Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve morning, Katelyn and Reagan watched their Portable North Pole videos from Santa.  

 Kate was so excited.  I loved the twinkle in her eye.  It is amazing to see Christmas through the eyes of a child.

  

 Watching Reagan view her message from Santa was a totally different experience.  She was so nervous; a few times she even covered her eyes.  She was so relieved to find out she was on the nice list.

In the afternoon, Papa and Grandma came over to exchange presents.

 

I attempted a picture of Papa and Grandma with the kids.  I got picture after picture of at least one silly face.

 

Later in the day, the kids opened their traditional Christmas Eve pajamas.

Grinch dust and reindeer food was sprinkled on the lawn to keep the Grinch away and attract the reindeer.  I didn't get any pictures because it was pouring outside at the time.

 Kate could not wait to put out cookies and milk for Santa, and carrots for the reindeer.  She did a great job making the cookies extra tasty.

Throughout the evening, we were tracking Santa's whereabouts on NORAD.  When Santa was on his way to Florida, Reagan knew that meant she had to fall asleep!  It wasn't easy; there was so much excitement in the air, but eventually everyone went to sleep to dream of dancing sugar plums (or today's equivalent).  

Candy Canes, Reindeer, and Cookies!

In the days leading up to Christmas, we had time for a few last minute activities.

I made candy cane scented play dough for Kate using peppermint essential oil, food coloring, and glitter; we also made a batch for the Davidson boys across the street.

What looked like this when I gave it to Kate,

quickly turned into this!

 As long as she enjoys the play dough, it's fine with me.  Who cares if the colors get mixed together?!

 Kate and I made Rudolph Rolo pretzel treats.

Rolo pretzel treats never last long in our house!

Reagan, Collin, Kate, and a friend (Sydney) decorated sugar cookies and sugar cone Christmas trees.  It's all about the decorating, because no one really wants to eat cookies piled with frosting, sprinkles, and candies.  Even Collin, who seriously thought he would eat his sugar laden concoctions, never actually ate much.

Kate's First Friars Game

Kate went to her first Providence College Friars basketball game on December 20th.  She was a little timid at first, but she warmed up quickly and enjoyed the experience.

 

PC played UMass, and the Finlaw family joined us for the game (Jimmy and Becky are both UMass alum).  Our whole family went to the game, but I did not get pictures of Tom or Tyler.

PC won!

Collin's Concerts

On December 17th, Collin had four strings concerts in one day!  All of the fifth grade strings members traveled to the three elementary schools in town and played a concert at each school.  We attended the concert at North where the fourth grade musicians also played.

Later that evening, there was a fourth concert at the Silver City Galleria.  The concert at the mall featured fifth and sixth grade strings members.  It was very nice.

Here is a short video clip from the mall concert:

Santa Experiences

In past years, we have gone to the zoo for milk and cookies with Santa.  After talking to my neighbor, and hearing her rave about breakfast with Santa at the Venus, I decided to try that this year.  I hate to sound negative, but it STUNK.  The food was gross (Kate could not even bite her waffle because it was rock hard), the Santa setup was not good, and it was overpriced.  The girls did have fun though.  They made ornaments, filled up little pouches of reindeer food, had their faces painted, and decorated cookies.

I couldn't help but think that we do all of those things at home for much less money and nicer end results though.

I think I would have been happier with the experience if the Santa setup was nicer.  Also, my favorite part about milk and cookies with Santa at the zoo is that Santa walks around and spends time at each table.  I thought that would happen at this event too, but Santa sat in his chair the whole time.  The line to see Santa was ridiculously long; they probably could have worked out a better system.  I didn't like the display for Santa photos at all either - what's with the ugly curtains and the sheets on the floor (I saw SO many kids trip on those dumb sheets).

 Mrs. Claus was just plain awful.  They should have left her at the North Pole.

Well, at least the girls had some fun, and now I know that I will not be attending that event again.

I was so disappointed with the Santa photo from that event that I had to go somewhere else and try for a better picture.  A few weeks later, we went to the Silver City Galleria to see Santa.  The mall has a train (pleasant surprise for us) that we enjoyed while waiting for Santa to arrive.

After the train ride around the mall, we went to wait for Santa.

I don't know if I am expecting too much, but again I didn't love the background for the photo.  Otherwise it is a nice photo though.

One funny thing - when Santa arrived, he had to have the "elf" open his breath mints (he couldn't open them with his gloves on) and he announced to everyone waiting that he needed mints because he had just eaten "seasoned home fries".  Thanks for sharing that tidbit, Santa.