{december recap}

For some reason this year I had a hard time really getting into the holiday spirit. I think it was a combination of the fact that my dad is still not doing well, that we were so busy getting everything ready for our house closing on December 20th (and the fact that we still have not found a new house), the terrible tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary, the fact that the girls are going through a "terrible" two phase which includes a lot of whining and not a lot of sleeping, and the unseasonably warm weather that we had for much of the month.  That said, we did manage to squeeze in a lot of fun holiday activities with the girls.  Here is a quick recap of our December.

Elfie, our Elf, returned this year and the girls had so much fun finding him every morning.  We went and picked out a Christmas tree and the girls were really into decorating it this year.

St. Nikolas paid us a visit on December 6th.

The girls had fun decorating the gingerbread houses that St. Nick brought.  We went to see the holiday trains at the Museum Center.  We saw Santa from afar, but the girls were very clear that they did NOT want to sit on "Ho Ho's" lap.

We took a trip to Findlay Market to buy some holiday treats.

My work group continued the tradition of sponsoring a local kindergarten class for Christmas.  We happened to be there celebrating with them when the news of Sandy Hook broke ... my heart was broken.  That night we held our girls extra tight and had a family sleepover next to the Christmas tree.  We baked Christmas cookies and drove through the neighborhood to look at Christmas lights (a fun idea until Kenzie got carsick :()

We went to Krohn Conservatory for Trains, Trestles and Traditions.

And to see the living nativity at our church.  We lit our advent wreath and the girls sang Silent Night.  We made holiday treats & gifts for the girls' preschool friends.

We went to the girls Christmas performance/party at their preschool.  It was so precious to watch them perform ... I was surprised by how into it they were.  We had our annual Christmas lunch with Sara ... we continue to be so thankful to have her in our lives and she once again made us the most thoughtful picture book with pictures from this past year.  It is amazing to look back and see how much the girls have grown this year.

In addition to the many festive activities that we partook in during December, we also had lots of silly sister time.  Some of my favorite moments are captured below.

Looking forward to the time-off from work.  Time with family.  Time to slow down and enjoy the holidays.