Christmas - Part 1

Since we were going to be spending Christmas in Oklahoma with my family we wanted to have Christmas at our house a little early.

The Friday before Christmas was "Christmas Eve." We made sugar cookies and decorated them, went out for dinner, and drove around and looked at Christmas lights.

Before bed we set out cookies and milk for Santa. Grace made sure we bought some carrots on one of our grocery shopping trips so we could leave them out for Santa's reindeer.

 {Ready to see what Santa brought}

The next morning (Saturday = "Christmas") Grace woke up earlier than normal and told me "My tummy feels like Santa came." Her tummy has been telling her some funny stuff lately! She waited patiently for Olivia to wake up. While we were patiently waiting for Olivia to wake up I put some hot cocoa on the stove to cook. I think the noise I was making in the kitchen made Grace's wait a little shorter. 

The girls both ran down the hallway to the stairs. Grace never looked down to see what was waiting until she turned the corner. The entire upstairs hall has the wrought iron banister.

And then Olivia had to stop to look downstairs.

The first thing Grace did was look in her stocking and look what was right on top peeking out! A new Glimmer fairy! This was the thing she always said she wanted Santa to get for her. I think if that is all she got she would have been happy.

 Olivia got a Tinkerbell fairy!

 {Look, a Barbie!}

After going through their stockings they decided to check out the big stuff Santa brought.

 How cool is the little trampoline? 

And we had to see if Santa ate his cookies and drank his milk. 

After moving their bog stuff out of the living room we sorted presents and started opening them. Grace couldn't seem to open them fast enough. As soon as she opened one it was on the the next.

Olivia wanted to take her time. After she opened a present she would say "Please. Open." And then she would play with it for a while.

See? She wanted to play with the princesses before she opened the next present.

They both got a lot of fun stuff! Grace got a fairy from the new Tinkerbell movie. And Olivia got a set of little fairies.

Just look how excited Grace was about her Easy Bake oven. We made cupcakes that afternoon!

We spent part of the day running a few errands (Christmas returns/exchanges before Christmas!) and Grace even got to pet a real live reindeer at the mall.

That evening we watched the movie Elf. Now we think about Buddy every time we have waffles with syrup on top.

Christmas Crafts!

I like doing crafts with Grace and Olivia. And there are so many fun things to make around Christmas time!

They both love making things too.

We made salt dough ornaments and gave them to family members to hang on their trees.

First we made the salt dough. We mixed 1 cup salt, 2 cups flour, and 1 cup water together in a bowl. Then we rolled it out on a floured surface. Next was the fun part! We took our Christmas cookie cutters and cut out all sorts of shapes. There were Christmas trees, stockings, candy canes, gingerbread men, and even a reindeer. A straw works well for punching a hole in the top so you can put ribbon on them so they can hang on the tree. We put them all on a pan (it took several pans because we made a lot) and baked them in the oven (250* for about 25 min) until they were dry.

After they were cool Grace and Olivia got to paint them. I even got out the glitter for them to put on them after they painted (just sprinkle it on the wet paint). Grace made a LOT!

And Olivia took her time and made sure to put all the different colors on each of her ornaments.

After they dried we sprayed them with a clear spray paint to help keep the glitter from falling off. I am not sure how well that worked because by the time I was done tying ribbon on I was covered in glitter!

That wasn't all the crafts we did either! We made Christmas trees out of popsicle sticks. I cut green popsicle sticks to different lengths and then let the girls glue them to a brown popsicle stick. Then they glued on little sequins and other shiny little confetti pieces. Anything with glue is always fun for Grace!

And we can't forget about the reason for Christmas! We made a manger scene with baby Jesus. We glued two brown popsicle sticks (I painted them with brown paint since the package I bought was red, yellow, and green sticks) to construction paper. Then we glued little pieces of yellow construction paper for the hay, tan construction paper circle with the face Grace drew for the head, and purple construction paper cut out to be a blanket. And we glued a big yellow star (cut from construction paper) at the top.

