The Hairson Family: It's the Holiday Season!

"May the calendar keep bringing
Happy Holidays to you!"

Bye Bye Autumn!

Hello Christmas!

On the First Week of Christmas...

The day after Thanksgiving kicked off our Christmas holiday season. We got the tree and decorations out and set it all up. Saturday, Frederic hung up the lights outside while I drove Aria around aimlessly trying to get her to nap.

There have been endless attempts to get the perfect Christmas Card photo op with the kids. And they were all pretty much epic fails.

On the Second Week of Christmas...

Even though we planned to go to NY the first weekend in December and stay with Matt and Jackie, we didn't. The day we were going to leave, Frederic came home from work not feeling well at all. I had taken Aria to the doctor the day before because she's had 2 colds in a month and now has this yucky cough that won't go away. She's fine, just needs to ride it out. And I started to relapse on my cold. So we decided we needed to stay home, stay inside, and try to relax as much as possible. We shouldn't be adding to our stress, time outside in the cold and wind, and no sleep.

So we did just that.
We set up a little tent with chairs and a blanket, pulled out the kid's sleeping bags and pillows, and had them "camp out" while watching Ice Age movies.

We also made butter cookies with the kids. It's been a few years since we've made cookies ourselves and let Luc decorate.

It was nice enough outside that we could bring the cookie sheets on the deck to let the kids decorate them there. We didn't have to worry about a mess, or a hot stove burning them.

They are yummy cookies!

Sunday they were getting a little crazy and needed to burn off some energy. So after we made cookies, we took a walk around the neighborhood, twice.

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Monday evening everyone was feeling better, so we took the kids to John Hopkins/Howard County General Hospital's Symphony of Lights. Monday night was the walk through for kids. Aria was tired and conked out half-way through, but Luc loved it all and took pictures with his tablet nonstop.

On the Third Week of Christmas...

My parents hosted their annual Christmas party. Unfortunately, a bunch of my relatives couldn't make it. The party was a little smaller, but those who were there were awesome company. It was nice to spend more one-on-one time with them then bounce from person to person all night.

Matt and Jackie got to our house Friday night. We woke up Saturday to our first snowfall of the season. Thank God it didn't ever stick to the roads so our plans weren't destroyed.

Dave and I mixed a poinsettia punch, which was gone in no time! So we improvised a second batch to carry us through the rest of the night.

And so we partied...

When it got dark, we kept our tradition of bringing the kids outside to walk around the courts to see the Christmas lights. Not many people had them up this year- bummer! As Uncle Bill was leaving, he rolled down his window and threw three snowballs at Luc. So then that started a snowball fight between everyone!

Until Aria's feet slipped out from under her and she hit her hatted head on the sidewalk.

The next day after all the NY relatives left to go home (😢), we and my parents went to another train show in Severna Park. Within minutes the kids were given two free Hotwheel cars, each. Then Aria charmed this older man and got a crisp, free $2 bill. THEN they called my dad's name as the winner of the door prize! And the door prize was... a Lionel G gauge train and track, plus additional track pieces. For a total retail value of over $200!! Luc couldn't wait to get it home and set it up. He and Aria played nicely together the whole rest of the night.

We should bring these kids to more places like this- we make a profit!

On the Fourth Week of Christmas...

Luc had his Christmas program at school on the 15th. It was hard to see him but I did catch him singing. His class got to record a skit for the program, and Luc had a little part.

The next day...

We headed over to Homestead Gardens in Davidsonville to check out their trees and train set-ups. We met up with Grandma and Grandpa, then headed back to their house to set up their Christmas tree. Uncle Dave came over too!

Luc putting up a picture ornament of Cali. He wished this Christmas that she would come back. :'-(

...and then we all got sick.

On Christmas Eve...

We all were starting to feel better a few days before Christmas, thank God.

We spent Christmas Eve with Frederic's parents. Before dinner we took a walk around the neighborhood to see the Christmas lights. It was pretty cold, so it ended up being a quick walk. We ate dinner pretty late, so the kids were up and super tired.

Aria was tired and became the Grinch.

On Christmas Day...

Aria was up super early (5am) Christmas morning but fell back asleep on me on the couch. I wish I could've slept more, but I heard Luc get up and tip toeing around upstairs, then sneak halfway down the stairs to see the tree. He saw that Santa had come (he was doubting if he would the night before because we weren't home the whole night), and whispered, "Thank you. Thank you."

Luc noticed that Santa ate all the cookies and milk and the carrot was gone too. Santa left them a note again this year saying thank for your the food and for being good. He also reminded them to be good this coming year as well.