Merry Christmas!

We have had a lot of Christmas adventures this month!  Of course we had to pick out our tree, and it's so nice that the kids are getting big enough to help me out more with it!

We also made Christmas cookies for their teachers:

Over break we watched holiday movies and played games:

The new obsession with both of the kids is Pokemon, so they wanted to play that... but Mom just did not get it...

...which the kids found a little frustrating (but hilarious!):

They also had fun making some handmade gifts for their dad and grandparents:

The kids weren't quite sure if they were on the nice or naughty list this year...

...but Santa delivered!  It was a close call, though.  The morning of December 23rd Chloe changed her mind about what she wanted to ask Santa for and I told her it might be too late in the game for Santa to change it. That night after I put the kids to bed Chloe came downstairs and said she couldn't sleep because she had a bad feeling about her Christmas present. She was close to tears so I sat her down next to me to talk about it and I reminded her that Christmas was more about what you give vs. what you get, and we talked about the things she got her brother, her dad, her grandparents... and how happy they were going to be when they opened them. She got the biggest smile on her face and then it was my turn to cry! She went back to bed happy and left me sitting there proud. That's what it's all about, y'all.

She didn't get exactly what she asked for, but she took it in stride.  And Pokemon took over both houses!

Gift opening came to a halt several times so they could look through every single Pokemon card they got...

...which was a lot:

See how they are sorted into piles?  And see that binder of sheet protectors?  Yup....  That was all Mom's doing.  I spent a good amount of time organizing and putting all those cards in that pretty little binder because I Just. Couldn't. TAKE IT!!!!

But I feel better now.

Cue: The aftermath!

Merry Christmas, everyone!