Christmas Traditions

We've been soaking up every bit of this fantastic season and have been enjoying Christmas traditions, old and new.  Hailey had her first Christmas program at St. Catherine's.  Her class told the Christmas story and Hailey was Joseph.  They sang "Mary Had a Baby" and it brought tears to my eyes.  It was such a sweet program.  Lainey had a blast at her Red Room Christmas Party and Mommy and Daddy enjoyed another fun night out at the Harris Williams Holiday party.  The girls and I made our favorite Christmas cookies together and decorated a few gingerbread houses too.  Our dance parties this month have been to Chrismtas tunes (which is a refreshing change from the usual Frozen theme!) and we've managed to dress in head to toe "Christmas attire" morning, noon and night for the past month!  Finally, we had a magical time exploring Christmas Town at Busch Gardens with Layla and her Mommy and Daddy.  The time we've spent with loved ones over the past month has made this time of year even more special.
"The best of all gifts around a Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other." 

JK/K Christmas Program

The Christmas Story, told by St. Catherine's JK.  

Cutest Joesph I've ever seen!

Lainey got to join in during the caroling! 

Waiting for a special visitor.

Santa came!  He knew that Hailey loved frogs!

Avery felt like one of the big girls in the JK house!

Lainey got to play with one of her friends at the party. 

HW Christmas Party

Harris Williams Christmas Party 2014.  

Mommy and Daddy danced the night away at the VMFA.  

Gigi had babysitting duty...they gave each other princess makeovers!

End of December Holiday Fun!

Haircut time!

Avery enjoyed watching from the couch, thankful that it wasn't her turn...yet!

Sisterly support during Avery's 15month checkup.  They like helping, but let's be honest, they just came for the free lollipops and stickers!

Hailey didn't have school Friday, so she got to come watch Lainey at gymnastics.  She insisted on dressing herself because she wanted to look beautiful for the instructors...Avery and I on the other hand, never even made it out of our pajamas!

Lulu was very proud to have her big sissy there.  

The girls have been getting ready for their June recital in their dance classes!

Making Christmas cookies with Mommy.  

Decorating cookies is almost as fun as eating them!

Hailey made a snowman.  

Lulu made one of Santa's mittens.  

Avery loved helping clean up afterwards.

"I love cookies!"

The girls were very proud of their cookie creations.  

Busted Hailey trying to sneak a cookie!

Decorating a gingerbread house.  

Dance party to Christmas music!

Avery loves dance parties even more now that she is officially a walker!

The girls heard from Santa this week. Lulu got a call from him first, letting her know that she is on the nice list.  Hailey got a video message from the big man.  

She was very nervous when the elves were checking to see which list she was on.  She hid under the desk until they made the big announcement.  

"I made it on the nice list!"  She was as surprised as we were!

Lulu had her Red Room Christmas party and she made Mommy an ornament for the tree.  

St. Stephen's cuties!

The big girls with their loveys.  

Hailey made Lainey an Advent chain at school so they can both count down the days until Christmas together.  Ariel decided to take a link off this morning.  

Christmas pedicures for four!

Daddy will be happy when January comes and his weekends full of yardwork will be through!  Thankfully he had a cute helper this weekend to help him with his, "Art work" as Lainey calls it.  

She kept saying, "Phew!  This is hard work!"

Well that's one way to eat pretzels Avery...

Princess dress up at Kaitlyns house.  

Christmas Town

Gigi and Babu enjoyed some snuggle time with Avery Claire while we were at Christmas Town.  She would much rather spend 7 hours inside getting undivided attention!  

The girls has so much fun exploring Christmas Town with Layla and we loved spending time with Matt and Erin!
The last time Erin and I were at Busch Gardens we were in elementary school!  It was a little different this time!

All bundled up and ready to explore!

Hailey and Layla loved petting the horses. 

Layla and Hailey riding the "Ney neys" as Layla calls them.  

Hailey and Frosty!

Twirling on the teacups!

Selfies on the Reindeer Run!

Family selfie!

Lulu's first ride!  It took her some time to warm up to the rides, but once she did, she wouldn't talk about anything else!

Show/beer time at the Festhaus.  

Time to see the pretty lights!

Layla decided to make herself comfortable in our stroller!

One last balloon ride before we went home!

Daddy got quite a workout pushing these three around the park!

It was snowing!!

This is was a 3 and 5 year old look like after 7 hours in a theme park!