'Tis the Season to be Jolly

What can I say?  We love Christmas at our house!  The month of December is busy and we love it all!

It has become a tradition for the girls to have their own advent calendar to count down the days to Christmas.  The girls love these inexpensive countdowns that are all their own.  Here we are just starting the countdown...and then the month went so quickly because we were...

...visiting Santa and Mrs. Claus at Chick-fil-a.  The girls were thrilled that Mrs. Claus was there and it was indeed pretty cool.  They even insisted on holding Noelle so we could snap a picture.  They were everything I would imagine Santa and his wife to be.  And the month kept flying by because...

...Kylie decorated gingerbread houses in her GT class.  Then we got to see them at a holiday party hosted by the PTA at the school.  Ky was rather proud of her house and I must say she did an awesome job...all by herself.  And we got even closer and closer to Christmas because...

...Megan had a little dance recital.  Her very amazing dance teacher, Elspeth, has taught my little Megan so many wonderful things.  Meg loved her dance class and is looking forward to doing it again next semester.  Right after the recital, the girls had their holiday parties at school and then it was Christmas break!  And then just a few days before Christmas...

...our very wonderful and anonymous friends from the ward delivered a very cool gift to us...a plaster (I think?) nativity that was white and needed to be painted.  I let the girls paint all the pieces themselves and didn't even suggest colors or ways to paint them.  They painted them all on their own and enjoyed every minute of it!  Even little Molly joined in the fun...and got more paint on herself than the actual figures.  :)  Good thing I thought to take off her shirt!  I am thrilled that we will have this nativity to look at and play with year after year!  Thanks again to our anonymous ward family, whoever you are...we soooo appreciate your kindness!

These are Molly's pieces (minus the angel in the back...that was Meg's).

Our buildup to Christmas has been rather exciting and enjoyable!  We also had a visit from my brother (just barely home from his mission) and my mom but I will include that in a separate post.  I was anticipating a Christmas break full of boredom and sisterly quarrels but I have been pleasantly surprised at the fun I have had with my girls!  I wish I had another week with them home.  I have truly enjoyed this holiday season and the joy that has filled my heart!