On Christmas Eve we made a tray of Pretzel Hugs to munch on.
It just doesn’t feel like Christmas around here without them!
The girls decorated for Santa.
They decorated their walls…
and their doors…
and hung ornaments in every room.
They even spent a great deal of time sprucing up the stairs. :)
This was our first Christmas without traveling to Utah to be with family or having family come to us so I was on my own for Christmas Eve dinner. I made turkey and my favorite potatoes and felt like quite a chef. Right up until Addison asked where the real Christmas feast was. Later she explained that a “real Christmas feast” includes chicken nuggets, pizza, and marshmellows. I didn’t feel quite so bad about my meal after that little conversation.
Instead of the traditional cookies and milk, my girls decided to mix things up and left Santa Pretzel Hugs and leftover Halloween candy. They also added cheese for Santa Mouse and some Christmas tree pictures they made earlier in the day.
After our traditional trip to drive through Christmas Card Lane, (a fun neighborhood with amazing lights) Kenny read the girls a special Christmas story and they were off to bed. The one night of the year they can’t wait to go to sleep!
And then the real fun began. :)
Kenny and I woke up Christmas morning to squeals of excitement from two little girls! We couldn’t get out of bed fast enough for them. I told them I heard some jingle bells and a thump on the roof late last night. Just like my mom used to hear when I was a little girl.
After taking in everything in the living room, they ran to see if Santa ate their treats. He did! He also left some other surprises they wanted and a note. Santa’s note thanked them for the delicious candy, told them they had been SO good this year, and also reassured them he had taken off the tape on the fireplace to get in and had then put it back on when he left so that Kole wouldn’t get into it. The girls were a bit stressed about that one.
We all had a great Christmas morning.
Including Kole. BOY TOYS!!?? Really? In this house!?
It’s about time. :)
Among other fun things, the girls got new boots. Ellie politely thanked me and tossed them aside. Addison hasn’t taken hers off since.
In fact, later that afternoon when Kenny took the girls to church Addison insisted on wearing her pink boots with her red Christmas dress. I told her that didn’t exactly work. Ellie begged to not have to wear her “itchy” tights. Kenny and I looked at each other, shrugged and said “it’s Christmas, do what you want.”
So they did. :)
Kole and I didn’t make it to church because he was in desperate need of a nap.
I was in desperate need of a nap too, but instead had plenty to keep me busy…
Wouldn’t be Christmas without a Christmas mess!
The last few days have been the best. Kenny has been home with us and we are really enjoying this time together as a family.
(Ready for an afternoon movie. The girls set this up and didn’t seem to mind one bit that there wasn’t room for the rest of us to sit!)
And as for the girls’ new “friends”? They are enjoying time with our family as well.
:)
xoxo, Erin
That last picture cracks me up!! I used to do the SAME thing when I was a little girl, I hope to have my own little stuffed animal fien one day ;)
I used your recipe and made those hug treats too…and gave them away as gifts. They were a hit! Looks like a absolutely wonderful stay. I’m still digging through the mess :)
Looks like you had a fun Christmas! Ours was so fun too. With my 5 year old and (almost) 2 year old they both had a great time. And I was able to fit almost all the toys in the kid’s room. It is times like these I wish we had a playroom. :)
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Sounds like a wonderful christmas! Enjoy some relaxing days. We are off to St George tomorrow for some relaxing and sunshine. So looking forward to it! Neighborhood christmas treats this year – hugs and applesauce cookies! thank you!!
Love that she wanted the pink boots whether they “worked” or not! :-) Too cute, glad your Christmas was so wonderful.
Adorable – all of it!
Quick question as George and I are doing some serious Christmas-toy organizing…how/where/what do you do with all of your stuffed animals?? This one is a killer for me because Frances loves all of them – truly.
So glad you all had a great holiday!
