Christmas Eve

We had a very nice Chrstmas Eve. The kids were very excited and had lots of energy, so we decided to open our presents from Chris's family today. That way they had some new things to play with while I cooked and packed and those presents didn't get lost in the chaos of Christmas morning.

In front of the tree before opening presents.

Ian with his new drawing pads

Cara playing with her new Noah's Ark animals.

Lila was so excited about the new clothes for her Chloe doll! She had to change her clothes right away.

This just might end up being Chris's favorite present this year.

After the girls' naps we went to family service at church and then came home for a Christmas Eve dinner of crab legs, twice baked potatoes and asparagus. After dinner everyone got to open a present- new Christmas pjs!

Then Lila and I put out some cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeers before she headed to bed.

The Six Days of Christmas Outfits - Day 5

Both girls wore these shirts today, but Lila covered her face with her blankie while I was trying to take pictures. Here's a cute one of Cara, though!

The Six Days of Christmas Outfits- Day 4

Yesterday for their Christmas outfits, Lila wore a red shirt with a gingerbread man and Cara wore a shirt that said "good things come in small packages".

But, they were much more interested in rocking in the chair than posing for pictures.

The Six Days of Christmas Outfits- Day 3

The girls don't seem to be as excited about documenting their holiday outfits in pictures as I am... Yesterday's outfit was the same thing they wore to see Santa ,which is a much better picture. Lila is wearing a reindeer sweater dress and Cara is wearing her Team Santa outfit.

The Six Days of Christmas Outfits- Day 2

Today's outfit is a brown shirt that says sugar and spice and has two gingerbread people. They are also wearing pink pants because that's what Lila picked.

The Six Outfits of Christmas- Day 1

It's that time of year again where I justify the number of holiday shirts that the girls have by turning it into a series of blog posts. We kicked off Christmas week yesterday with their first holiday shirt. Neither one was very excited about sitting still for a picture, so you can't even really see the shirts, but they are purple and silver and say JOY.

Christmas Pageant

Yesterday was our church's Sunday School Christmas Pageant. Is there anything cuter or more joyful that Sunday School kids telling the story of Jesus's birth? Lila's class were the Heavenly Hosts, so they dressed as angels and sang Twinkle Twinkle Christmas Star. Ian's class sang O Little Town of Bethlehem. Both kids did a fantastic job!

We got SO lucky and were able to sit two rows behind where Lila's class sat. And they stood up and turned around in their pews to perform so we had the perfect view. Here's Lila giving us a wave.

And a smile

Singing all the words! With a blankie in hand for support.

They say "Glory to God in the highest. Peace on Earth, goodwill to all." Then the words to the song are Twinkle Twinkle Christmas star/Over Bethlehem afar/Up above the manger high/Dancing dancing in the sky/ Twinkle twinkle Christmas star/Over Bethlehem afar.

Here she is when everyone clapped.

Ian was in back because he's so tall and he didn't smile much, so I don't have many pictures. But he did a fantastic job and I'm glad he's still willing to participate at the old age of 13.

After the pageant there was a cookie reception. Cara reached over and grabbed a cookie off of Chris's plate without any hesistation and stuffed it in her mouth. She is a big fan of cookies.