Let It Snow!

Hayden, Payson and Madison had their first experience with snow last week. They got to watch it come down outside of their window upon awakening on Wednesday morning. It didn't stick to the ground where we live but the snowflakes were big and beautiful.

Then this weekend our neighborhood had a Christmas festival and brought in actual snow! The kids LOVED it and could have played in it forever if it wasn't a windy 40 degrees outside. Look at all of those grins!

Madison inspecting a piece of snow close up. It got stuck to her hand but she screamed when I tried to help her brush it off because she wanted it stuck to her glove!

I love warm climates, but would love to have snow greet us a few times a year so we could have more moments like this.

The kids were in awe of Santa's reindeer and kept asking to go in to pet him.

My multiples group had a children's Christmas party and the kids got their first picture with Santa. There was no way they were going to let us hand them off so we joined them for the photo. When Payson turned hysterical in Hobby Lobby after a surprise encounter with some porcelain Santa figures a few weeks ago, I knew a Santa photo wasn't going to happen without us. I was actually impressed with how calm they were after their freak-out with the super-sized Elmo this fall. At first Madison was turned around staring at Santa just trying to figure him out!

We walked into the party using our walking rope and the kids held on for the entire 30+ yard walk. We even had a few falls and they still didn't let go. Practice makes perfect!

At the party, Payson was mesmerized by the tree and the extra-large ornaments. Christmastime is so magical when you are a child!

Hayden loves accessories - hats, shoes, bracelets, you name it. It's so fun to have her prancing around the house in various gear. Here she is hamming it up with her reindeer ears.

We still aren't really doing TV with the kids yet, but I couldn't resist sharing the 1964 Christmas classic, Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer, with them. I love this picture of them all leaned over the side of the couch watching Rudolph and Hermey bond over their shared misfit identities.

Payson snoozed a little longer than normal the other morning and after ushering the girls out of the room, I went back in to get a picture of him sleeping. He's got this big 'ol crib and he was sleeping against the side with his feet hanging out of the slats. And by the way, Payson completely climbed out of his crib about a week after I wrote about how he was getting close to doing it. But it scared him to be standing on the ground alone in a dark room so he hasn't done it since.

Tonight, after changing the kids into their warm Christmas jammies, I took them for a half-hour trip around the neighborhood to view Christmas lights. During the ride they kept asking for more as they have done when we have randomly driven by lights or looked at them through our windows this last week. They particularly loved all of the yard decorations, and the Santas and snow globes were their favorites. While we were out we were greeted by a very loud firetruck driving around the neighborhood carrying Santa who was handing out candy.

We finally put up and decorated our tree this weekend. This was the closest the kids had been to the tree all day without pulling on ornaments or branches.

Anyone else doing The Elf on the Shelf? Today I hung our elf, Alvy, from the light/fan and they loved his unique location. Hayden found it without any prompting and they talked about him all day.

This week I had three Christmas parties to attend. It was nice to get out, but we were exhausted all weekend due to the late nights. Still worth it! Here's a picture of me and twin moms, Alison and Melanie, at my multiples group holiday party. (Yes, I recently chopped and donated my hair - 9+ inches of it!)