Christmas 2018

I cannot believe that Christmas has already come and gone. It is now mid January as I'm writing this and I still have the post-Christmas blues.

As mentioned in my Thanksgiving blog we began putting our Christmas decorations up as soon as we took our Halloween decorations down.

Candor was so excited and insisted on helping drag everything down from the attic. Since Candor was helping my tiniest bubba insisted on helping too!

Nana got the boys these little Christmas pictures to put in their bedrooms.

These pictures started Townes obsession with Santa. Each morning he would point to his picture and scream "Santa!". Anytime we saw pictures of Santa he would scream "Santa!". Anytime we would see a man with white hair and a beard walking around he would scream "Santa!". Anytime we would read books and he would see a man with a beard (Noah) he would scream "Santa!".

We strung lights on Candor's bed.

The boys put up our Christmas window clings.

We put up our outside decorations.

We decorated the chalkboard walls!

I decided that we needed to put up the Christmas tree while Townes was sleeping. I also told Candor that he was not allowed to touch the tree or the ornaments while Townes was around because as mentioned above once Candor does something Townes is right behind him doing it too. Townes hasn't quite found his gentle hands yet and I wanted to keep the tree standing. Candor thought he was pretty dang special/cool to be able to do things that Townes wasn't allowed to do.

Candor was very particular about where each ornament should be placed this year. He put some of his favorites in the front of the tree facing the front door. He said he wanted them in that spot so Santa could see them when he came on Christmas Eve. Candor also made the below two ornaments at school. He put them right beside each other said said that one was him and one was me. It melted my heart.

Todd also got a train to go around the tree. It was so cool and the boys loved it. I bet that train made a million laps around the tree.

The next day when Townes saw the tree he was amazed. He did wonderful with the tree this year. He mainly looked with only a few touches.

On the morning of December 1st the famous Cire arrived!

Candor was sooooo excited. He started pointing and yelling CIRE!!!! Townes was a bit nervous about this little elf creature who had come into our house.

They searched and searched for their new PJ's and finally found them in the guest shower.

Cire went on to hide in a new spot for the next 23 days. Cire was pretty exhausted by the end trying to find new spots every day but their excitement each morning made it all worth it. Most days he would just hide but on a few rare occasions he would leave them notes and little gifts.

This scavenger hunt was a big hit.

Cire left the boys Hatchimals one day. Candor named them Heart and Blue.

Cire also left Fingerlings for them. Candor named the panda Salt and Vinegar Chips Cheese Pizza. That is a mouthful! Townes named the sloth Santa.

The following weekend we planned a trip to go see Santa. The Monday before on Candor Mommy Date Day, Candor and I went to Starbucks and had coffee, cookies, and wrote our letters to Santa. Candor said that we all needed letters to Santa so we wrote 4 of them. Candor also said we all needed to ask for 5 Packs. I'm thinking he had an ulterior motive for this request.

We were all super excited when Saturday rolled around. When we went upstairs to get dressed Candor said, "Mommy - I have to look good for Santa!". I put a button down shirt on him and not one single complaint came out of his mouth. He then went downstairs and asked Todd if he could have some pomade for his hair. After he was fully dressed Todd asked him what shirt he should wear and Candor said, "I don't know but it has to be cool.".

We arrived to Santa's Shop a few minutes before it opened so we sat around and enjoyed the beautiful hot December morning.

When Santa arrived the boys were a little unsure at first but quickly warmed up. Santa was so nice and read each letter out loud. He was very confused on what this 5 Pack thing was we were all asking for but Candor quickly explained that it was a 5 Pack of Hot Wheels.

We then treated the boys to a chocolate chip cookie and played around at the Domain.

I used our awesome Santa pics for our Christmas cards.

As I have mentioned in probably every Christmas blog going to the Trail of Lights is one of my favorite things to do all year. The morning of the Trail of Lights Cire left the boys Christmas sweaters to wear.

Candor was beyond excited for his Christmas sweater.

His happiness turned into tears 5 seconds later when of the little pom poms on his sweater fell off. He was devastated.

Thank goodness for Todd and his sewing skills the day was saved!

Todd and I couldn't let the boys have all the fun so we put on our Christmas sweaters as well.

That night we parked at Todd's office and walked down to Zilker Park.

The boys had a blast.

I love the below picture because even though you can only see the side of Townes face you can see how happy he is.

In March after Candor decided he was no longer afraid of heights he has been talking about riding the Ferris Wheel at the Trail of Lights. Todd got to ride with him and they had a blast.

We all then rode the carousel. Everyone had fun but Townes had the most fun. He cried and cried when the ride was over.

We also got to take my second favorite picture (Santa being first) of the year. The Trail of Lights photo this year did not disappoint. I mean, how cute are we?!

On the way home Townes got sick and vomited all over himself, the car seat, the car and then me. I had vomit in my hair, face, clothes, shoes. That night Todd and I stayed up most of the night making sure he was OK and then cleaning the entire car/car seat. Even with all that happening it was still my favorite night! The next morning Townes was happy as a lark and acted like nothing ever happened. He is one tough little bubba.

This December we also did lots of Christmas crafts.

We took many strolls and looked at Christmas decorations. As we did last year when we would see decoration we would all scream "Christmas Decorations" and then raise our hands and yell "WOOOO WOOOO". Townes really got into the WOOOO WOOO'S.

They still loved looking at our neighbor's Frosty blow-up.

We went the Mozart's Coffee light show.

Candor's Sunday school class performed their Christmas Pageant at church. They were all so cute.

As I was watching my cute little shepherd do his thing I glanced down and Todd was wearing the below socks. Really Todd?! To church?!

One of my other favorite nights of the year is the preschool Christmas pageant. We were all so excited

Townes' class brought hay to the manger before the pageant began.

Candor's class were the angels and the shepherds. The kids always look forward being a shepherd because they get to run around the church during the middle of the pageant. Candor rocked his role and was by far the loudest singer in the whole school. It was awesome.

Christmas Eve finally arrived. That morning when Candor and Townes came downstairs they found that Cire had toilet papered everything! They thought this was hilarious.

We spent the day tracking Santa on the Santa Tracker.

That night Candor wrote a note to Santa.

I have no clue what a looker-look is.

We laid out milk, cookies, and a carrot for Santa and Rudolph.

Todd then read the boys The Cajun Night Before Christmas and off to sleep they went.

Todd and I then made us Eggnog and got to work.

When the boys woke up the next morning they ran downstairs to see what Santa brought them. Candor kept screaming, "I CANNOT BELIEVE SANTA CAME!!!!". We all had so much fun.

In case you were wondering, Santa did bring us all 5 Packs and Candor opened every one of them. We have so many hot wheels in this house it is ridiculous.

That afternoon we headed to Lakeway to celebrate with Pop Pop, Nana, AK, Brooke, and Navy. We opened presents and then Brooke cooked us an awesome dinner.

The boys also liked checking out Navy's new toys.

How cute is this picture of Townes telling Navy goodbye?!

That weekend we headed to Sherman to celebrate with Pa Pa, G, Travis, Molly, and Adeline. We all had so much fun and the kids loved playing with each other.