Twenty-four. Pip.

"Don't forget to leave some cookies for Santa!"


(Spritz and gluten-free snickerdoodles)

Each kiddo picked a cookie to give to Santa. And, since they insisted on chocolate milk, one poured the milk, one squirted the chocolate, and one stirred. It was very collaborative. And apparently, Santa enjoyed it all.

Twenty-Five. Ollie.

"Let's get your family and open these presents!!!"

(A very merry Christmas to all of you!)

Twenty-Four. Ollie.

"It's Christmas Eve! Time to party!"

(I didn't get any shots during the festivities with family, but here's a bit of the aftermath.)

Twenty-Three. Ollie.

"Let's eat dinner by candlelight tonight!"



(Ollie must have gotten this idea from Pip. Ahem. I outdid you on the lameness of the meal, though, Kirsten... Totino's pizzas all around.)

In the middle of the meal, Zach said what I've been thinking all month... "This is a good Christmas, isn't it?" Indeed.

Twenty-two and Twenty-three. Pip.

Twenty-two: "Put on your hats and mittens so we can deliver gifts to the neighbors!"

And I took no photos. But I'm actually kind of proud of myself for that - sometimes you should just chill and enjoy the moment without fussing about the camera, right?

Twenty-three: "We need to make room for new toys! Let's clean up the playroom- fast!"

(Yeah, I'm so lame. But it worked.)

Twenty-Two. Ollie.

"Let's go see the lights!"

(So we went to see the lights. Gorgeous. And as a bonus, the boy saw a puppet show, fed a baby yak, dressed as an angel, and took a ride on a camel. It was a very good day.)

Twenty-One. Ollie.

"Make a card to surprise someone today."

Twenty. Ollie.

"Let's hang up all the cards we got from our friends!"

(We glued scrapbook paper to the clothespins to cuten them up. We wanted to hang the cards from a ribbon/string, but... it just didn't work out that way.)

Twenty-one. Pip.

"Do you want to get out the big Christmas train?"



(making a tunnel)


We tried to give Pip a ride, too!

Someone gave my 6yo train-loving kid this train last year - and he's been asking to get it out again ALL YEAR.

And this morning the train has playmobil and Star Wars passengers.

Twenty. Pip.

"Let's eat dinner by candlelight!"



(I didn't take the bells out of the jars, either - it was pretty, but the kids were concerned about melting the bells. Silly kids.)

On the menu: Nothing fancy.
Leftover Chinese for the girl, leftover Thai for the parents (mmmm), and sandwiches for the boys. That's what they wanted, I swear.

But everything was nicer with the candles lit. We need to do that more often! And get some tapers...

Nineteen. Ollie.

"Will you write a Christmas story for me, please?"

It was nighttime on Christmas Eve, the day before Christmas. The monkey and the sheep were sleeping, and then they woke up, and it was Christmas. They opened their presents, and they played with their toys. The monkey got some glasses, and the sheep got the same thing. They were sunglasses.

The monkey said, "It's Christmas morning! Let's play!" First they danced. And then they did football. And then they wanted to sit down and tell stories to each other.

"Once upon a time, there was a man, and he was walking along, and he was trying to find something to eat. The end." That was the monkey's story. And then the sheep told her story.

""Once upon a time there was a woman, and she was going fishing. She caught a fish, and then she caught another one and another one and another one and another one and another one. Then she went home and she cooked the fish and they ate them. The end."

Then Christmas was over, and they slept again.

The End

Eighteen. Ollie.

"Let's have a game night in our fort tonight!"



(Muppet Uno, how we love thee.)

Nineteen. Pip.

"Want to go bowling?"






We went with my entire family - all their aunts, uncles and cousin (singular for now). They'd never been bowling before - it was fun!

Eighteen. Pip.

"Let's make a gingerbread house!"





Our goal is always to fit as much candy on as possible.


Mission accomplished.

Seventeen. Ollie.

"We need to do some Christmas shopping!"



(Wrapped and ready for Daddy on Christmas morning.)

Sixteen. Ollie.

"Can we make Christmas cookies today?"

We started with these. You can find the recipe here. Yummm.

Seventeen. Pip.

"Let's play with Moon Sand!"






Okay, so I swear I'm not buying stuff for them all the time, but I've been thinking off and on about this stuff as a sensory activity. And I went visiting teaching to a lady who swears by it and then the next day it was on sale at Target. Still not sure how I feel about it, though. I'm going to be sweeping up a lot today!

Sixteen. Pip.

"Let's make a banner for the playroom!"







Welcome, Santa!

Fifteen. Ollie.

"Let's draw some Christmas pictures!"

(Santa holding a child on his lap)

(A carnivorous-looking Santa with his adorable reindeer)

(And Zach says that's Ollie in front of the tree.)

Fourteen. Pip.

"Let's watch a movie!"







We watched "The Muppet Christmas Carol" together - something we do every year. We watched under quilts, snuggled up with Pip and the Kermit toy I got when I was two. Even better was that towards the end we got our first 'neighbor gift' and got to munch on butter cookies. A great way to spend a Sunday night!

Fifteen. Pip.

"Let's make some thumbprints!"



(We got this book for Christmas last year - it's good to remember to get it out!)

Fourteen. Ollie.

"Let's write letters to some people we love!"

Thirteen. Ollie.

"Let's make a Christmas present with your dad!"



Woodworking in progress.

Thirteen. Pip.

"Let's go meet some more elves at Lucia!"


(He's hiding in their elf hats).

We perform with the Swedish Heritage Society every year at their Lucia festival. I got no good photos this year as I had to go on stage with the boys as a helper this year. But here's a couple from last year - it pretty much looked exactly the same this year! :)

Little tomtenisse dancing:


The Lucia/Starboy procession: