Family Fun: 25 Days of Christmas - Days 7 & 8 {Light Up Millbridge & Lawson's Cookies with Santa}

On Saturday we started our day with Fluff hot chocolates and Christmas shows all morning. We seriously stayed in jammies till like 2pm. I LOVED it!!



Then we went to dinner before heading to Light Up Millbridge event in Waxhaw.



Millbridge is a neighborhood next to the kids' elementary school. This year Waxhaw asked them to open the event up to the public and they obliged. So we went!! They have this cool bridge in the neighborhood that they cover in lights. It is beautiful to drive through.



Driving through the bridge and the lit ramada that led to Santa and a large lit Christmas tree in the center of the community.



Waiting in line to see Santa




They had a great Santa (except he doesn't look Jolly in this shot!!) and an awesome tree!



Below are photos of the lit Club house and the luminaries that line all the streets of the neighborhood.



We had a great time and appreciate their hospitality which also included Christmas carols, hot chocolate, coffee, cookies and candy canes. Thank you Millbridge! See you next year. On Sunday it was time for OUR neighborhood celebration here in Lawson!

It was great seeing friends there! We did crafts and had hot cocoa and cookies.



The Lawson Christmas tree. New families to Lawson were asked to hang an ornament on the tree with their family name and year we moved to the neighborhood. Here are the girls hanging our ornament.



Here is our key ornament. It says "First Christmas in our New Home 2013". I think I need to get another one for MY tree!



Photos with Santa (who arrived on a Waxhaw Fire Truck by the way!!)



What a fun day with neighbors and friends. The girls colored, made frames, had treats and cocoa!



We love living in Waxhaw and in such a Family friendly community. We are truly blessed!

Family Fun: 25 Days of Christmas - Days 5 & 6 {Rudolph New Year and Frosty Gets Married}

Not every Christmas activity we do is something elaborate. It couldn't be or I would never get any sleep! haha. There are many times when our Holiday activity is something low key. Thursday and Friday of this week were THOSE days! The kids had school I had a field trip to chaperone all day, a social committee meeting, and an entire morning of volunteering at school on Friday. This Momma was tired! Here are our activities for these days.

On Thursday night we huddled on the floor with our jammies, blankets and pillows and had hot chocolates while we watched a brand new Rudolph special. We had never seen this one before. Rudolph Happy New Year.



We love Rudolph!



They look SO much alike here



Rudolph with Santa and Rudolph with baby Happy.



Ryen and Me



My babies



Me and Ella



Getting sleepy



On Friday night we settled in our jammies again this time to watch Frosty Winter Wonderland! We love this one because Frosty gets MARRIED!! Or as my girls like to say "Frosty is getting happily ever after"



Frosty's wife Crystal!!



My dog is a sucker for a good romance story too!



Here they are getting married!!



We have a very busy weekend planned with two big Christmas events! Yay!

Family Fun: 25 Days of Christmas - Days 3 & 4 {Annual Ornament Shop & Videos from Santa}

When the kids were babies Jimmy and I got them Christmas trees for their bedrooms. A small three foot tree to sit on their bureaus. We bought their first ornaments when they turned 1. An E for Ella and an R for Ryen. Every year after that we have let them pick. They pick something every year that they identify with.

Here is what they have picked so far;
Ella: 2yrs- Elmo, 3yrs- Princess Crown, 4yrs- Ballerina, 5yrs- Hannah Montana Guitar, 6yrs- Justin Bieber. Ryen: 2yrs- Dora, 3yrs- Lollipop, 4yrs- Princess castle

Every year we go to Target although I think we are going to have to start going elsewhere. They served the purpose when the kids were younger, but not so much now. Anyway we managed to find some ornaments this year, but it was not as slam dunk as past years. Here they are with their choices:



Ryen got the Holiday Barbie ornament and Ella got Boo "The Cutest Dog in the World"





Looking forward to watching their collection grow over the years and reflecting on how much they have changed. I treasure these ornaments.

Tonight our Christmas activity had to be short and sweet cause we spent all day at Camp Thunderbird for a field trip and then I met some ladies to decorate the Millhouse in our neighborhood for Christmas and for an upcoming event this Sunday. So we did our annual North Pole Videos from Santa, where the girls get to see if they made Santa's nice list or not. They love them every year.

Here are highlights of Ella watching her video:





Here are highlights of Ryen watching her video:





And then we checked out our stockings. Hanging over a fireplace... for the first time EVER!



Make sure you are on Santa's Nice List too at Portable North Pole.