More Christmas Fun

We've been having so much fun this month. I really love December and all the family time.
Every Friday we watch a movie and I make a pizza, well this last weekend I made a snowman pizza and the kids LOVED it. 

We also did our annual Christmas baking. Every year I pick a Saturday and I bake all day. Then we drive around delivering plates of cookies to our friends and family.
Tanner was so cute. He loved all the cookies so much and he was thrilled to give them to his friends.
He really loved this gingerbread man cookie. 

Also, this year I didn't wrap all our Christmas books to open each day. I left them all out so they could be enjoyed all month long. I don't know which I liked more, but I know that Bailey was thrilled to have access to all our Christmas book all the time. I keep finding her on the floor next to the Christmas tree with books all around her. She's the cutest little bookworm. I love that she has a love of reading. 

Also, how cute is this little Santa baby??

Oh and the kids got their letters back from Santa and they were so excited.
Each letter was hand written and personalized to each kid. I love this cute tradition. 

Last night the kids found the golden minivan express tickets on their beds and they were so excited.
They've been asking when we would be doing the minivan express, so they were pretty happy to find the tickets before bed last night. 

I love these silly kids

We loaded up into the van and each of us had a thermos of hot cocoa, a bag of popcorn and a blanket. It was perfect and we had a great time looking for lights. We found so many cool houses that danced to music this year. 

Tanner fell asleep before we got home, but the kids all really loved it. 

Tonight we finally finished our gingerbread houses. We built them last week but I wanted to let them set and harden before decorating and then we got busy. So we finally decorated them and now, in less than a week we will smash them to pieces. 

The kids had their last day of school today and now its officially CHRISTMAS BREAK!

We are so excited.
Tomorrow we are going on the Christmas train and I can hardly wait.
The Christmas train is a family favorite and we've been waiting all month to finally go.
School is out, let the partying begin!

Class Christmas Parties

Today I got to go to the kids' class Christmas parties. I'm one of the room moms for Bailey's class so I was actually in charge of her party. I had help and that was amazing.
We had a great time. It was a snowman themed party and I think all the kids loved it.
Bailey was thrilled that I was there. 

Seriously, look at this girl. She was so excited!

The kids made snowman slime and absolutely loved it. It was a mess but they were so happy. 

They also played this cup game. They had to through yarn snowballs at the cups to knock them over.
This game was also a hit. 

Then the last game was a candy cane pickup.
Whatever candy cane went into their mouth they got to keep. 

We ended the party with one of the parents reading a Christmas story. 

During Bailey's party, I was able to sneak over to Tanner's class and see him at his party.
His party was way more chill and I loved it.
They just ate pizza, watched "How the Grinch Stole Christmas".
It was great. Oh and each of the kids got reindeer antlers from Mrs. Chambliss.
I'm so glad I was able to be there for parts of it. 

Tanner's class also did a book exchange and secret Santa reveal after their movie.
They had been bringing small treats all week and getting treats in return from their secret Santas, but today they gave their book to their friend and got to find out who their secret Santa was.
It was adorable. They were all so excited!

Tanner's buddy Hendrix was his secret Santa and he got him a Star Wars book. Tanner was so thrilled. 

Both kids had a great time at their parties and I'm so happy I was able to go.
Now one more day of school and it's CHRISTMAS VACATION!

A Live Nativity, Stewart Family Lights & Fireman Santa

We've been trying extra hard this year to keep our Christmas centered on Christ. The "Light the World" campaign has been making it way easier and I'm so grateful for that. So when a local church decided to put on a live Nativity, I knew we had to go.
So on Sunday, after dinner we hopped in car and drove over to Cave Springs to see it.
We had to wait for about 20 minutes to go through it but it was worth it. 

The kids were so excited!

They gave us a CD with narration that talked us through each station.

The kids loved the live animals. 

It was short but great and it was a perfect way to keep our Sabbath day holy. 

Then on Monday for FHE, we drove down to Fayetteville and did the Stewart Family lights.
We did this last year for the first time and really enjoyed it, so we decided to come back this year.
It was very much enjoyed again. 

