We spend Christmas at the Denisons on Christmas Eve day.
And my three — all sporting some darling Santa PJ’s, had the greatest time!
Besides presents and yummy food, they got to hang out with their cousin.
And grandparents.
But the reason I loved the day SO much was because this year proved to be the perfect year for my kids. Scout and Navy were genuinely excited about their gifts, and Dash just cruised all day long — completely self contained. Maybe I loved it so much because I turned off mom mode just a bit, and got to kind of relax and watch my kids experience Christmas!
And nothing beats watching your kid be genuinely excited and happy!
Because my kid’s happiness is my happiness.
Watching Scout made me happy.
And watching Navy made me happy.
And watching Dash made me happy.
So thank you Denisons and mini Denisons for making my Christmas great this year!
My kids and I are all major fans of reading Christmas books at night during December. This year, things got switched up a bit, because I got a hold of some of Santa’s real coat velvet and real fur, and had it made into a blanket.
Presenting our very own SANTA BLANKET.
Nothing is more fun than reading Christmas books with our very own Santa Blanket!
It’s also good for cuddling while watching a classic Christmas movie.
Some of our very favorite friends loved it almost as much as we do.
My kids –correction….my two oldest kids–could wrap themselves in it for the long haul.
But if there is something to climb — like our toy bin, Dash dashes.
Cause this little monster can’t and won’t hold still for even five consecutive seconds.
But does it matter when you are this stinking cute?
When I signed up to be Scout’s Room Mom, nobody clued me in on “Mandarin Style” Room Mom. What a joke! I have done spreadsheets, I have organized so many volunteers I lost count, I have been the teacher/parent liaison, etc. What ever happened to the room mom who threw the class parties and organized the teacher gifts?
But the good news is that Ms. Shih liked the idea of class parties, and even went against district policy to let me throw them.
So for Christmas, we did a snowman mask craft and then everyone got a chance to…
“Pin the Carrot on Frosty”!
Since I was running the party, I only had a few shots, and here is Scout pinning. Not bad for being the first guy to try it out.
But unfortunately, he was not the very closest.
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I am not too psyched about the other duties I have, but as far as the class parties go, I love being a Room Mom. And lucky for me, Scout absolutely loves me being the Room Mom too!
Doesn’t every season seem a little more merry with PEZ?
These two were star students at our recent Selfish/Selfless Family Night. They are constantly “thinking of others”, and always trying to do little nice things for each other. It is so sweet to see, and they have gained new titles “The Queen of Nice” and “The King of Nice”. Whenever I refer to them with their new names, Scout grins ear to ear, and Navy bites in her cheeks to refrain from showing how much she enjoys the new name. (But there is always a mini smile with it, so she isn’t as sly as she thinks.)
Just yesterday, Navy wrapped up a bunch of little things (we had just purchased) in crepe paper, and put them in her pocket. While we were out shopping, she handed them out to people that she came in contact with. So while we were at the Fashion Island Christmas Tree, there was another girl playing around her. When her parents called her to leave, she said. “WAIT!” Then she reached in her pocket to get one of her treasures to give. When the girl opened it, it was a Silly Band, and she was so excited. But not nearly as excited as my cheek-biting girl. Scout did something similar the day before. He got a bunch of things out of a surprise ball Britni gave him. The next morning before school, he grabbed two of his treasures out and took them to school to give to one boy and one girl. The girl’s mother caught me and told me that Julliana was so thrilled with her Lego Scout gave her, that it made her day. It made mine too.
They seriously have turned over a new leaf. And I am SO happy about it. But I am aware that new leafs start to shrivel and die eventually, so I will just try to enjoy it as much as I can before it falls off that tree.
Navy’s school performance didn’t disappoint.
Santa Clause was thoroughly entertained.
And these last-minute spectators were amused.
We eventually snatched off the beard so we could see her belt the songs out.
And she was definitely the loudest.
Of course I loved that!
My favorite was “Oh Christmas Tree”.
After the singing, they brought us all gifts, and I got this amazing ornament.
From Nvay.
And the show was capped off by an amazing Christmas meal.
Love Miss Dianne.
Love my girl.
This boy is to die for.
I love to be with him every single second of the day.
But I do like nap time so I can get a few things done!
His latest is impressing us with his gum-chewing skills.
He will chew on it for hours.
It is really impressive.
Unless you consider that everything he puts in his mouth never makes it down the hatch — because he is like Uncle Seth — he likes to save some of his food in his cheeks for later. But when he began playing with his gum, I made a strict rule that put him in sync with all other one-year-olds of “no gum”.
Brit has really outdone herself this time.
Each of my kids got a “Surprise Ball” for Christmas, and they were total hits!
Navy got hers at school, and was the only “girl” snowman.
And Scout and Dash got theirs as special deliveries.
Loving the baby surprise ball.
It is amazing what she managed to get into these little bundles of joy.
In Scout’s ball alone, check out the loot!
Brit, my kids loved them so much, they actually exclaimed, “I want one of these every year!”
So you’re on!
We would like thee-leveled snowmen next year.
My little muscle man was front and center for his Christmas program.
Ms. Shih has always told me he is the best singer in the class.
But she never said anything about his stick clinking skills.
I’d give him an A for Effort, but maybe a B- for staying on the beat.
But the entertainment value was worth the low grade.
It was a good show, but I wanted him to be louder so I could single out his voice. But Mr. Heely, the music teacher insists that they “sing” and not “scream”. When they are this little, I love the scream-sing.
My favorite part of the performance was when they were singing, and Navy turned to me and said, “He isn’t singing loud enough” and then started helping them out. Her notes went longer than the entire Kindergarten clan, and she was quite possibly the loudest little kid of all.
I told Scout and Navy that we were going to go to the “Ultimate Jackpot” for family night.
We got in the car, and the kids, Nonnie and I headed up the freeway.
(Micah was out of town for this little adventure.)
When we first got to the Trinity Church across from South Coast Plaza, Scout announced that at most it was a mini jackpot because they didn’t have any colorful lights.
I kind of get that, but I told him that he was going to change his mind.
And once we turned the corner, he laid his eyes on hundreds of thousands of white lights, and was swaying.
We drove around the whole place, and I let my kids get out and walk (although they kind of ran) the course.
And when they stopped here:
I loved to see them calm down for a quick second and look at the baby Jesus.
We kept on going, while the kids cruised through it.
And then towards the end, Scout came next the car and said, “Mom, this is the best jackpot. Because this is what Christmas is for.”
I couldn’t agree more — although the place is a bit garish, it really is magical.
And really hits home as to why we even celebrate it in the first place.
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