Christmas 2013

We headed down to New Braunfels for Christmas this year.  First order of business on Christmas Eve: scattering reindeer food.

Might as well get a bit of golf in while you're at it, Max.

Dressed and ready to party at Aunt Erin and Uncle Paul's Christmas Eve party.

A final Christmas ornament inspection before heading out ...

... and some quick family photos too.  Gotta love the crazy Texas weather that allows for a sleeveless dress in December just a few weeks after an ice storm.

And what's Christmas Eve without a super-aggressive hug from Scarlett?

Pretty girl.

A Scarlett kiss for her Daddy ...

... that he promptly "wiped off."  This is a thing that Scarlett and Chris do.  She wipes unwanted kisses off in highly dramatic fashion, and Chris in turn figured out that the only way to get her to kiss you is to act like you don't want her to do it, so he wipes them off, too, just to get more kisses.  On the other hand, Max (a/k/a the Kissing Bandit) offers unprompted kisses left and right.

A few attempts at the elusive group family photo.  I have a feeling this is a preview of a look we'll be seeing a lot of from Scarlett someday.

A smile from Scarlett, but an escape attempt by Max.

As good as we're going to get (if you can get past the slightly weird look on Chris's face).

Singing Christmas carols at Paul and Erin's.

Christmas morning and time for PRESENTS!

Scarlett spots Elsa -- a/k/a the "Frozen" doll -- in her stocking.  The letter to Santa worked!

Max's firetruck.  Santa was listening!

Uncle Greg demonstrates the amazing flying fairy that Scarlett got from Grandma and Paw.  I'm not going to name any names, but let's just say that it was a surprisingly (and awkwardly) big hit with two grown men in their mid to late 30s whose names rhyme with Fhris and Freg.

Scarlett specifically asked for a yellow hat, scarf, and gloves that she could wear outside when it's really cold.  Wish granted.

Chilling with Grandma and playing with the new iPad mini.

Laughing with silly Paw.

Max gives Paw an iPad tip.

Daddy makes a good resting spot for Max.

Scarlett's Christmas Performance and School Party

Scarlett took to the stage this holiday season for this the first time!  The two Pre-K 3 classes at her school joined forces and sang two songs at their Christmas program -- Jingle Bells and Silent Night.  (Jingle Bells seemed like a good fit for the 3-4 year old crowd:  easy lyrics, a chance to yell "hey!", an opportunity to laugh loudly ("ha, ha, ha!"), and the ability to zealously jingle some bells.  Makes sense.  Even Max picked up all the lyrics after hearing Scarlett practice the song over and over and over, and then he proceeded to sing it over and over and over.  Silent Night, however, seemed to be a pretty ambitious selection, but they managed to pull it off.  Sort of.)

Ready for the performance!  Scarlett looking pretty in her Christmas finest.

Blurry shot, but Max's tongue cracked me up.  (The plaid-on-plaid situation was not intentional.  Somebody call the Christmas fashion police.)

Max, what's with all the silly faces?

Waiting for the performance, and -- you guessed it -- Max is making another silly face.  This is actually a classic Max move of late.  He sort of purses his lips and blows (kind of like when you stick your tongue out and make a "plbbbtttt" noise, but without the tongue sticking out if that makes sense).  The following exchange typically happens at least 20 times a day:

Max:  "Mommy?"
Me:  "Yes, Max?"
Max:  "Plbbbbbttttttt."
[and repeat until he moves onto something else more interesting]

The performers!  Our tall girl was in the back row, being very serious while waiting for the piano music to start.

Scarlett does not like being the center of attention or performing on demand, so we weren't sure how she was going to do.  But she did GREAT!  She sang and rang her little heart out.

Santa came to visit with the kids after the performance.  Scarlett held it together and even managed a little smile.  Max, on the other hand, was not pleased.  They did both tell Santa what they wanted for Christmas (a "Frozen" doll for Scarlett and a firetruck for Max, although Max's request was so half-hearted and under his breath that Big Sister had to translate for him).

And here's Scarlett's request in writing, complete with her signature.

The next day was Scarlett's class Christmas party, complete with gingerbread house-making ...

... a reading by yours truly (of "Olive, the Other Reindeer" about a dog named Olive who thought she was a reindeer) ...

... and a book exchange.

Fun times!

Cookies & Castles 2013

Cookies & Castles is a Tri Delta alumnae event benefiting the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital where you make a gingerbread house and visit with Santa.  Amy and the Kovacs kids joined us like last year, and this year Dana and the Jones girls plus Boyd came, too -- the more the merrier!

Boyd, Scarlett, and Campbell getting started.

Stella tries out some of the candy (for quality control).

Henry comes up with a plan.

Campbell spreads some serious icing for a serious roof-tiling project.

Sweet Harper.

The middle of the room was full of tables loaded with jars and jars of every kind of candy you can imagine.  So much candy, so little time.

Scarlett tried her "hand" at spreading the icing without a knife ...

... and then promptly freaked out because her hands got dirty.

Henry demonstrates one way to take care of icing on your hands.

And Boyd demonstrates what to do with any excess candy.  (Note that the whitish-yellow gumdrop has a big bite taken out of it.)

Dana, Campbell, and the impressive roof-tiling job.

The Kovacs.  (To answer a few questions:  No, the house on the left does not have horns.  They're slanty chimneys.  And yes, Stella has a purple gummy bear hanging out of the side of her mouth (more quality control).)

Just like last year, our visit to the Cookies & Castles Santa was a bust.  Except for me, apparently.  I inexplicably look thrilled.  Santa, however, looks like he feels the same way as Scarlett, but contractually isn't permitted to cover his face with his hands during the photographs.

Group shot.  Smiles all around, so I don't look quite so goofy.  Santa and Scarlett, however, remain steadfast in their disdain for the whole thing.

Next year, I think I will brave it and bring Max, too.  Candy as far as the eyes can see + unfettered access to said candy + a toddler with an insatiable appetite for sweets = a gingerbread-themed disaster in the making.  The failed Santa photos will probably pale in comparison to what awaits us next year.  Brace yourselves, Tri Delta alumnae.