Christmas Magic!…*pics*

Dear Diary,

In an attempt to catch up here I’m going to go through recent pictures and post what seems good to share.

Just before Thanksgiving we celebrated my birthday.  The boys made my traditional carrot birthday cake.  Always delicious and appreciated!

The day before Thanksgiving break the Lower School did a performance for families.  Here is first grade doing their song / dance combo..

Following Thanksgiving we went full swing into Christmas prep.  It has been a lot of fun. 

Reagan had his letter for Santa finished.  He once again included Woody’s Christmas wishes in his letter and delivered it to Santa on Woody’s behalf.  Here’s Reagan with his letter while we waited for Santa…

And going over the letter together…

So thankful for consistent Santas!  We had our same perfect Santa again this year.  Reagan has sat on the same lap every year so far…
I bought the package from the photographer’s as well but don’t have that picture handy right now.  These give the general idea.  IT was a good visit.

While we were working of Christmas preps the day after Thanksgiving our favorite little elf, Christopher, showed up along with his faithful companion Jingle.  They have been keeping us on our toes.  When they first came they brought a Skylander figure for one of Reagan’s game named Stealth Elf…. very fitting I think.  The figure is right in front of Christopher in this next pic.

Later that evening Christopher encouraged us to get our Christmas tree set up by bringing us a new ornament.  He knows us well.  He brought a Disney Hot Air Balloon ornament with the fab four in it….Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Donald.  In his usual playful style we found them hanging from the ceiling fan.  His note says "Let’s trim the tree" or something along those lines….

Reagan looking very festive and showing off our new ornament…

Love them!

The guys handled the tree construction…

Reagan really handled the majority of it while Keith directed…

Next project…. the Polar Express Train to go around the tree!

Making progress!

Once the tree and train were set up Reagan hung the magic Santa key on the front door….

Christopher slept in Pooh’s honey pot that evening.  Guess he couldn’t find his usual bed….

The night before (Thanksgiving night) my sister -in- law and I braved the crowds and Black Friday shopped again this year.  We always have a pretty good time!  I was able to complete our shopping for our twin nieces (her daughters) that night.  I also found quite a few DVDs to add to our family collection.  I used one of my coupons to get this Poinsettia pin for myself for $4 or so.  I now have three gaudy festive pins in my collection…. A snowflake, a Christmas tree and now this one.  This vest was a doorbuster a week or two before.  Along with a coupon I scored it for $6.99.  Love a good deal!

Saturday we found Christopher eager to watch a Christmas movie….

Reagan spent some time playing with the Polar express  train.  This next one shows his North Pole village he set up under the tree, too.

Our sweet pup was comfy nearby…
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Christopher knows how to keep busy!  Later in the day he went sailing with a snowman in Reagan’s room….

They also gave the Xbox a whirl….

Bubble bath time!

Christopher brought Reagan this Mr. Bubble fizzy bath bomb!

It turned the water blue!  We don’t do the colored toilet water at our home so Reagan doesn’t really know about it.  Otherwise this may have creeped him out a bit.  It’s a bit hard not to think "Toilet Water!"

All shiny and clean and playing with the train again…

My sweet boy!  Christopher had brought Reagan a couple of things at this point and Reagan commented on how nice it was.  He was very appreciative.  He said he thought Christopher was so nice to him "because he had never been on the naughty list"….. pure Christmas magic!

December 1st we started a couple of advent activities.  We are using our stocking garland again this year.

Such a good pup!

 In each stocking there is a dog treat for Woody, a Resse’s treat for Reagan, a York Peppermint Patty for Keith and then some Disney Pins for Pin Trading for Reagan in each stocking. 

I think this garland with the treats is Woody’s favorite tradition.  We find him staring lovingly at the garland…

We also gave Reagan the Lego Advent Calendar this year and he’s working through that….

Christopher and Jingle like Legos, too!

A Disney Pin from one of the days…. I think this guy must be from the Country Bear Jamboree.  What do you think?

We are keeping Reagan’s pin trading lanyard handy and he’s adding his new pins to it…

One night this week we caught Christopher visiting with some hippopotamuses.  It’s common knowledge around here that a hippo is on my Christmas list.  In fact.  That lego hippo is one that Reagan made me over a year ago for Christmas and I’ve kept it on my dresser ever since.

Two of the Hippos shown are from Reagan’s animal collection.  Next time we checked in on Christopher he had really gotten a bit out of hand with his animal play.  It was a parade!

Reagan and Woody ended up getting in on the action and before we knew it we had this…

It is even longer and still set up in Reagan’s room now.  I really should take one more picture of it.

The next morning we found Christopher on a make shift stage in front of the Christmas tree….

It’s a joke stage!  "Why do mummies like Christmas so much?"  Because of all the wrapping!  HAR! Har! har!

Not the clearest pic but here is the display across the top of the piano currently…
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More decorations in the livingroom…

The night before last we found Christopher sleeping in a Kleenex box!  I guess it’s a squishy spot and about the right size!

Yesterday there was some hide-n-seek in the wreath!

Earlier in the week their hide-n-seek spot was up top the tree…

Another time we found them in the cookie jar!  That Santa looks relieved that we found them

Speaking of Santa…. Reagan came out from washing his hands with this bubble beard and declared himself Santa! Pretty cute…..

I tried a new recipe last weekend.  It’s a Disney Magic Cookie Bar recipe….. It is yummy.  I’m not a huge coconut fan though so I don’t think it will become a favorite for me…..

The mud room is decorated in a Candyland theme again this year…

Here Christopher and Jingle were getting a closer look at Reagan’s toad, Hopper…

I warned you that these two keep busy! Snowman building!

Followed by a snowball fight!

More hide-n-seek….. I think this might be their favorite game!

We have the cowboy Christmas tree set up in Reagan’s room.  It goes along with his room theme…

The lit garland across the top of his bookshelves in his room….

A few other decorations in there…

we did track down Christopher’s usual bed and put the honey pot away…..

The lighting in this next picture isn’t the best but it shows Bear’s stocking and the cowboy nutcracker…

This is a nook in our bedroom…

and another…

Festive bedding…. it is a bit rumpled for this pic but you get the idea…

A friend hanging on the closet…

Dinning room shelf…
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And the other dinning room shelf…

Dinning room table…

also in dinning room…
ei

Reagan (being the little man that he is) prefers to start his day by using the laptop while drinking warm Ovaltine.  Christopher caught on to his routine and we found him on his own little laptop one morning this past week….

One evening this week Christopher brought a gift!

It was the Frozen playset for Infinity! We were pretty excited!

Anna looks quite cute in our North Pole village.  We can keep her there when she isn’t busy in the video game.

And Elsa, too….

Reagan and I saw this movie on opening day and loved it! We’re hooked!   I’m hoping this entry doesn’t get cut off…. It’s a bit long.  We’ll see….

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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