The Countdown Begins!

The kids are thrilled that Buddy the Elf is back! They LOVE looking for him every single morning. I remember last year someone was always in tears b/c they didn't find buddy 1st, so this year we told them whoever finds Buddy first and doesn't point him out to the other person so they can still find him gets to open up the Advent Calendar Prize. This new rule has been working well so far!

The kids dressed up very festively to visit Santa at the library.

We are trying to teach our kids that Christmas isn't about getting gifts, but it's about GIVING them and being THANKFUL.  We wanted to GIVE something for the librarians because we are GRATEFUL for them.  The kids wrote a note "We LOVE STORYTIME" and signed their names on it.  When Luca gave it to Ms. Kate he said Merry Christmas! I got this idea from Pinterest and it's very inexpensive to make - I just used an empty can of Tomato Soup and wrapped a rubber band around it. Then we put as much candy canes as we could all the way around the can in the rubber band.  Then we tied a pretty bow to hide the rubber band and to dress it up.  The kids made Monkey Munch and put it in a decorative bag and placed it in the can.  It's such a pretty gift that only cost approximately $3!  The librarians loved it.

Olivia modeling her super cute Christmas Outfit.

So sweet and I love my new lens!

I have to say that so far we have visited 3 Santas this year and ALL of them had real beards.  This one was a really good santa and he even had Mrs. Claus sitting in the chair next to him.  The kids told me they were excited to meet Mrs. Claus because they never met her before.

Telling Santa that he wants a scooter, spider man watch and an electric toothbrush.

Later that night I hosted a Moms Night In with my Moms group.  There were 21 Moms.  When I typically host, I normally make all the food, desserts, etc. but this time I made it a Holiday Traditions theme and everyone brought their favorite dish or drink.  There was a ton of food from sushi, to potstickers and Oreo Cheesecakes and a Winter Sangria and much, much more it was all so good!