Oh Christmas Tree

We picked out our Christmas tree last week and over the course of 2 evenings decorated it.  Arabella was so excited to pick it out - it was freezing cold - so it didn't take too long for us to find one!  She at first wanted a really tall one, but that won't work in this house.  I wish it did since I love really tall and big trees.  But even so we found one that goes right to our ceiling - we even had to trim a bit off the top.

Jay got right to stringing the lights.  He is pretty good at it and it is good that he is so tall, he can reach the top no problem.  After that, we got out the ornaments.  Arabella was so excited - she loved to unwrap each one and loved the sparkly ones.  She would say "Oh, this one is so beautiful".  She even got to open a new ornament from Grampie - it was a special Barbie one and she loved it!  We had fun decorating the tree.  It looks so beautiful in the living room and I love how it makes the room feel so warm.  I just love everything about Christmas!

 

Photo-A-Day Challenge - Day 7 - Bright

Gingerbread Theme

This week has been all abuzz with the theme at preschool - Gingerbread!  Arabella has been so excited to go to school every day.  (And I must admit this has been one of my favorite themes so far.  I love Christmas, but this theme was just so magical and it is wonderful to see Christmas through her eyes.)  It all started Monday morning when the kids began to learn about gingerbread and then made cookies.  When they went to the oven to take the cookies out, they were gone!  All that was left were crumbs.  The excitement in their little voices was so adorable.  They couldn't figure out where they would have gone and all that was left was a clue for them to try and find them.  Arabella even had to call Grammie and Uncle Mike in the US just to make sure that they hadn't seen them - she thought the gingerbread men might have passports and cross the border.  She left the cutest message for Uncle Mike - where she recited part of the story "Run, run, run as fast as you can, you can't catch me, I'm Uncle Mike Gingerbread Man"!!

So every day this week, they have been on the mysterious gingerbread hunt, going all over the school and finding more and more clues.  Every day, Arabella would be more and more excited about what they found.  She just couldn't understand where they could be hiding.  It has become our topic of daily conversation and even when Jay gets home from work, she can't wait to tell him about it.  Yesterday, they made gingerbread traps to try and catch them.  You should have seen all the traps and gingerbread scented play-doh and candy all over the classroom to try and catch the pesky little guys and girls.  Last night, she was too excited to go to sleep and told me that the trap she and Keira made was fully of candy.  She hoped that the gingerbread men would go inside the house, eat all the candy and then get a belly ache so they wouldn't be able to run away!  After she told me that story, I tucked her in and she was wide awake...she proceeded to tell Teddy all about what had happened over the course of the week!  Even this morning, as we left for school, she told Jack, "If you see any gingerbread crumbs, you better tell me!"

We got to school early this morning and all of the kids were abuzz with excitement.  They couldn't wait to get inside!  They were trying to peek in the door to see if they could see any in the traps.  And once inside, the magic was adorable, you could see how their faces lit up when they found a cookie in  one of the traps.  They were so proud of catching them.  I loved seeing it!

 A couple of clues left behind by the gingerbread men.

 So excited!

Arabella & Keira with the gingerbread men they caught!

 Arabella and Keira's trap!

This is the gingerbread man that got hurt and had to go to the first aid station!

I am so lucky that I am able to see the magic as it unfolds.  This is such a special time of year full of wonder and surprise.  I am beginning to understand why my parents enjoyed Christmas so much when my brother and I were little - to see it through the eyes of a child is like nothing else.

Jack

Jack has been finding some great places to hide this year!  I am not even sure how he comes up with the (*wink* *wink*)!
Yesterday, we found him hiding in our tree.  We hadn't decorated it yet and Arabella was prompt to tell us we had to be very careful not to touch him when we put the lights and ornaments on or he would lose his magic and then he wouldn't be able to go and see Santa!

And then this morning, we had to look very hard.  Jay found him first (probably because he is so tall and Jack was almost at eye height for him).  He was inside my corner china cabinet hiding down in my crystal water pitcher! 

Photo-A-Day Challenge - Day 6 - Toys

Photo-A-Day Challenge - Day 5 - Today's Temp

Photo-A-Day Challenge - Day 4 - Joyous