The holidays have hit and with it comes a myriad of events and traditions. We started off a jam-packed holiday weekend by attending a Holiday Boutique at Michael's school. We had SO much fun! There were a large number of vendors selling holiday items, a great cafe where we were served by the 6th graders of the school, and an opportunity to take a picture with Santa Claus. It was really cute because Matthew knows who Santa is- or at least what he looks like. He spotted Santa across the room and his arms and legs went wild! All three kids happily went over to Santa and began talking to him. I was very curious how Matthew would react to him. Matthew is a very friendly, smiley guy. However, I wasn't sure how he would take to Santa. Michael and Claire sat on Santa's lap and I got Matthew out of the stroller to put him on his lap, too. He smiled at Santa and was happy until he realized that I had walked away. He started frowning at me and then burst into tears. I would like to say I felt bad for him, but it is kind of cute to see your baby crying with Santa. I guess in a way- it's a right of passage. All in all, it was a really fun event to attend and we were so glad we went.
After we returned home from the Boutique, we had to follow through with the promise we made to the kids to make our gingerbread house. Damien and I have made a gingerbread house every year since we got married (we are officially dorks) and have enjoyed continuing the tradition with the kids. One thing that I love about Damien is that he shares my love for the little things. Yes, putting together a gingerbread house can be a pain staking process, but these types of things make the holidays special for me. The kids were really excited and jumped right into it! All was going well, until we realized that the roof was sliding down! Dang it! We pulled the roof pieces off and I suddenly remembered a tip I saw on the Martha Stewart show (laugh if you want, but you'll be happy I shared this tip with you). She recommends decorating the roof pieces first and letting them completely dry before you put them on the house. If you do it this way, you aren't pushing and putting pressure on the roof while applying the candy while it is trying to dry. After the kids each decorated a roof top and we let it dry, we put the house together and thankfully, it stayed together! The gingerbread house was beautiful when they finished and it was interesting to see the different roofs and appreciate their creative differences.
A few years ago (before there ever was a Matthew) we ventured downtown to take part in our city's fantastic Holiday Parade. The parade is nationally renowned and is one of the Top 25 Parades in the country. We loved watching it and the kids really enjoyed it. The only hard part was waking the kids up early to make it down there with enough time to park and find a place to watch it! Ever since we attended the parade a few years ago, I have been thinking that it would be neat to stay in a hotel the night before the parade and then wake up and walk to the parade route. I was going to surprise the whole family and spring the trip on them last minute but knowing how unpredictable our life is these days, I instead clued Damien in on my idea. He loved it! I researched some rates for downtown hotels and found out that there was actually a 'Parade Rate' at one of the best hotels! Done and done! Our plan was in place.
After finishing the gingerbread house, we told the kids that they needed to pack their suitcases because we were going to stay at a hotel for a Christmas adventure. Naturally, they love this kind of stuff. After we were all packed, we loaded into the car and headed to our destination. The hotel was lovely and totally decked out in holiday splendor. The kids were beaming with excitement and full of wonder at our latest adventure. Included in the 'Parade Rate', was an Executive Suite on one of the top floors of the hotel, appetizer and dessert hours in the executive conference room, a buffet breakfast in the morning, and discounts at local restaurants for dinner. We were all set and ready to start what would be a very memorable night!
Heather met us at the hotel and we bundled all the kiddos up to go out on the town. First stop was dinner so we went to a great little place downtown for burgers and milkshakes. Afterwards, we headed a few blocks to a wonderful holiday display called,
Christmas in the Park. There are numerous
character displays, hundreds of lit Christmas trees, carnival rides for the kids, ice skating, and so much more. Matthew was in awe of it all. Michael and Claire have been to this many times but thoroughly enjoyed weaving through the maze of trees and enjoying some delicious Mexican Hot Chocolate. There were carolers, snow, cotton candy, and Damien's favorite- churros. We had a blast! The only crimp in our plan was that the day before, Matthew was diagnosed with having an ear infection. It was so cold out at night. Despite my best efforts to keep him bundled up, he was getting really cold. Matthew and I split from the group and went back to the hotel to warm up. In the meantime, Damien and Heather took the kids on all the rides and stayed out to enjoy the holiday celebration. When they came back later that night, the kids were truly satisfied with their experience and Damien and Heather were thrilled to be in a nice, warm room! Heather headed home and planned to meet us the next morning for the parade.
