Tues. Dec. 25, 2012 - Merry Christmas!!!

 On Saturday morning we had "Breakfast with the Grinch" at the Building for Kids

 The girls checking out the literary exhibits

 Balls!

 Listening intently to the reading of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" 

 The narrator, the Grinch and Cindy Lou Who told a great story

Our little rudolph

 Family pic with the Grinch and Cindy Lou Who

 There are no ornaments or tinsel on the front of our tree...wonder why?

 After the snowman debacle we employed our favorite engineer to construct our gingerbread house. Riley was impressed with his skills.

 Then Riley and I decorated it

 Adding the final icicles

 Pictures after Christmas Eve mass. Micaela looks good in this one...

 ...Riley looks good in this one...

 ...no one looks good in this one. Its impossible to get a good shot of these crazy kids!

 Putting out cookies for Santa

 And carrots for the reindeer (look at Seamus trolling under the plate)

 Proud of our completed house

 Ta-da!

 Scattering magic oats we made with the Grinch outside on our lawn to attract the reindeer (not sure about reindeer but they definitely attracted some rabbits based on the tracks we saw the next morning)

 Santa came!

 Climbing down the stairs (Riley is such a big sister she shows Micaela that everyone goes down "feet first")

 Joy at seeing what Santa brought

 A new sled!

 And Mathilda! The only gift Riley requested for months and months (this is Olivia's monkey from a book Riley read...there is no official "Mathilda" so finding an acceptable look-a-like was Mommy's Christmas challenge)

 Everyone takes a ride in the sleigh

 Our girls

 What's in the stocking?

 Seamus has a stocking too

 Santa knows how to make everyone happy

 What's in here?

 Seriously, Santa knows how to make everyone happy

Micaela took all the bows and tags off our gifts and Riley thoughtfully put them all in a bowl. This made for a very interesting and challenging gift distribution

 A new hat for all this cold weather

 So excited to see Strawberry Shortcake and friends! (1 second later: "Where is the berry house?")

 Riley's favorites, Lemon Meringue and Strawberry Shortcake

 They smell so good

 Love the matching PJ's

 Riley's gift to Micaela was a robot. She chose it herself and I tried to steer her in a different direction but she was adamant. Of course she was right; Micaela loved it

 Testing out the new sled

 Daddy took the girls on a ride

 Scenic (this is 5 minutes from our house)

 The girls LOVED it!

 Then Daddy and Riley went up the real hill (Mommy couldn't believe he was really going to take our little girl on this big hill)

 It was an icy climb but they made it to the top

 On the way down

 Whee!!!!

 Whoa!

 Micaela still loves to swing

 And play in the snow

 A toast to our Merry Christmas!

There are a lot of pictures in this post so I'm going to let them tell our Christmas story. All I have to add is that this was truly a magical Christmas. Riley's unquestioning belief in Santa Claus made it so wonderful and fun. Seeing the joy on her face when she saw the 2 things she really wanted (Mathilda the monkey and a sled) was amazing. We had such a special time together as a family: celebrating Christmas Eve mass, waking up together on Christmas morning, sledding and enjoying a good meal. I am definitely counting my Christmas blessings!

Merry Christmas to all our family and friends! We hope yours was a joyful as ours!