under the magnolia tree

What fun it is to celebrate the holiday season through the eyes of a child!   We had St. Nick visit us.  

He left gold coins in our shoes, new nutcrackers, and books.  

 It wouldn't be Christmas if you didn't do this...

 We cut our wonderfully sparse Charlie Brown christmas tree on the island.  Can you see the trunk?  George cut it with pruning sheers.  It's utterly imperfect making it perfect for us!

 Here are these two before we go ice skating.

 Guess which two stayed inside Starbucks by the fire while we skated?

 Magnolia's first time skating!  I told her we'd probably fall but I should have known...we didn't!  How can she be such a natural at so many things?  She amazes me.

 Magnolia and George look very carefully for the correct date on their advent calendars.  They love this but what they have loved more this holiday season is our Elf on the Shelf; Candycane.  He has gotten into more mischief this year.  One day he was taking a bath.  Another day he got caught outside and was pressed up against the glass door.  The morning after that he made hot chocolate for himself and left a trail of marshmallows across the kitchen to a setting for two to have hot chocolate with him!  Magnolia and George wake every morning with excitement wondering what he's up to next.

 I feel like I waited all my life to go to my child's Christmas concert and this year I finally got to!  Magnolia's school had a wonderful Festival of Lights.  She practiced for a month and not once did she let me hear one of her songs, she kept it a big surprise like they asked her to!  She stood in the front row and sang her heart out.  She didn't skip a beat.  What a delight to watch her perform!  

 She was so cute waving to me from the stand and giving me and Nana and Papa the thumbs up sign!

 It's funny how you'll fall in love with the same things your child loves.  Magnolia's passion for deer, reindeer, and horses wore off on me.  If you look closely at my car, you'll see what I mean.  This is how we've been rolling this holiday season.

And last but not least, we are one day away from having our annual Gingerbread House Decorating Party.  This year I didn't get one "no" so we are having a full house with 20(!) kids.  It will be wild and crazy and hopefully worth all of the hard work it took to get this organized!  

After that it will be smooth sailing through the holidays.  Just lots of good cooking and hanging out with family.

Merry Christmas to you!!!