It looks like you had a ball! So nice to have family time isn’t it? My husband currently works 110 hours a week in our convenience store and I made a conscious decision to do nothing while he was home for two days. The house is a wreck today and laundry everywhere but we had so much fun together it is worth it! Best wishes for the new year. Emma
What time did your crew wake up Erin? By the way I have a few questions for you. What kind of snacks do you bring for Kole when you are on the road? Also, is he just drinking plain milk or is he still on formula? Thank you:)
Love reading about your Christmas morning and laughing at the similarities (again) in our girls. I told Lauren to wear tights and fancy black shoes to church and I promised her she could take them off as soon as we got to Grandma’s (and she did!) She got new shoes for Christmas…doesn’t even like them.
My Addison posed like a diva (yes even at 3) let me put cute bows in her hair, matching scratchy tights, and pretty black shoes….and loved every minute of it!
Thanks for sharing. Love to see that my house was not the only mess on Christmas morning.
Oh and Kole looks thrilled to have some boy toys!
Oh my that’s about what my house looks like now. I can’t seem to keep up! Hopefully I can get it back to normal soon. I love the last picture of all of their new “friends” So sweet!
Hi Lucy! I’ll show you soon what we are doing with stuffed animals. They are everywhere and driving me crazy!! My girls are the same way – love them all. I’ll answer your question in a post soon.
Anonymous – my crew was up Christmas morning at 6:00 AM! I’m tired just thinking about it. :) As far as snacks for Kole I usually take crackers and fruit in sandwich bags everywhere we go. I peel a whole apple and he loves to chew on it for a while. I also cut grapes in half – easy finger food for him to munch on. Then I bring either fishy crackers, ritz crackers, or club crackers. We stopped giving him formula when he turned one (I’ve done that with all three of my kids) so he just drinks regular 2% milk. Hope that helps! :)
What a great Christmas! Hannah loves those big-eyed stuffed animals! I didn’t realize there was such a selection. :)
I love my scarf! Thanks so much.
Miss you.
We went to Christmas Card Lane on Christmas Eve too! We opted to drive through in a warm car with our Christmas jammies on. Next time we’ll have to plan better. We live around the corner from CCL so we could meet you all. Next year, Kole will flip for the train house! We have to hang out there so my little Benjamin can watch the train over and over…and over…
I love ur big eye reindeer and penguin (christmas ones) where did u find those from…my kids have 3 of those but its the little raccoon one ..but that is all I find here…and I found them at a school uniform store…
LOVE ur Christmas pictures!!!
Felicia
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What a beautiful Christmas you all had!! I can’t wait to see how you organize all those stuffed animals!!
Oh I love those girls! They crack me up! LOVE their decor for Santa! Tell them they did a fantastic job! I especially love the stairs! So glad you guys had a great Christmas!
And I have to tell you, I had to admit defeat and realized I was not going to get Christmas baking done like usual! I did make fudge but knew cookies were not going to happen, so I went Erin style and did the hugs! The kids LOVED it! It was so great that they could pretty much do it themselves with just a little help from me. They had so much fun and they were super yummy. I did some with hugs and some with the candy cane kisses, those were even better!
Miss you guys! Love from all of us!
Looks like you guys really had a wonderful Christmas! Our house looked much the same after the Christmas morning chaos – but it’s the only day the mess seems fine! Always a fun task for us mums to find a spot for all the new toys. Merry Christmas to you all. Cassie xx
Glad you had a great Christmas:) All you need next Christmas are some crackers to pull with your Christmas dinner:) (I think Americans call them bon bons, not sure)They’re a traditional part of Christmas in the uk & have a got a paper hat, funny joke & a silly toy in them!!!
Christmas Card Lane sounds brilliant:) If possible please could someone put a link to it on here? I’d love to see it:)
I love the afternoon movie photo. I like how you have included the christmas mess photos.
Have a happy new year,
Kelly
I know it’s not the point of this post – but I am seriously crushing on your coffee table….I must know, where did it come from?
Hi Amy! The coffee table with the baskets was from a store in southern Utah called Designer Furniture. I think they went out of business though! I’ve had it for years. Sorry that isn’t much help!
Bummer – at least I now know that the perfect one does exist and now I can hunt for it!!! :D Thanks for responding so quickly.