Santa Claus is coming to town

Now for the record, I am not a huge fan of the whole Santa Clause thing. We already told Grace that Santa Clause is a fairy tale and that whole thing. Neither Gunnar or I thought it was appropriate to lie to Grace about it nor wanted to get it confused with Jesus birth being true. So from the get go, we have decided to just be honest about it with our kids.

All that being said, I did take Grace to see "Miracle on 34th St." It was put on by the Valley Center Community Thetre, and a bunch of the moms and kids from church went. On of the men from our church was the main star of the play (Kris Kringle) and so we enjoyed watching him preform. He did a great job and we had a fun time.

It was so hot that day it was hard to really feel in the Christmas spirit. The girls looked cute, nontheless.
Grace and some of her friends after the show.
Grace and our friend Joel.
Merry Christmas everyone!!

Praying baby

I love that Elizabeth is finally getting to the age where she can start learning fun things. One of her most recent achievements is learning to "pray." She folds her hands and waits for me to pray before she eats her food. SOO cute.

Mom, do I look like I am going to a really fancy party?

Christmas cookies

When my mom and her sisters were little, a friend of the family used to make them Christmas cookies every year. My aunt recently got the same cookie cutter and has started making them. They are BEAUTIFUL with little raisins for eyes, coconut for Santa's beard and lots of sprinkles. Not only that but they taste delicious and are such a treat.

Sweet baby feet

I have a confession. I love baby feet.

There I said it.

They are so tiny and soft and not yet hardened by walking around outside.

I mean, be honest. How could you not love them?

Random

Last week we went to Costco. I had been sick and so getting out of the house was a breath of fresh air. We ran into Gunnar's best friend from High school, Mike, and his family while we were there.So there you have it folks. Super random.

Christmas time is here

Oh the holidays. For many years I always thought of myself as kinda a scrooge. I have been a huge critic of the over commercialization associated with Christmas. But in recent years, I have become come around to the whole Christmas thing. Partially due to Gunnar and his enjoyment of this holiday, partially becuase having kids reminds me of the things I liked about Christmas as a child, and partially because of the traditions thatGunnar and I have started give me a sense of routine and there is nothing I like better than being in my comfort zone.

Last weekend the girls and I decorated for Christmas. Although we own a Christmas tree, we do own a Christmas tree, we didn't put it up becuase: 1) it is heavy and hard for me to manage of my own, 2) Gunnar didn't have time to put it up 3) We don't really have room for it 4) Ellie would have pulled everything off the bottom of it anyways.

So instead of a tree, the girls and I set up two nativity scenes. The one I brought with me from Spain and is identical to the one my family had as a child. In Spain, traditionally people don't do Christmas trees, but everyone (stores included) set up "belens" (nativity scenes). I LOVE this particular belen as it is the traditional little mud dolls that are very common of the area that I grew up in. I let Grace help me set it up and she was SOOO excited.

The second nativity is a Playmobil set and is especially for the kids to play with during Christmas time. It is missing baby Jesus as he was a choking hazard, but the girls have had fun playing with it.

Elizabeth gets really excited and sometimes makes off with the sheep or some of the people.

But don't worry, she is always very nice to the ones she kidnaps. Including giving them sweet kisses.