Christmas Day

Santa, as well as our family and friends were very good to us this year. Aiden woke up around 7:30 on Christmas morning. He claimed that he had heard Santa and the reindeer making noise during the night. We came upstairs and found that Santa had enjoyed the cookies and milk we left out for him. He left a mess of crumbs which bothered Aiden. He took the celery and carrots and Milo with him, but left a note, many stocking stuffers, books and the movies Turbo and Planes that Aiden had been hoping for, as well as a toy and kitty litter for Mitsu.

 

This is what Santa's note said:

 

Aiden,

 

You've been a good boy all year and I hope you enjoy your gifts. Keep eating your vegetables and minding your parents. Milo is going to miss you but I need him at the North Pole. Thanks for ringing your bell to help me find my way. The cookies and chocolate were delicious. The reindeer didn't want to leave your house because of all the goodies. You are a good boy and have a big heart. Keep it up.

 

Love,

 

Santa Claus

 

Here are a few pics of the gifts Aiden received for Christmas. I love the expressions on his face

 



 

This last picture shows the gift I received from Aaron, a new sewing table. He insisted on spending the morning putting it together for me. It's so awesome because it has a bunch of additional storage and so I now have a cleaner workspace and more room in my fabric cabinet. Aaron picked out some car parts for his Christmas gift.

 

For Christmas lunch/dinner, we enjoyed some delicious food: a brisket that was cooked in a cranberry, garlic, onion, beef stock mixture that cooked down and served as a delicious gravy for the Grandma Lambert mashed potatoes I made. We also had a spinach salad with an olive oil vinaigrette, feta cheese and dried cranberries; rolls; deviled eggs; wine; "Waldo" salad, apple pie with ice cream; and various cookies and treats.

 

It was a great day, just the three of us. We thank you all for helping to make our Christmas merry and bright. 

Christmas Preparations

Here are a few things that are becoming Christmas traditions in our house: buying Hallmark ornaments, making homemade sugar cookies, preparing special food and celery and carrots for the reindeer, attending church on Christmas Eve, dancing to and singing Christmas carols, Christmas crafting, receiving letters from Santa before Christmas and on Christmas morning.

 

We loved the letter that Santa sent Aiden this year. This is what it said:

 

Dear Aiden,

 

Did you know that all my elves have been talking about you? They are all very impressed that you have been using the potty, know your ABC's, can identify your colors and shapes, and you did so well with the summer reading program this year! Mrs. Claus and I are proud of you too!

 

The elves and I have been busy building toys and getting my sleigh ready for the big trip. Mrs. Claus is hard at work making me a new outfit. It seems that I've outgrown my suit from last year! The reindeer are training each day, so they'll be ready for the big Christmas Eve journey!

 

So, you can see we are keeping busy, but we're looking forward to visiting Box Elder and stopping at your house. I understand that you have asked for the Turbo movie and the Planes movie from Santa this year. The elves and I are searching the Toy Workshop to see if we might be able to find them for you.

 

Don't forget to hang your stocking with care!

 

Signed,

 

Santa Claus

Holiday Express

We decided to go on a Holiday Express train ride a few weeks ago. Since last year, Aiden has been a big fan of the book The Polar Express. As I mentioned, he's been so excited about Santa this year, we thought it would be the perfect time to take him on this train ride. Plus, sometimes I start thinking about where we will be a year from now. Who knows if we will still be stationed on the prairies of South Dakota. Chances are we will, but if we aren't, I doubt our new duty station will have a Holiday Express train ride.

Anyway, we boarded the train on a chilly December afternoon. Aiden insisted on making sure that Charlie, his little gator, was perfectly positioned so that he too could see the sights. Mrs. Claus handed out hot chocolate and sugar cookies. As it got darker, the train raced toward the North Pole. The North Pole was illuminated in Christmas lights and we caught a glimpse of Santa Claus. A little while later, Santa was in our train car. When he approached Aiden, Aiden stated, "My name is Aiden. I'm three." Santa responded, "Yes, and you were two last year!" Santa handed Aiden a silver bell and was instructed to ring the bell on Christmas Eve so that Santa could find his way to our house. The train started up again and we began to make our way back to Hill City. All the kids were ringing their bells merrily. Mrs. Claus came around again and handed out candy canes. The train began to slow down suddenly and we came to a stop. Apparently, one of Santa's reindeer were standing on the track. (We later learned that the brakes also were a little hot.) After that brief stop, we arrived back at the train depot.

Since the train ride, Aiden has been ringing his bell and on Christmas Eve, we took it outside and rang it while sprinkling the reindeer food onto the prairie. Santa must have heard the bell because he arrived on Christmas Eve and delivered many nice gifts.

 

“At one time, most of my friends could hear the bell, but as years passed, it fell silent for all of them. Even Sarah found one Christmas that she could no longer hear its sweet sound.

Though I've grown old, the bell still rings for me, as it does for all who truly believe.”
― Chris Van Allsburg, The Polar Express

Snow Family

 

 

Aiden and I had fun this month Christmas crafting. Aiden supervised while I used a sock and some fabric scraps to create Snowbaby A. I was so impressed with how he turned out that I decided to make our whole family. While adding the finishing touches to Snow Momma, Aiden eagerly interrupted me to show me that he added "cheekies" to Snow Daddy. He had grabbed my green stamp pad, and well, you can see what happened. I was a little frustrated at first, but then decided that we will keep the green-cheeked Snow Daddy. It will be a funny memory to reflect upon as Aiden gets older and isn't so eager to help me craft.

