Christmas prep--round 1

I suspect that I will have several rounds of "Christmas prep" the next couple of weeks. But so far, we've trimmed the tree, seen Santa, visited Macy's 8th floor display and celebrated St. Nick's day...it's been a busy couple of weeks! Somehow I managed to mail out our Christmas cards this week as well; what a relief that is. We sure love getting all of the fun cards in the mail and seeing what everyone has been up to!

Sidney trimming the tree 

We managed to only lose 2 glass ornaments this year. Maybe a new record? I still like to remember the time that the entire tree (fully decorated!) tipped over and we lost dozens of ornaments. Ryan got the task of holding up the tree while I ran to Target for a new stand (and maybe a little shopping along the way). He still doesn't think that story is funny.... :)

St. Nick blessed us with some fun treats on the morning of 12/6. Gone are the days that he left a few coins in shoes. Now it's sequin mermaid pillows, toys and snacks! Lucky kiddos.

We are treated with a horse drawn sleigh ride after picking out the best Christmas tree in the lot! Sidney opted out of the ride this year, feeling far too cold and opting for the warmth of the truck.

Sidney swears this is definitely "the real Santa". And you know what, we have to agree. This guy is the BEST! We pick him on purpose, because he's not the typical mall Santa, and he spends time talking to the kiddos instead of just snapping a picture. I love how he picks up on our cues and immediately knew the kids names (I happened to say them as we walked in the room). The eyes on Sidney lit up! I love it.

In a rather hurried decision several weeks ago, I bought tickets to take Lincoln to Disney on Ice on a Friday morning...turns out, it was a day that the girls weren't in school! Opps. But Lincoln had a blast and loves every second of these shows. It's so much fun to experience these things just one more time with the littlest guy :)

Macy's Santaland never seems to disappoint. This year was another special year because Sidney was able to read all of the captions and enjoyed picking up on things she hadn't noticed in prior years. Regan liked finding what might be slightly different, or locating all of the furry friends around each room. And Lincoln was just in awe of it all, so much so that we had to go through it two times!

Here's to our first round of Christmas prep. We all love this season, and although the date never changes, it always seems to sneak up on me! I'm soaking in all of these fun traditions, knowing that it won't be long and our kiddos won't have the same sparkle in their eye this time of year. So I'm hanging on for dear life!