can experience and enjoy and understand.
The girls took cookies to a local nursing home with our wonderful friend and nanny, Sarah. We made something that resembles a gingerbread house. We iced some very...interesting looking...Christmas cookies. Ate a lot of candy canes. Sang a lot of Christmas carols. Well, to be more specific, we sang the most popular lines of Christmas carols. We 'went the long way' to our house, turning down an extra 2 streets, so the girls could see the 'pretty houses' that most closely resemble a Griswald residence. We talked a lot about baby Jesus, and how Christmas is His birthday, and how he popped out of Mary's belly in Bethlehem.
On Christmas Eve, we celebrated at Nana's and gave her her very own princess dress. I can't share the photos because I have yet to upload them. We also dressed the girls up like Cindy Lou Who, crazy hair and all. Because they're 2 and 3 years old. And I can still do things like that without any humphing or hawing or protest. They shrieked with glee when they saw their hair standing 6 inches above their little heads.
And more than anything, Chris and I marveled at the beauty and splendor and simplicity and wonder of Christmas through our two little girls' very innocent eyes.
We've had a blessed year and a beautiful December and a perfect Christmas Day. I know that life is not always this enchanted, so I am all the more grateful to God for all these blessings and more.
And with that, I wish a Merry Christmas to all. And to all, a good night.