Milo

Christmas time has been so much fun this year because Aiden understands so much more and has been extremely excited about Santa, the elves and reindeer. I think part of the excitement began when Milo, our elf, arrived at our house at the beginning of the month. Every night, Milo goes back to the North Pole and reports to Santa regarding Aiden's behavior. In the morning, we get to search the house to find where Milo has hidden for the day or what mischief he's gotten into. Here are a few of our favorite days with Milo: 

 

Mini snow ball fight



 

Fruity Pebbles message

Mini donuts



Rice Krispie surprise

Magnet countdown

Snow Globes

We decided to try making snow globes. Aiden and I got all the jars ready and glued everything together last week. Today we were excited to add what makes a snow globe a snow globe, water and glitter (and some glycerin to help with the way the glitter floats down). Like most three year olds, Aiden refused to listen to me when I told him to wait to open the glitter.

 



 The Martha Stewart topaz blue glitter exploded on his face

 

 And shirt

 

 That glitter is a you know what to clean from the face, chest, hands and shirt of a squirmy, upset kid. But once we got the mess cleaned up, we really enjoyed finishing up the project.

 



It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

This year we have changed up the way we are doing our Advent calendar. We are reading Bible verses each day, then Aiden gets to pick out one of the above activities.

We enjoyed making these footprint reindeer to send out with our Christmas cards

These homemade molasses cookies have been hitting the spot with some fresh coffee from our new Keurig
(thanks Grandma Nancy)

I've been wanting to make a snowman family for a few years now and finally started the project.
I think this little Aiden snowman is perfect. Can't wait to make two more.

Christmas Time is Here

It really doesn't seem possible that Christmas time is here already. It seems like we were just enjoying the summer and now we are 20 days away from Christmas. I really need to get going on some shopping, baking and sewing.

 

 A true sign that Christmas is approaching- a special guest arrived from the North Pole

 

 We were surprised to find Milo a few nights ago. A few of Aiden's favorite stuffed animals seemed to be circled around, listing to special instructions from our little elf. Milo brought an Advent calendar, a jar full of ideas for Christmas activities, some really great books and a note for Aiden 

 

 We were all pretty excited to unpack our new tree for the first time. We had been eyeing it last year at this time, but refused to spend $300 on a Christmas tree. Luckily I'm an avid Target shopper and during one of my many trips there, spotted the tree on clearance.

We bought it for 70 bucks! What a steal!

 

 One of Aiden's "woo hoo, wee hee" moments. It's so much fun to see how excited Aiden is about Christmas this year. He asks about Santa all the time. Saves his water for the reindeer. Sings Christmas carols. Frequently recites his Christmas wish list.

 

And Aiden was a big help in getting our tree decorated this year.

I think it looks really lovely.

(Yes, we are missing a star on top of the tree. Will be purchasing that this weekend.)

Thanksgiving

We had a really nice Thanksgiving again this year. We only had a few days to spend in Colorado, but we made the most of it and really enjoyed ourselves.

 

Annual Thanksgiving photo.

It wouldn't be a family photo without Aaron and my Dad fooling around. Thanks guys.

 

Aaron and I snuck to Target at about midnight on Black Friday, it wasn't busy at all. We did some shopping without Aiden around being nosey and didn't even have to wait in line.  

 

While Aaron and my Dad helped my Grandma buy a new car,

my Mom, Aiden and I hit up Old Navy and Barnes and Noble.

 

I planned to surprise Aaron with Nuggets tickets but he guessed the surprise..

 

 

 Watching this women spy on people in the crowd using the

telescopic lens on her camera was pretty funny

 

 

 

It was a really great game. The Nugs won which made the experience that much better!

 

The next day we got to see Grandma Nancy and some of Aaron's family. Aiden had a really good time playing with his little cousin Aly. I tried getting a picture of the two but when I went to take the picture, they both toppled over. And that was the end of that.

 

Jess invited us to an awesome ice cream place near her salon for a Christmas tree lighting and the chance to see reindeer, Santa and listen to Christmas carolers.  Aiden really liked the reindeer and tried talking to them.

 

Little A was excited to see Santa but then got a little scared and Aaron had to sit with him for a minute and helped him recite his Christmas wish list. Aiden then mustered up enough courage for a picture next to the jolly old elf.

 

The evening put us in a festive spirit! We ended the night with some delicious food at La Loma.

Throwback Thursday

Three years ago:

 

Halloween

I can't believe October has already come and gone. Fall went by way too fast. We didn't even have a chance to make our yearly hike through Roughlock Falls in Spearfish Canyon to look at the changing leaves. The blizzard we got at the beginning of the month caused most of the leaves to turn brown and many of the trees were destroyed because of all the heavy snow. At least I got to see a lot of pretty leaves when I was in Denver.

 

The only pumpkins Aiden and I could find this year were enormous!

 

 Aiden was excited about coloring and painting his pumpkin

 

 Hard at work

 

 I swear Aaron's jack-o-lanterns have the same face every year

 

Despite what this picture might imply, this Halloween wasn't the best for us this year. Aiden and I both caught a cold the day before Halloween and we all ended up staying home and watching It's a Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, drinking tea and eating the candy we were supposed to hand out to trick-or-treaters. Poor Aiden had been really excited about Halloween and was even practicing saying "trick-or-treat" but we decided it was best to not get out in the cold. 

 

 So, a few days after Halloween, I set up some trick-or-treating in the house for Aiden

 

 He liked finding candy and his various stuffed animals hiding throughout the house