Hungry Hungry Hippos!!

We got the game for Christmas and the girls LOVE IT!!

GO, GO, GO....

Only drawback.....very LOUD game.

Leaving cookies for Santa

After a bath and putting on matching nighties, the girls marched down stairs to prepare for Santa's arrival.

We set out a variety of cookies and milk for the Big GUY in Red. The girls have been watching lots of Holiday movies this season and had heard one of the Santa's say that green peppers were the reindeer's favorite. So we changed it up and sliced some green peppers for the herd.

We all headed upstairs to read some Christmas stories and the girls fell fast asleep....

Santa Claus with the Family

Mama, Auntie, Uncle and GG took the girls to Bellis Fair Mall to visit Santa. My pictures were better than the one we paid for....Santa looks the best in it!! :)
Here are those pictures I took....which one it the best?? Natale is Crying in ALL of them. Danielle wasn't happy in one of them and then shows some smiles....Izzy is just too CUTE to care and Avery is glowing and showing off her missing tooth.....CLASSIC Santa pictures...priceless!!!

Santa asked each of the bigger girls what they wanted for Christmas and handed them coloring books. Avery told Santa, Natale wanted a Jessie doll, but when Santa gave the girls their coloring Natale decided to let go of my leg and nodded to Santa she wanted a pillow pet. Then Natale tells me walking out the exit..."He's a NICE guy" Pretty dramatic 10 minutes for Natale though. We ALL waved bye, bye to Santa and headed over to the theater to see the movie "Tangled"

Decorating our Christmas Tree

.....And its UP

Once the tree is up and in its stand Mama takes over...

This year I changed it up a little. I've always had colored twinkle lights on my tree, but this year Joe asked for clear so I did for a change, but wrapped the trunk of the tree with color lights. I wanted it to pop. It looks OKAY!! :)

I also have a weird way of decorating the tree. Once the lights are wrapped around most of the branches and ready for ornaments I TURN OFF the lights. We hang ornaments on a plain, not light tree. Why you ask?? Well I think its easier to place ornaments. You can see where the missing spots are and where there is too much clutter. I think it goes pretty quick & easy following this process.

We laid the tree skirt after we water our pretty tree.

The girls started hanging ornaments.

Mama pulling ornaments out and sorting them by kid friendly vs NO TOUCH piles.

As you can see my little ladies were VERY big helpers and loved every minute of it. They would talk about there ornaments sorta tell a story about it. Really cute. Mama would find her special ones and share those stories too. The girls are so fascinated about past holidays and seeing all the ornaments, decorations, and pictures. We have a very precocious Kindergartner in the house this year and a little sister not far behind.

Natale being sweet putting on a princess bulb on the tree.

Avery placing a cute snowman bulb. She was so delicate and respectful of our special ornaments. I've shared with the girls that most of the special ones are theirs....so be gentle so we can have them for many more Christmases.
Also something new, I added tinsel this year. I had 3 packages of them and thought what the heck. It looks really pretty as LONG AS THE TREE is LITE. The tinsel makes the tree have extra sparkle and its a really pretty tree....lite up!! Everything is up and looking great. Mama even put some lights up outside to give some of the neighbors a run for their money. I'll try to get a good picture of the outside lights to show off.

All done........yipeeeee!!

Now I need to go wrap and/or buy some gifts for under the tree. Right now Patton is LOVING the coziness of the tree too. :) Merry Christmas

Hunting for the Christmas Tree....

At first our plan was a BIG adventure. We were heading to Verlot (Mt Loop Hwy) to get a $10 permit to hike into the mountains to find that allusive Prince family Christmas Tree.
But on the way out to Granite Falls we saw a lot selling...ANY TREE $20.....I said to Joe SOLD!! We headed up Green Mountain to find more snow and see the river from the first bridge. The road was bumpy as always, but the girls giggled and had FUN.
So we headed back to the farm on Hwy 92 and got our 20 bucks ready. We walked through a good majority of the farm and it came down to two trees. Just a few yards from each other. We picked the larger one so I could make a swag for the front door.

Joe is sawing the tree down and the girls are cold, but SUPER excited about getting the tree.

and its down...

Ready to go pay, and take our prize home to decorate and enjoy this Holiday Season!!

Now time to put lights on it and decorate it......