Santa #2

We went back to see Santa a second time with our good friends Emma and Julia. These girls are some of my girls best friends so it was a lot of fun.

Katherine and Emma with Santa.

Even though we already had good pictures with Santa it is always nice to have more!

Santa Visit

Well, we checked the visit to Santa off the list early this year. Our Santa is very popular and they have a ticket system which I love. I get to snag a ticket, go see a movie, eat lunch, shop, see the trains, whatever I want to do. When I get back to the Santa Line I only wait 10-15 minutes. Without the ticket it would be hours.

For comparison, here are some pictures from 2010 and 2009. I was too lazy to look up older pictures on the hard drive :)

Christmas Eve and Day

Since Will and his family were here the week before Christmas, we spent Christmas Eve and Day mostly with our family of 4. I had grand visions of the Norman Rockwell type holiday making beautiful memories. I sure tried but Christmas with a 2 and 4 year old is often like any other day with a 2 and 4 year old.

We made and decorated a birthday cake for Jesus.
We had a movie night complete with Christmas PJ's, hot chocolate and pop corn.
We left cookies and milk for Santa with his letter and vegetables for the reindeer.
Santa visited and this is before the kids came in. This year we tried really hard not to go overboard. I think we did OK with that.
Yes, both girls got a huge calculator. They love to play with mine and call it a computer. But, I can never find mine when I need it.


We always get a lot of dress up clothes.

Every year Hooligan gets a new bone for Christmas.

Here they are closing their eyes for their "big" present. It was big in size but I bought it for cheap at a consignment sale.
They got a tool bench so they can practice just like daddy.

Katherine loved her ballet bar and video.
For dinner we ate in the dining room complete with our fancy china. Dinner was a disaster though and both kids had to be disciplined including Katherine getting all of her toys taken away until the next day.

Christmas Day (a little early)

We celebrated Christmas with my parents and brother's family a week early because that was when they were in town. We gathered at my parents house for dinner and presents.

The kids are patiently waiting.

Family photos - serious and silly

With 4 girl cousins, age 1, 2, 3, and 4 - there is a lot of dress up.

Our family. I decided not to fight the battle and make the kids take off their dress up even if it did not have Norman Rockwall photos. This is who my kids are!
Will got a Manchester United shirt that we bought in England this fall.





Pillow pets were a favorite gift that night.



My girls love to dress up and love their baby dolls so matching outfits was a perfect gift.