Before we left for the holidays, we celebrated Christmas as much as we could here in Midland. The day after Thanksgiving we bought a tree. I think that's the earliest I have ever started the Christmas season, but it was awesome. So great to have the rest of Thanksgiving weekend together as a family to decorate and get in the holiday spirit.
I think this picture represents the overall feeling of excitement in our house:
Or this one:
"Look at me! I'm standing! Seriously, hurry up and look before I fall over again!"
Josh picked out a bunch of ornaments at Target and had so much fun deciding where each one should hang.
We went to the Santa House here in Midland. It's actually a school where they teach people how to be Santa all year round. (Yeah, that's my town. Jealous? I haven't decided when I should make Matt complete the program, but it's definitely happening.) The inside of this house is filled with toys from floor to ceiling, just like Santa's workshop should be.
Please excuse my cell-phone-quality pictures. We took this one in the sleigh while waiting in line for our turn to see Santa.
This Santa was unbelievable! He was extremely sweet with the kids, there was glitter in his beard (glitter!), and he even smelled good! Have you ever met a Santa who actually smelled good? Like, non-homeless? Josh still wasn't brave enough to sit on his lap, but the fact that he approached him at all was pretty cool. And they even had a candy and a puzzle for each kid on the way out, no charge. Magical!
Our friends invited us to the Dow Gardens Winter Walk that week. It's a trail through the gardens at night with little lanterns lighting the path, choral groups singing carols along the way, and lots of Christmas lights. At the end of one trail they had real reindeer for the kids to meet. I have never been so close to such enormous antlers! And I was so impressed that Josh put his hand out to feed them. Wasn't scared at all!
One night we drove out to Freeland (about twenty minutes away) to see an amazing Christmas light show. This guy orchestrates a new show every year. There's a 12-minute show that repeats earlier in the evening, and a 22-minute show later. You drive up to his house, turn on a certain radio station, and watch the lights dance to the music. It. Is. So. Awesome!
Josh had a little performance at the hospital with his preschool one night. He never ever ever sings at school or at church, but he comes home and sings to himself all day long. He is just too stubborn to do it on command. So here he is, at the performance, refusing to sing and get excited about Santa with the rest of the kids. I'd like to think it's because he's got a natural ability to resist peer pressure, but I'm pretty sure it's more about defiance.
Christmas time makes us all want to snuggle by the fire and slip into peaceful hypnosis staring at the lights on the tree. Even these two get all cuddly.
The night before we left to see grandparents in Arizona, Josh opened his (very few) presents from us. He's finally at the age where he understands holidays a little and makes every event exciting.
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