These crazy kids ran through all the light tunnels, pointed out every inflatable and had so much fun. 

We also played snowman "Plinko" and they each got a candy. 

We did the train ride again, but surprisingly Tucker didn't want to ride it. He flat out refused after I had already bought him a ticket. It was so weird. But Bailey and Tanner enjoyed it. 

This little boy was a gem and loved looking around at everything. 

Sometimes these kids are the best of friends. Sometimes. 

We had such a great time and the weather was pretty good. It was in the 50's as opposed to the 30's like it had been previously that weekend. So we got lucky and there was hardly anyone there.
It was a perfect night for the Stewart Family Lights. 

Then finally today, we got to see "Fireman Santa".

This is one of our favorite Centerton traditions. It's so cute.
The local fire department drives Santa around on the firetruck and he hands out treats to all the kids.
It was a gorgeous day for it and we all loved it.
(Except Tucker who was afraid Santa would give him another spicy candy cane. He was scarred from the last peppermint one he got from Santa. LOL).

Only four more days until we are out for Christmas vacation and I can hardly wait!!!

Christmas All Around Town

Yesterday we went to the "Cookies with Santa" event at the kids' school. This is a fun event the school puts on and the kids loved it when we went during Tanner's kindergarten year. 

There are stations set up all over the cafeteria for different activities and you just pick and choose what you want to do. 

The kids wanted to write their letters to Santa first so we went to that station right away. 

Then they each made a bag of hot cocoa mix. 

Then they called our number to visit with Santa.
This year, they were moving kids through so fast that they kids didn't really get to talk to him. I didn't even have time to get my camera out before they were pushing us out the door. But the school sent this one home with the kids- Sadly the photographer cut off half of Bailey's face. Oh well- it's still a cute picture. 

And Benson was obsessed with Santa's beard. He kept trying to pull on it. We were all cracking up. 

After visiting Santa, we made some  reindeer food. Benson just chilled happily in his car seat. He's such a good kid. 

Here are the older three making their reindeer food. Bailey made sure to add extra glitter so Santa would be able to see the sparkles  and stop at our house. 

Then we decorated sugar cookies and the kids promptly devoured them. 

We also had snowball fights and listened to the vice principal read Christmas stories in the library.
We were worn out after wards, but we had a great time. The kids were all so good and I'm grateful that it's getting easier to take all four kids out by myself. 

Then today we got to go to Daddy's office and see Santa. This is our favorite Santa interaction each year. At Sam's Corp, Santa really talks to the kids. He calls them by name and asks them about our elves, Buddy and Sparkle. He asks the kids about the toys he brought on the previous Christmas and if they liked them. It's really such a cute interaction. I LOVE IT!

I love this shot of Bailey trying to think of all the things she wants for Christmas.
She asked for a "diary, a secret songbird, a hatchimal and American girl doll furniture."
I hope Santa can make one of those wishes come true. 

Tanner believes in Santa with his whole heart and he loved that Santa asked him about the transformer he brought him last year.
This year Tanner asked for a "Star Wars comic book".
That's a pretty easy request. 

I was worried Tuck wouldn't want to sit on Santa's lap, but Santa quickly won Tucker over and had him smiling in no time. 

This year Tucker asked Santa for a "rainbow pen".
I'm not really sure what that is, so I hope Santa can figure it out. 

And true to form again, Benson loved Santa's beard. It was cracking us up.
He was so happy and just smiled non-stop at Santa. 

According to Santa, these little imps are all on the "NICE" list still, let's hope they can hold out until Christmas. 

After seeing Santa, we drove downtown to mail our Santa letters.
The kids wanted to make sure we got them mailed after talking to him. They didn't want him to forget what they told him they wanted. 

So we once again mailed our letters at the "North Pole Express".
And we should get letters back from Santa in a couple weeks. 

Oh and we stopped by the square to see Santa's sleigh. This is another favorite of ours. Something about this sleigh is so magical. Next year we want to visit Santa, while he's at this sleigh. We didn't have time this year. 

Christmas time is in full swing around here and we are loving it. We are loving our "Light the World" challenges and getting to spend lots of time together!