Christmas

This  year we heard of a little something called Elf on the Shelf, Santa sent us our very own elf to watch over us and report back to the North Pole if we were naughty or nice! When our little elf arrived in the mail we were told to name her. So we asked Mae what she would like to name her. We started making suggestions which were all immediately shut down, then she shouts out how about Lou Lou La La! So Lou Lou La La it is! Every night she would fly back to the north pole and report to the big man how we had been, then in the morning we would have to search for her to see where we had landed to watch us for the day! It turned out to be a really fun thing that Mae was so excited about! Lou Lou had to go back to the North Pole after Christmas to prepare for next year, but hopefully next December we'll get to have her visit again!

Every year my Grandpa does Grandma's Cookie bake. She has done this ever since we were little, we would stay up late making cookies and watching Christmas movies. It is such a fun tradition that I remember so fondly as a child! This pack has grown quite a bit since I was little, but she continues to put it on every year! My grandma spends days preparing, we each get a huge plate full of cookies to decorate. I believe she said she has to make over 400 cookies! Can you imagine! I'm so thankful that she continues to do it though! It is so much fun, for me and for my girls!

Everyone decorating their cookies! Mae didn't sit down for long! She was more interested in eating the cookies and chasing the other kids around!

Little Lydia & Leah! Born 12 days apart! It is so fun to get them together, they are so intrigued with each other! And can you believe that Leah was almost 2 pounds smaller than Lydia at birth! She is catching right up!

All the little ones!

 Here are a few pictures of our Christmas decorations, I hope to vamp up my tree a little next year, after going to the Festival of Trees I got a lot of really fun ideas! Most of you know that when I was just little my grandparents started a tradition of giving me a snowglobe every Christmas, which they still continue to do! I always felt like I had such a special bond with them and I think it is so sweet that they have continued the tradition! I now have 23 snowglobes! Its always such fun to get them out and see all the different scenes. Mae is incredibly interested in them! And this year my mom got Mae one of her very own!

 Christmas eve we usually spend at my Grandparents house. They do an ugly sweat party, unfortunately this year I just didn't have it in me to search out some crazy sweaters, so we didn't participate but its pretty fun seeing everyones ugly sweaters! We always do white elephant as well, we ended up with some wonderful treasures! A unicorn poster, a butterfly pillow, and a lovely family photo! We were always so close growing up, and we don't see each other as much these days so its always fun to get together!

Christmas morning we woke up to find that Santa had found us! Mae was so incredibly sweet! She was more worried that Santa had found Lydia than herself. She wanted to open all of Lydia's presents and show them to her before touching any of her own gifts!

 She was so excited about every little thing she got! We asked her after she has finished opening what her favorite thing was and she said "I love everything!" I love that she is such a grateful child! She thinks she needs everything she sees, but she is always so gracious about what she gets!

We spend Christmas day with both our families, we opened gifts, had wonderful food and great company! We had a wonderful holiday season! I am so grateful for such great family and friends!