Rosstopherandlowen: December 2014

Long post ahead!

We finally made it to the tree lighting ceremony at Downtown Overland Park. They had it this year before Thanksgiving, which I thought was a little weird, but we enjoyed a quick little stay watching Santa light the tree. Ethan went to see Santa, but Leah wasn't feeling it that night. Ethan asked him for the game of Life.

Our yearly Home Depot visit to pick out our tree. Maybe some year we will go to a tree farm and actually buy a tree there! For now Home Depot works great.

Ethan showing his love for our tree.

Leah getting some sewing lessons. She made a couple of simple ornaments.

She was pretty proud of herself. :)

Leah got a face-painting set from her Aunt and Uncle. She put it to good use on Jovee, and then in the bathtub she ended up looking like a little bearded gnome. :)

This is our first year with the Elf on the Shelf. I realized I was not doing it because everyone else was doing. And that's a silly reason. Our Elf mostly moved from spot to spot, but a couple of the nights he was a little more creative. :) The kids named him knuckles. And if you look close you can tell that he spelled his name with the blocks in his tower!

Jovee did not like Santa! Poor Santa. He looked like he didn't mind too much though.

Building a snowman across the street at the High School.

The kids and I went to Deanna Rose to see their light show. The kids really loved it. It's pretty impressive the amount of lights used for it. And it's great that it's free.

This is the best picture I got.

The kids and I also went to Union Station to see the trains. It was more decorated this year than I remember from years past. Plus they had even more trains set up. It was really fun and festive. Jovee was content to sit in the stroller most of the time too, which was really helpful.

Leah accessorized her Christmas outfit with a garland from Target and washi tape.

The girl's checking out the snow and waiting for guests to arrive at our Playgroup Christmas party.

The Elf being held hostage.

Knuckles getting back at the lego guys with the dinosaurs.

Christmas Eve we had a really simple dinner of cheese and crackers and summer sausage. And it seemed extra special because it was candlelit, and we used goblets. :) Next year we are going to try a greater variety of cheeses and crackers. We were sort of limited this year.

Christmas Eve coziness.

Christmas morning.. waiting to go in to the family room.. In new Christmas PJs. Leah woke up at 1:30 am thinking that it was Christmas morning and started waking everyone up. Luckily Ross caught her early and she went back to sleep okay.

Christmas Day we went to Ross' parents house in Lincoln. We got to talk to my brother Will on his mission. Yay! And then we opened presents. The kids all got Grandpa a Quadcopter for Christmas. And they definitely had more fun with it than he did. :)