Christmas 2016

Christmas Eve we waited around the house in the morning, took a little bike ride/walk and then waited some more for the late afternoon for Frederic's parents to come over for dinner.
With prepping dinner the day before, I was not running around Christmas Eve, which actually felt pretty good.

Aria helping me cook. "I cookin!"

Luc played his new Guess Who? game with Bonne Maman until bedtime.

Aria loved her dress up Maddie doll. So much so, that when we went downstairs to give Frederic's parents their gift (a snowblower too heavy to bring upstairs), we left Aria upstairs to keep playing. Then she came downstairs to us and her face and hands were covered in chocolate. Little booger didn't even try to unwrap the Dove chocolate, just bit through the foil wrapping and started sucking the chocolate out. This girl cannot be left alone with chocolate.

Before Luc went to bed, he and I took out a carrot, poured some milk, and Luc counted 5 cookies ("because I'm 5 years old!") for Santa. Luc then decided the other reindeer should have some carrots too, not just Rudolph, so he split it in 3 pieces.
Before Frederic's parents went home, we gave them the 5 cookies for Santa because Luc had counted out how many were leftover in the container. And we were so stuffed from dinner and dessert, we didn't have any room for cookies. I wrote out a little note from Santa to the kids next to the empty cup, and plate filled with cookie crumbs. Luc was beyond excited when he saw this Christmas morning. I wish I knew he was going to react like that and record it. His smile was huge when he saw the note from Santa!

Christmas morning was chaos of Luc pushing through to open every gift he had, and helping Aria open hers. When the kids were done, Frederic and I opened our own gifts.

After we cleaned up, got dressed, and got our heads together, we headed to my parent's for Christmas day.
Aria went down for a nap and while she was sleeping we opened all of our gifts.

Aria opened hers when she woke up.

I'm so sorry this picture is blurry; it's too funny how well she does the singing face. I took an awesome video of her singing along in the mic.

Christmas was crazy and a little stressful. And me being sick didn't make it completely enjoyable either. There's part of me that is insanely happy it's all over with and part of me that's sad that it passed so quickly. We decorate and prepare for so long in advanced and it's over in a flash.

Frederic was so excited to get a cigar box and a bunch of cigars I hide inside:

One of my favorite gifts this year:

And re-gifting my old 1980's Fisher Price tea set and food, and American Girl doll bunk beds to Aria was fun:

Merry Christmas from the Hairsons!