One morning I ran a few errands and since Dustin was off he stayed home with the girls to finish our sugar cookies. We made icing and they got to decorate them! 

And after they were finished with the cookies they decided to make a craft. He told me they had gone to the office to color while he cleaned up the icing and cookie mess. Later I found out they had been making me a gigantic Christmas card!

This is the picture he sent me while I was gone. They had to have a bath!

Grace thought it would be fun to paint her sister with her makeup and - lip gloss, nail polish, and glitter paint. I don't think Olivia minded one bit. BUt even after a bath there was still evidence of glitter and lip gloss in her hair!

Christmas Lights!

Before Christmas we went one evening to a drive thru light display. 

Half way through, there was an area to park and you could go into the light village.

We walked through the lighted forest! Both the girls really enjoyed seeing all of the pretty lights.

There was also a short musical that we watched. We ended up being some of the last people in line for the show so we got to sit in the VIP seats. Grace's favorite part was when it "snowed" during their last song.

There were also a few carnival rides. The girls wanted to ride the carousel and it went FAST!

It was hard to get a picture of them going by because it went so fast that by the time I saw them and clicked the button they were already gone most of the time.

We picked a great evening to go. It wasn't too crowded and the weather was really nice.

Grace wanted to pose in front of all the light displays for a picture.

Olivia didn't want to stay still long enough.

It was a little farther than I thought. Our GPS also took us the way we did not want to go. It was fun but I doubt we will go back next year. They charge admission but I found a good deal on Groupon.

Grace's Birthday

On Grace's birthday we wanted to have a FUN day! So we went to the movies. After the movie the girls got to play in the play area at the mall before we headed home for lunch.

While Olivia took her nap, Grace helped make her cake. We had baked a heart shaped cake the night before but we had to make frosting and decorate it. She chose a chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting and it was pretty yummy!

Before dinner we let Grace open her presents. Since she had her party over a week before her actual birthday she only had a few presents to open but she didn't mind. 

 

 She is really into Fairies and Barbies so she got a couple of Barbies and a Tinkerbell scooter.

After her special dinner (she chose steak, smashed potatoes, green beans, and rolls) she got to blow out candles and we had cake and ice cream.

She told me that this was the prettiest cake ever! I am sure glad she thought so.

Grace's Birthday Party

We had Grace's birthday party at WOGA (World Olympic Gymnastics Academy), where both girls take gymnastics. 

Olivia's favorite event is the bars. She loves the uneven bars the most I think!

Grace is in the 4-5 year old class which is held in the main gym. Upstairs they have their kids gym for kids 3 and under which is where Olivia's class is held. We decided to use this room so the younger kids could participate in all of the fun. Grace was excited to do gymnastics in Olivia's classroom since it was a new layout! 

So many of Grace's friends came to help her celebrate! Brilyn came all the way from Oklahoma. Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Brandy were there too. And Grandma Phyllis and Grandpa Mike flew in from Missouri and spent a couple of days with us.

Olivia is so funny! If we mention gymnastics she starts talking about her flips and swinging on the bars.

The bars are one of Grace's favorite event too but she really loves it all.

After the kids all played it was time for cake! Grace picked out some really cute cupcake liners that were perfect for her Tinkerbell theme.

This was the easiest party we have ever done. I dropped off the paper products and decorations when we were there for their class a few days before the party. When we showed up everything was ready!

Grace REALLY wanted a Tinkerbell themed birthday party. Otherwise, they would have provided everything but the cake. I think we may have her party here next year too!

After eating cake there was still more time to play! 

After the party we came home and opened all of her presents.

She got a lot of stuff from her "wish list" and loved everything! 

On her actual birthday she told me she wanted to do gymnastics that day. Gymnastic days are one of her favorite days of the week!

Happy Birthday Grace!

HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY GRACE!!!!!!

 Four years ago...

And now...