Oh the Festivities

Oh the festivities, all the holiday festivities! We are enjoying it all...from visiting a winter wonderland, to holiday themed meals that I think Santa would even appreciate, to finally getting our tree. And well let's not forget about Ralphie, who is helping me remember that enjoying the holidays is about the little things. Thanks Ralphie!

We finally made it to the Ethel M Chocolate Factory and Cactus Garden this past week. I've been wanting to go for some time and have only heard great things about it. And it did not disappoint. 

If only the giant box was real, yum!

The kiddos briefly observed how the chocolates are made.

Then we grabbed some hot chocolate and strolled through the lights of the cactus garden. OK the lights were beautiful, but lets talk about the hot chocolate for a moment. It was delicious! They have a Mexican hot chocolate that I highly recommend. It's awesome!!!

Later that night the kiddos requested pancakes for dinner. Rudolph pancakes were a hit with the kids. A banana for the antlers, chocolate chips for eyes and a third of an apple made this little cute guy (and his friend).

But when I served Randy his plate of stacked pancakes and bacon, he made a sad comment about how he didn't get a reindeer... So with some rearranging of the stacks and bacon, the addition of chocolate eyes, we got (earless) reindeer pancakes for dinner. This was a total win in our house!

Over the weekend we got our tree! Yay!!! The kids were so excited, and after a week or so of Rory asking, he was so ready to pick out this year's tree. But a few minutes in the car and this little elf was out. She tired so hard to stay awake, but surrendered to a much needed nap.

So I got to lug her around as the boys checked out all of the tree options. I'm not a fan of carrying around a sleeping toddler.

Rory looked this tree over a couple of times, walked around to a few more, but came back to this one.

This year's winner! He loves that I call him our Official Tree-Picker-Outer! He's so proud of his job.

And the joy I felt when Rian finally woke up. I would have felt bad if she missed out on getting the tree.

And like in years past, Rory managed to find a perfect tree!

Today kicks off a week full of holiday fun at Rory's school. Today was wear your holiday hats and socks. Rory decided on his penguin socks. And Rian got into the action with her very own penguin socks...

and Rory traded his minion beanie for a Santa hat!!!

Ralphie continues to leave fun messages for the kiddos each morning.
12.7:

And well Rian could not hang while trying her hand at snowflake making...

...Rory decided that a Rudolph nose was completely necessary. I agree!...

...Randy turned to Youtube to hone his making skills. I decided to freehand mine.

12.8: Ralphie left a little treat for them.

The kiddos found 3 elf kisses in their boxes!

12.9:

You got it Ralphie!

12.10: Ralphie left the kids ornaments to hang on the tree.

12.11: Rory left Ralphie's ornament out by the chalkboard for him. The next morning Rory saw that Ralphie was missing and ran to the tree.

So I manage to catch a pic of Ralphie hanging his ornament...

...But Rory found him laying on the floor next to the tree. He yelled, "Oh no! Ralphie fell out of the tree!"

I told Rory to get him his blanket, and ever so carefully as to not touch Ralphie, Rory covered him so that he wouldn't be cold.

12.12: So to thank Rory for his kindness, Ralphie left candy canes for the kids.

I hope you enjoyed a look at how we are trying to soak up all the fun that comes with this time of year. It always feels like it goes by in a flash. Have a wonderful week!!!


xoxo
-aMie