We all got in our jammies and cuddled on Claire's bed on the floor. As our family continues to grow, it makes staying in a hotel room a little more cramped- but certainly more fun. We laughed and got a little too rowdy and had to try and calm the kids down. Might I add that it is hard to do when they are pumped full of sugar!
We woke up early and got dressed, and headed to breakfast. We filled up our tummies and then returned to our room to again bundle up! Heather joined us and we headed down to the parade route. One really neat part of the parade was that Damien's cousin, Megan, was going to be performing with her Irish Dancing group. It kind of gave us a purpose to really watch the parade so we would spot her as she passed by. We found a great spot along one of the streets and waited for the parade to begin. Before we knew it, we were entertained by giant balloons, marching bands, floats, Star Wars characters (Michael was so happy), and so much more. It was a lot of work to coordinate the whole weekend, but to see my kids having so much fun made all the extra work worth it.
The parade was winding down and Matthew was melting down. Would you know that just as we were about to throw in the towel- Megan's Irish Dancing group passed in front of us? We yelled for her and thankfully, she saw us and waved back! What was even cooler was that Damien's Aunt Monica was walking with Megan's dance team in the parade! She saw us as well, and then their family sought us out afterward and we all got to catch up with each other! We saw them a few weeks ago for dinner and Claire thought that Megan was the coolest. So you can only imagine the thrill it was for Claire to see Megan after the parade.
We headed back to the hotel and just enjoyed the afternoon there as checkout wasn't until 3pm. Matthew napped, the kids nibbled on some food, and Damien watched the 49er game. It was an amazing and busy weekend but so worth the effort. One of the greatest parts of having children for me is to expose them to the sights and sounds around them. I hold all the Christmas memories from my childhood in my heart and want to give my kids what my parents gave to me. Whether that is bringing them to get Santa Pictures, taking them to a holiday parade, trimming the tree, or setting up the Nativity Scene. What you do together as a family strengthens your bond together, but also strengthens your faith. I have said this a million times, but I feel so blessed to have these three very different- but very amazing children in my life. I want to pay attention to the little things, to make things special for them, and continue to build a strong sense of togetherness and foster the importance of family. I thank my parents for making all the extra effort to foster my faith in God and in my family. During the Christmas season, we can't lose sight of this. Instead, we need to ground ourselves and realize the real gift of the season is taking care of what means the very most to you.
The holidays have hit and with it comes a myriad of events and traditions. We started off a jam-packed holiday weekend by attending a Holiday Boutique at Michael's school. We had SO much fun! There were a large number of vendors selling holiday items, a great cafe where we were served by the 6th graders of the school, and an opportunity to take a picture with Santa Claus. It was really cute because Matthew knows who Santa is- or at least what he looks like. He spotted Santa across the room and his arms and legs went wild! All three kids happily went over to Santa and began talking to him. I was very curious how Matthew would react to him. Matthew is a very friendly, smiley guy. However, I wasn't sure how he would take to Santa. Michael and Claire sat on Santa's lap and I got Matthew out of the stroller to put him on his lap, too. He smiled at Santa and was happy until he realized that I had walked away. He started frowning at me and then burst into tears. I would like to say I felt bad for him, but it is kind of cute to see your baby crying with Santa. I guess in a way- it's a right of passage. All in all, it was a really fun event to attend and we were so glad we went.
After we returned home from the Boutique, we had to follow through with the promise we made to the kids to make our gingerbread house. Damien and I have made a gingerbread house every year since we got married (we are officially dorks) and have enjoyed continuing the tradition with the kids. One thing that I love about Damien is that he shares my love for the little things. Yes, putting together a gingerbread house can be a pain staking process, but these types of things make the holidays special for me. The kids were really excited and jumped right into it! All was going well, until we realized that the roof was sliding down! Dang it! We pulled the roof pieces off and I suddenly remembered a tip I saw on the Martha Stewart show (laugh if you want, but you'll be happy I shared this tip with you). She recommends decorating the roof pieces first and letting them completely dry before you put them on the house. If you do it this way, you aren't pushing and putting pressure on the roof while applying the candy while it is trying to dry. After the kids each decorated a roof top and we let it dry, we put the house together and thankfully, it stayed together! The gingerbread house was beautiful when they finished and it was interesting to see the different roofs and appreciate their creative differences.
