By mid-December we were in full holiday mode. The girls were wrapping up school before the break, which meant special programs. Olivia had her winter choir concert and she even had a small solo in one of her songs. Cece did not have any programs but we did enjoy a fun cookie exchange at her school.
One thing we always try to make time for around Christmas is checking out some of the impressive light displays. We look online to find the best ones in town. We even have a few favorites that we return to see each year. It's so fun!
And just like that Christmas Eve was here! Our tradition is to get dressed up and attend the childrens service at our church. Always love seeing my girls in their pretty dresses! After church we always go back to my Mom's for food and stockings! The girls love having something to open on Christmas Eve. Waiting until Christmas morning is just too tough!
Watching the excitement on their faces as they open all of their little goodies is so fun! Even better, I enjoy watching them get along and enjoy spending time together. They may bicker and get on each other's nerves often, but deep down they love each other so much!
The girls may be getting older but they still get super excited come Christmas morning! At 13, I am sad but not surprised that Olivia's belief in Santa no longer exists. It does however exist for the sake of her sister, who still believes. I have a feeling that will not be lasting much longer either. As you can imagine I am soaking up every last second of my youngest still having a belief in something so special. Those smiles on Christmas morning are something that I never want to go away!
After opening Santa's gifts, which included Descendants dolls for Cece and a new suitcase for Olivia, we commenced the family present opening. It was challenging picking out gifts for the girls this year. They really don't need much, and the things they want tend to be pretty pricey these days. So after a few fun gifts we surprised the girls with something big. A new phone for Olivia (which she agreed to help pay for) and Olivia's old phone for Cece (which she still only uses like an ipod). As you can imagine we had two pretty happy girls!
Next it was off to Nana's to continue the Christmas celebration. Nana sure loves to spoil her girls on Christmas! We all take turns opening presents, but it seems the girls spend much more time opening gifts than anyone else! It's a special day that happens one time a year, so I think a little spoiling is quite acceptable.
With the passing of Todd's Mom this year our Christmas night was a little different. We would usually spend the evening with her and the rest of the family. This year we had to create our own Christmas night tradition. We thought we would go out for Chinese food, just the four of us. It proved to be much more difficult than I expected, but we did manage to find ourselves a Chinese buffet that had room for us. Next year we will plan ahead. We wrapped up our busy day back at the house opening our stockings. It was a long, but very special day full of family time.
It's always sad to see Christmas come to an end. Even more sad is knowing we still have many months of cold, dreary weather ahead of us. The girls were still on Christmas break from school, and spending time with friends was top priority! Cece was thrilled when she was invited to a get together with some of her besties at Skyzone...one of her favorite places!
Come January the girls were back in school and it was business as usual. We had little to no snow so far this winter, but finally during one weekend enough fell for the girls to run out and make a small snowman. I think the snow melted about as quickly as it fell, but at least they got to play in it.
Every year Olivia and her dance studio perform at the basketball game of our local college, Purdue-Fort Wayne. The girls may not have had their dance completed, but they pulled it together enough for the performance, and it actually looked pretty great! It's always fun to perform at these games, especially when the mascot comes to say "hi"!
Late last year, my nephew Jake had a little baby girl. Every since we laid eyes on her sweet little face we have been begging to watch her. One weekend they were in need of a sitter for a few hours and we quickly offered to help. Sweet little Ayla reminds me so much of what my girls looked like when they were babies. I think having her spend the evening with us gave the girls an idea of how challenging babies can be. I quickly reminded them that I went through this and much more when they were that age. Not sure how they would handle another little baby in the house full time. Good thing they will not have to worry about that!
The winter days can sometime be long and boring...stuck inside with limited options, and searching for things to do that do not involve being on electronics! Well, Cece came up with brillant idea...head to the mall to use the Build-A-Bear gift card she got for Christmas! It was burning a hole in her pocket and she couldn't wait to add to her ever growing stuffed animal collection!
Cece also kept busy with a dance camp followed by a performance at a basketball game at our high school alma mater. She learned the dance in one day and remembered it well enough to perform it weeks later. My girl loves performing and it shows!
Winter isn't over yet. We still had to push through February, knowing that Spring would be right around the corner. As I type this in mid-March who would have thought we would be where we are with everything happening in the world. I'll dive into that next time.
