For the third year in a row, we stayed at home for Christmas. This year was very relaxed and we were able to do a few fun things as well as get some much needed rest. It is a bit stressful with the added pressure of the kids birthday's to plan - Charlie's on Dec. 9th and Adelaide's on Jan. 7th - but I think we managed well.
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| Hockey family, Christmas morning 2011 |
Early December Ben and I took Adelaide to a local-theatre production on the Nutcracker. It was truly a fun memory and something I hope we are able to do often. Since Adelaide is in love with ballet right now, it was very fitting. The ballet is nearly two-hours long with intermission but she managed to sit still for nearly the whole thing.
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| Dec 2011. Adelaide sitting criss-cross applesauce during story time at her class party |
I was a volunteer for Adelaide's class party on Dec. 15. Five parents were there for the hour-long party, which involved a big snack, two crafts, two books, and a couple of games to fill in the gaps. I really enjoyed getting to see Adelaide interact with her friends, and it was also a nice chance for me to get to know the parents a bit better. I arranged for a friend of ours to babysit Charlie at the house so I could give undivided attention to the ten 2 1/2 year olds.
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| Dec 2011. Adelaide eating her 'snack' with four friends at her class party |
Adelaide and I used a pre-made decorating kit from Trader Joe's that was only $1 to make a gingerbread lady - named Aurora (aka Sleeping Beauty). I am really looking forward to Charlie being able to do some of these fun things with us next year. For now, we usually do crafts and things during his nap time.
We had plans to go as a family to a "Breakfast with Santa" event put on by the local high school on a Saturday morning before Christmas, but an unexpected middle-of-the-night sickness for Adelaide meant a day that we needed to stay home instead. Adelaide really had her heart set on meeting Santa though so we opted to go to the ghetto mall about 15 minutes away on December 21 and only had to wait about half an hour to meet Mr. Claus. (A trip to the nicer mall up north would have meant an hour+ waiting in line... no thanks, with two little kids.) Adelaide informed Santa of the one thing she had been asking for for Christmas - new ballet slippers and a ballet dress.
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| December 21. Charlie, 1 year, & Adelaide, 3 years. |
Christmas Eve we went to our church service and enjoyed a delicious bowl of Jamie Oliver's beef stew. Christmas morning was very relaxed. The kids ate breakfast in the living room at a new table and chairs from Nanna and Papa that is the perfect size. While they ate we took turns opening presents that came mostly from grandparents and a couple from my niece, Koko, in Oklahoma. Adelaide favorite present came from Koko and fam - a box of Princess dress-up clothes. Charlie (and Adelaide) also really loved the train set from Koko.
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Christmas morning - Adelaide as "Cinderella"
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| Christmas lunch - Ben opening the bon bon |
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| Christmas lunch |
One more tradition that we started this year - celebrating Jesus' birthday. We made a super delicious Apricot Chocolate Chip cake from
Natalie's blog which was absolutely delicious. Adelaide asked how old baby Jesus would be on his birthday and I said "a little over 2000 years old" so she insisted we used the number '2' candle on his cake.
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| Christmas afternoon - Jesus birthday cake. (Apricot Chocolate Chip Cake) |
