Photo Friday: Dance Party with the Ribbon Rings

Revelry

Before hitting the road for four days of Christmas indulgence, we celebrated our own private family holiday a little early. Regardless of the calendar date, the girls had that Christmas feeling all day as we went sledding at our nearby park, wrapped the last few presents, and prepared some yummy food together.


The girls made each other gifts, ribbon rings to punch up dance party. Elliot wrapped the Princess ribbon for Maya's rings, and Maya wrapped the Tinkerbell ribbon for Elliot's rings. They crafted in secret (with me running the glue gun), and wrapped their gifts themselves. It was sweet to watch them exchange gifts with an equal measure of pride and impatience.



We ended the day sweetly too, tucking them into the car in their jammies, each armed with a sippy cup of cocoa. We drove around the neighborhood looking for the best Christmas lights display until they both fell asleep. They each have a special lights display they beg to visit. We can't get in the car without Maya begging to se the "blinking house," where some enthusiast has illuminated his entire yard and set it all to blink in time with Christmas carols. Elle then immediately shouts, "I have to see my Mickey Mouse." So we head a few blocks over to visit the towering blow-up Mickey, tucked amid several other giant, inflatable Christmas statues.


They are so easily pleased! We kicked off Christmas week with a wonderful little family celebration, and now we're off to beat the blizzard for the expanded


Happy Holidays!

The Holiday Frenzy

We're still baking. We're still assembling glittery crafts. We're still listening to the good, the bad, and the delightfully ridiculous on the all-Christmas-all-the-time radio station. Maya can now sing along with "Grandma got run over by a Reindeer" along with the usual kid classics!

Is it silly to spend weeks in this holiday mode? Most decidedly. Will I look back on these posts, laugh at my former self, and wonder if the nog had been extra spiked that (this) year? I probably will.

Then why?


The answer isn't too hard to guess. We've entered the golden years of Christmas here. Both girls are old enough to understand, enjoy, and participate in the festivities. Maya has helped wrap nearly every present (pardon the corners and excessive tape usage, consider them extra love). They have both helped bake and chocolate dip almost everything in the kitchen, especially their elbows.

They both believe in magic. And Santa. And kindness, though Maya has been taking the lead on the "how can we be kind and show our love to those around us" conversations.

And they both love the idea of presents, too, of course. Their lists are long, but they are easily impressed.



This is such a wonderful time to dote on them, to indulge in Christmas cookies, and tell stories about past Christmas's. My Great-Grandma Alice has come up so often in the past few weeks, Maya now incorporates her into some of her games (mostly bringing her baskets of goodies... I keep waiting for the wolf to show up).

My hope is that by thoroughly embracing the essential holiday feeling now, it will linger with us for the rest of the year, and in future Christmas's when we won't have so much time to revel in it.