A few years ago (before there ever was a Matthew) we ventured downtown to take part in our city's fantastic Holiday Parade. The parade is nationally renowned and is one of the Top 25 Parades in the country. We loved watching it and the kids really enjoyed it. The only hard part was waking the kids up early to make it down there with enough time to park and find a place to watch it! Ever since we attended the parade a few years ago, I have been thinking that it would be neat to stay in a hotel the night before the parade and then wake up and walk to the parade route. I was going to surprise the whole family and spring the trip on them last minute but knowing how unpredictable our life is these days, I instead clued Damien in on my idea. He loved it! I researched some rates for downtown hotels and found out that there was actually a 'Parade Rate' at one of the best hotels! Done and done! Our plan was in place.
After finishing the gingerbread house, we told the kids that they needed to pack their suitcases because we were going to stay at a hotel for a Christmas adventure. Naturally, they love this kind of stuff. After we were all packed, we loaded into the car and headed to our destination. The hotel was lovely and totally decked out in holiday splendor. The kids were beaming with excitement and full of wonder at our latest adventure. Included in the 'Parade Rate', was an Executive Suite on one of the top floors of the hotel, appetizer and dessert hours in the executive conference room, a buffet breakfast in the morning, and discounts at local restaurants for dinner. We were all set and ready to start what would be a very memorable night!
Heather met us at the hotel and we bundled all the kiddos up to go out on the town. First stop was dinner so we went to a great little place downtown for burgers and milkshakes. Afterwards, we headed a few blocks to a wonderful holiday display called, Christmas in the Park. There are numerous character displays, hundreds of lit Christmas trees, carnival rides for the kids, ice skating, and so much more. Matthew was in awe of it all. Michael and Claire have been to this many times but thoroughly enjoyed weaving through the maze of trees and enjoying some delicious Mexican Hot Chocolate. There were carolers, snow, cotton candy, and Damien's favorite- churros. We had a blast! The only crimp in our plan was that the day before, Matthew was diagnosed with having an ear infection. It was so cold out at night. Despite my best efforts to keep him bundled up, he was getting really cold. Matthew and I split from the group and went back to the hotel to warm up. In the meantime, Damien and Heather took the kids on all the rides and stayed out to enjoy the holiday celebration. When they came back later that night, the kids were truly satisfied with their experience and Damien and Heather were thrilled to be in a nice, warm room! Heather headed home and planned to meet us the next morning for the parade.
We all got in our jammies and cuddled on Claire's bed on the floor. As our family continues to grow, it makes staying in a hotel room a little more cramped- but certainly more fun. We laughed and got a little too rowdy and had to try and calm the kids down. Might I add that it is hard to do when they are pumped full of sugar!
We woke up early and got dressed, and headed to breakfast. We filled up our tummies and then returned to our room to again bundle up! Heather joined us and we headed down to the parade route. One really neat part of the parade was that Damien's cousin, Megan, was going to be performing with her Irish Dancing group. It kind of gave us a purpose to really watch the parade so we would spot her as she passed by. We found a great spot along one of the streets and waited for the parade to begin. Before we knew it, we were entertained by giant balloons, marching bands, floats, Star Wars characters (Michael was so happy), and so much more. It was a lot of work to coordinate the whole weekend, but to see my kids having so much fun made all the extra work worth it.
The parade was winding down and Matthew was melting down. Would you know that just as we were about to throw in the towel- Megan's Irish Dancing group passed in front of us? We yelled for her and thankfully, she saw us and waved back! What was even cooler was that Damien's Aunt Monica was walking with Megan's dance team in the parade! She saw us as well, and then their family sought us out afterward and we all got to catch up with each other! We saw them a few weeks ago for dinner and Claire thought that Megan was the coolest. So you can only imagine the thrill it was for Claire to see Megan after the parade.
We headed back to the hotel and just enjoyed the afternoon there as checkout wasn't until 3pm. Matthew napped, the kids nibbled on some food, and Damien watched the 49er game. It was an amazing and busy weekend but so worth the effort. One of the greatest parts of having children for me is to expose them to the sights and sounds around them. I hold all the Christmas memories from my childhood in my heart and want to give my kids what my parents gave to me. Whether that is bringing them to get Santa Pictures, taking them to a holiday parade, trimming the tree, or setting up the Nativity Scene. What you do together as a family strengthens your bond together, but also strengthens your faith. I have said this a million times, but I feel so blessed to have these three very different- but very amazing children in my life. I want to pay attention to the little things, to make things special for them, and continue to build a strong sense of togetherness and foster the importance of family. I thank my parents for making all the extra effort to foster my faith in God and in my family. During the Christmas season, we can't lose sight of this. Instead, we need to ground ourselves and realize the real gift of the season is taking care of what means the very most to you.
2 comments:
You continue to amaze me.
Pics are so cute
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