Tubby Santas

I'm not usually one for posting pictures of the kiddos in the bathtub. HOWEVER, as they were giggling and splashing away tonight, I went in to make sure water wasn't all over the floor...and I found too little Santas playing in the tub! So I quickly handed them some washcloths for modesty and snapped a couple pictures! Pretty cute bubble beards, don't ya think??!!

Oh these girls make me laugh!!!

~Letters to Santa~

Today was our annual trek to Santa's special mailbox at the mall so the girls could send their letters to him. I think Payton actually gets it this year. Even though last year she was all about pointing out each and every Santa she saw and saying "ho, ho, ho" all the time...this year, she understands the whole concept of Santa, and being naughty or being nice, and the consequences of both.

We even started a new tradition called 'Elf on the Shelf' where an elf joins our family, we name it (ours is "Fizzy") and this elf sits on a shelf and SEES and HEARS what goes on each and every day. And each night, Fizzy reports back to Santa. The kids can't touch Fizzy or her magic goes away and she has to return to the North Pole forever. Part of the fun is finding where Fizzy comes back to each morning. The girls LOVE it and I have to say that it's helped in the behavior department....to a degree. At first, it was like a Christmas Miracle...it helped Payton stay in her bed at night for a full week straight. I think that novelty wore off already!! :-( But it's been great reminding the girls each and every day, sometimes MANY times a day, that Fizzy can hear them and do they REALLY want her to tell Santa how they're behaving?? Needless to say, it's a tradition we'll be keeping for as long as we can! We're already looking forward to Fizzy coming back next Christmas season!! Can she stay all year????? :-)

..::Barrett: Pulling Up::..

Our little Bubba man is now pulling himself up on things!! He actually started doing it yesterday but today is when we decided to document it on film!! Way to go Barrett!!!

-Gingerbread Houses-

This is totally a messy and time consuming Christmas tradition but the girls loves it...so it's worth it! It didn't help that the icing package split right next to where it dispenses from and so it made it EXTRA messy this year! Hopefully we'll continue to improve on our gingerbread making skillz as the years go by!!

Christmas Pageant - Preschool Style!

Tonight was Alexa's Christmas program at her Preschool. She has been sooooooooo excited about this. They have been practicing their songs for weeks. Her class was dressed up as the shepherds and she couldn't wait! I love that she thoroughly enjoys going to school and learning, she just soaks it all up. Poor little Payton though, couldn't understand why she didn't get to be up there with her sister. We had to pull her back down to where we were sitting probably 3 different times! Next year, Payton, next year!! :-)

*****

(Alexa is the cute little shepherd in purple stripes, if you're having a hard time locating her. She was especially excited about the song "Come Let Us Adore Him" and so, although you can't really see her, I had to put that video in too!)