Christmas 2017 | Part Two

In keeping with our family tradition, we wanted to be at our house for Christmas morning, so we hung out in Dallas for the holiday weekend. The fun started at the Lockwoods' house for Christmas Eve-Eve pajama dinner.

And it was an extra-special celebration, because we got to meet cousin Ben :).

The next day, we enjoyed a gloriously lazy day at the house complete with cookie making and Christmas movie watching. 

The kids were soooooo excited for Santa's arrival, but still managed to fall asleep pretty quickly. 

And I guess they made the good list, because Santa was certainly good to the kids. 

In addition to the stocking stuffers, Ava's main gifts from Santa were a Beauty and the Beast Lego set, a "real" makeup set, and a Barbie house. I didn't get any pictures of her gifts from us, but we got her some fun light-up unicorn slippers, a new ballet outfit, erasable markers + a sketchbook, a secret code bracelet making kit, and Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls. (We generally follow the "something you'll wear, something you'll read, something you want, something you need" mantra.)

Rylan's number one request for months was for a "Batman shooter," and luckily Santa was able to find an awesome Batman tool belt complete with a shooter.

He also got a set of Star Wars figurines, We're Going on a Bear Hunt, and a Playmobil pirate set.

His favorite stocking stuffer was definitely the tiny laser guns. Shocker.

From us, Ry got dragon slippers, a big kid backpack, a Design & Drill toy, Dragons Love Tacos 2, and a velcro monster paw ball thingy (not sure how else to describe it)... 

The kids also both got Nerf guns from Santa. This all came about because the neighbor kids have Nerf gun battles down the street, and Team Shep needed to represent. 

I think Josh was just as excited for the first battle :).

It was such a wonderful Christmas. We hung out all day playing with new toys and watching more movies before packing up for Austin.

Christmas 2017 | Part One

The month of December was a whirlwind of pre-Christmas fun, including advent activities, school parties, and house decorating. Since I am a firm believer in waiting until after Thanksgiving to move on to the next holiday, I really appreciated the extra time afforded by the early turkey day. 

We started by picking out the perfect tree.

And decorating it. I think it was our best one yet!

We slowly surrounded it with presents as well. I was determined to get all our shopping done early this year so as to be able to relax (as much as a mom can) during the week of Christmas.

Dobie made an appearance again this year, and the kids loved finding him every morning. 

We had the Christmas "smell good" going all month long. 

The kids both wrote letters to Santa, and I loved how easy Ry's list was. A present...check. 

They also got to meet the jolly old man himself. Ava and I had a discussion before going that not all Santas that you meet are the real thing, but you never know when it is going to actually be him. Upon seeing this sweet Santa, she whispered to me: "Mama, I think he is the real one!" Be still my Christmas-magic-loving heart.

We watched a plethora of Christmas movies. 

Complete with hot chocolate, of course.

The Cookies and Castles date didn't work out this year, so we opted for the Trader Joe's gingerbread kits. They actually worked out pretty great!

We also made some s'mores. 

And then the night took a turn when Rylan fell off a chair and landed head first in a rusty metal pole. The cut was really deep too. Uggggghhhhh. 

He was so brave, though. Several hours, a couple stitches, and one popsicle later, we were headed back home.

It was all smiles the next day for our Rudolph movie night.

Snowman pizza night was also a big hit.

There were a few adorable class performances/parties to attend.

Holiday cards make my heart so happy.

We rounded out the advent activities with Christmas tree cinnamon rolls, which were super easy to make and a definite fan favorite.

Next up on my blog catch-up: Christmas in Dallas.