Christmas

We were super excited this year to help Aly learn about the birth of baby Jesus, enjoy the legend of Santa and share in the giving and receiving of gifts.

CELEBRATING JESUS:

One cute thing that I wanted to share from one of our discussions was this:

"Are you excited that tomorrow is baby Jesus' birthday?"

"Yah, but he can't talk yet."

"How old do you think baby Jesus is going to be?"

"Three, just like me!"

Obviously these are hard things for young ones to grasp, but I thought her responses were very practical to the things she is currently learning about (brother not being able to talk and turning three her upcoming birthday).

LEGEND OF SANTA:

Well, Aly was a little less sure about Santa this year. After trying to get a picture of her and Braden on his lap (which ended up being mine), we decided to type a letter and take it to him. (She even told me what to put on Braden's list.) So, we did that, she shared it with Mrs. Clause (who she loved) and then walked up and handed it to him. Maybe she'll be better next year!?

Here's a picture of part of our Christmas decor.

We painted a tray (Aly and I) for Santa's cookies. We made cookies and Aly put out 5 of them with milk for Santa. We decided that explained why he was so big! All the kids leaving him lots of good cookies!

Here's the kids Christmas morning. (Look to both sides of Aly to see some of the ornaments that she made at preschool.)

Santa's gone! He even ate all the cookies and drank all of the milk!

GIVING & RECEIVING GIFTS:

She enjoyed looking for and picking out things for others including pajamas for Grammy and a toy firetruck for Daddy. She also wasn't shy about expressing what she wanted on her list as we shopped. She enjoyed adding tape and "stickers" (labels) to the presents as we got them ready. Lastly, like everyone, smiled big as she unwrapped the gifts from others. We want to thank everyone for their thoughtfulness!