10 Dsys of Christmas (Visitors)

There was no time for post-Christmas blues this year as our 10 Days of Christmas Visitors continued! Mimi, Babba, and Aunt Stephanie started the trend. Next to pull into the driveway ready for fun was Auntie Beckers! 

First on the agenda was ice skating! We went to Ice on Main to show off our moves. Auntie Beckers even has her own figure skates! 

Max was not quite as skilled. Must have been the hockey skates - no toe pick!

He and Kyle tried the walker for extra assistance

and then just worked on their suave moves with the ladies instead!

Continuing our cold theme, we took Max to lunch and then to the movies to see "Frozen". I was a little worried Sarah would get jealous of the attention Beckers was giving to Max, but a birthday party kept her entertained while we were gone.

After wishing Beckers a fond farewell, Nana and Papa Mike arrived for their visit. More presented, more attention, and more fun!

The new erector set required some Mommy supervision, as in telling all THREE kids they were not allowed to use glue (or other products) to make the pieces stay together. 

Dr. Sarah used her new vet kit to provide urgent care to the moose. She welcomes clients of all species to visit her new office.

The new microphones were used for every occasions from train announcements to made-up songs to proclamations by Max.

We celebrated the start of the new year with our visitors before saying goodbye one last time!

"It's Finally Christmas!"

Probably one of the best parts of Christmas is the amount of time spent in pajamas! Since Daddy had to work on Christmas Eve, we decided to forego delivering toys this year and spent most of the day singing and dancing in our pajamas. Sparkle the Elf had delivered special Elf pajamas to the kids earlier in the month, and they wore them one final time in honor of his last day with us before he returned to the North Pole.

Two little elves with Sparkle on the tree

Max danced around singing, "Red and Green are Christmas colors, Christmas colors, Christmas colors! Red and green are Christmas colors, pretty Christmas colors!" approximately 763 times, but who's counting?

Sarah played with the nativity set and asked, "Is it finally Christmas yet?" approximately 231 times.

Many, many hours later, the kids were in their official Christmas pajamas and ready for our traditional reading of the Christmas story. What a wonderful surprise to hear Max read the story of our Savior's birth to us this year!

He also helped read "The Night Before Christmas" and we added one more rendition of "The Sparkle Box" before it was time for bed...

We almost forgot Santa's cookies, but Max remembered just in time!

Then the other elves got to work setting up lots of toys and presents...

I get so excited about Christmas morning that I can't sleep either! I think I love it even more as a parent than I did as a child. When Mommy couldn't stand it any longer, we woke Sarah up and let Max loose. 

"It's finally Christmas!"

Looking at her big girl bed, she said,"Who's that bed for?"

The super boy toy: legos, train, and a remote control all in one.

Future U of L basketball superstar!

After examining his loot from Santa, Max asked to open our Sparkle Box before he opened any of his other presents. 

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He was genuinely thrilled to see the acts of kindness he had performed written down.

2013 Ornaments: 

Flamingo for Sarah (naturally) and the Statue of Liberty for Max

More legos!

Presents for Mimi and Babba

And a present for Aunt Stephanie to take home...a loud, fuzzy brown cat.

Plus lots of hugs and kisses!

The gifts are a hit!

 

Ooohhh, the scary Snow Monster kept getting trapped in the elevator.

Super Max

and his Flying Turtle!

He couldn't wait to get started on his new set....900-ish pieces took him about 5 hours.

A little more pajama time before the family dinner.

Even Frank loves it!

Merry Christmas!