Christmas Eve

Our Christmas Card wreath. I love this Pinterest craft from last year! 

We spent Christmas Eve together as a family at our house this year. Clint and I made our traditional steak and shrimp, delicious! We read stories, watched Christmas movies, and drove around looking at lights. It was a really nice day and night spent together.

Max is obsessed with my camera phone. He has been taking lots of pictures with it- this one didn't turn out too bad. 

         After the boys fell asleep, Clint and I were busy getting everything ready for Santa. ;)

We are just as excited as the boys for Christmas morning!

Christmas Break Begins :)

My parents came to visit the Friday we got out of school for winter break. It was wonderful having them here with us for the weekend. We cooked, shopped, and played outside. Max enjoyed making cookies with Nana, and Leo and I took Papa shopping for some workout clothes. We ended their stay with a tasty Christmas dinner and opened presents. Great way to start off our vacation!

Max was so excited to give the gifts he had picked out. He was dancing around the room, singing and clapping. It was really cute and joyful. We could tell that he really put some thought into his gift ideas. He got my mom a soft pair of socks. 

He picked out an elephant that he and Papa could paint together. 

 Max also picked out a beautiful pink necklace and bracelet for me and a motorcycle book for Clint. We didn't get pictures, but we were very surprised and proud of how sweet and thoughtful he is.

Holiday Fun

Clint and I love this time of year, so we really try to find fun things to do with the boys to make the holiday season special. This month we got to do several fun family things that put us in the holiday spirit. Even just being home together, enjoying some hot chocolate by the fire while reading stories is a great Christmas time memory I will keep forever.

The holiday season started off the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving. Fort Wayne has had a tradition for over thirty years of lighting a giant Santa Claus along with other beautiful light displays downtown. Ken and I took the boys last year and had quite the exciting adventure! 

This year, Clint came with us and we took the boys to the Santa Shop first. Max got to go in by himself this time with an elf helper. He picked out gifts for all of his family members and had the biggest smile on his face when he came out. After the shop we went outside to see the lighting and then we headed home. 

Max leaving the shop with his Elf. 

He was so excited :) 

Showing Daddy one of the gifts he helped wrap. 

There was a really big crowd. The boys wanted to get down and run like crazy. 

3, 2, 1, Santa! 

The Sunday after Thanksgiving was when our Elf, Joe, made his first appearance. He arrived with a handwritten note and a couple of really cute pairs of Christmas jammies for Max and Leo. Max was so excited! I love watching his cute little face light up with joy. 

That day we also started decorating our house for the holidays. Max really enjoys doing this with me, so we get a lot done at once. We got our tree out, set it up, and put up all the ornaments. This year we had to leave the bottom third of the tree empty because of destructo Leo. Both boys were mesmerized by all of the lights and colors. They would say "pretty" at all of the lights every ten minutes or so. I forgot to take pictures of some of our other decorations, but it was nice having them up.

                              Max and Leo were really excited to look for Joe each morning!

 Max and I also had fun making a gingerbread house. This was the first time we had ever made one, and it was neat designing all of the candy layers.

 Max definitely loves this time of year. He really likes all of the lights outside and the decorations around the house. It is neat seeing the excitement on his face each day.