A Visit with Ol' Saint Nick, Sledding, and Carols!

As my last post stated we woke up to snow on Sunday, which was then followed by an ice storm Sunday night resulting in school being canceled on Monday. Then on Tuesday morning we woke up to discover there was no school again because another snow storm was coming in that morning. Thankfully Mae had school today because it was the day of her big Christmas concert for her preschool. Here are photos of how we have been spending the last few days. Don't be fooled though, we have been watching quite a few hours of TV around this house. 

So on Monday with nothing to do but get on each other's nerves, I decided we needed to get out of the house and we were going to go visit Santa. My hope was that there wasn't going to be a long line even though everyone was off school because most people would be deterred by the ice. I was correct and there was only one other person in line when we got there. It was a great visit - meaning neither kid cried or was scared - and Mae and Whit got a lot of time to talk to Santa. He asked the kids what they wanted and Whit responded with a "race car." And Mae responded with "the princess ultimate dream castle" and a "Sleeping Beauty doll" and the Frozen dolls." I was pleased that they weren't all greedy asking for a bunch of things. They chatted with Santa about whether the had been good and if they listened to their parents. They responded by saying "most of the time." I wish it could be "all the time" but thankfully they didn't lie. 

Meeting Santa. Prior to seeing him Mae exclaimed, "that she was a little scared of Santa." To which,  I told her, "You aren't scared of anything and anyways Santa has to be the nicest person on the ENTIRE planet because he brings toys to all the kids in the world." This turned her around to talking to him. 

Official photo with Santa. 

Mae has asked for a Sleeping Beauty doll this year since she has all of the Disney princesses but her. To further emphasize her point that she needed her, she brought all her princesses with her to tell Santa they would like Aurora to join them.

As mentioned the kids didn't have school again on Tuesday. If you asked me they could have totally gone to school. It was not bad all. We took advantage of it and headed out to play in it. The only problem being I don't have a complete set of snow clothes for both the kids. I only have one good pair of pants, one good pair of gloves, and one good pair of boots. I was worried how long they would last without proper attire. Oh we also didn't have a sled. However, when we showed up someone was leaving and we asked to borrow theirs and told them we would return it to their house. So the kids took some turns down the hill and then we played in the field. We were out for about an hour and half, which by that time Mae started complaining about being cold. In fairness she didn't have proper boots or gloves and since my feet were freezing I know hers were too. 

Whit loves putting on makeup. Here is getting ready to just hang out in the house. 

After applying he loves checking himself out. 

Today was Mae's preschool Christmas concert. Holy cow was it cute. She has been singing the songs off and on for the better part of the last month so it was great to hear all the kids sing [yell] them.  You can't tell from this photo but Mae is on the bottom in a white dress with black polka dots. 

My dad with Whitaker at the concert. In order for Whit to get through the concert we had to give him two lollipops and about 4 sticks of gum. He also had a donut before the performance and after. 

Mae walking out of the gym after the concert was over. We were all so proud! 

Beginning to feel...

A lot like Christmas.

Shortly after waking up this morning, it started snowing!! Nothing like the first snow fall right before Christmas to make it really feel like the holiday season. In addition to the snow, we got the Christmas tree decorated and shining brightly in the living room (will post photos). I am happy to report, in the process of decorating, we only broke TWO ornaments this year, which I consider pretty decent since Mae was tearing them all out of the box and throwing them on the floor.  They were asking to stepped on.

Now I am lazing on the couch, enjoying the warmth of the house, Whit napping, Pearson watching football, and Mae playing with her dolls. I don't think it gets much better then this.

Zoo Lights

The weather yesterday was in the 60s. And with Whit deciding not to nap for three days in a row and Pearson not coming home from work, I decided we need to get the hell out of the house for the afternoon/evening because I might lose my mind. So we decided to go check out the zoo lights at the National Zoo and attempt to get some Christmas cheer started. To add to the fun, we brought Will, my nephew along for the fun. We had a great time, despite me scanning the dark for all three kids and making sure I didn't lose anyone. 

It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas! 

PS- I have no idea how to take pictures in the dark so everything is just god awful blurry but you get the idea. 

Happy [Belated] Thankgiving

I had the best of intentions of writing a post this year about all the many things for which I am thankful. The big things like my two beautiful, healthy, and funny kids, our family and friends and the small things like the new Nespresso machine that Pearson recently bought. The recognition and celebration of the holiday didn't get away from me just getting the opportunity to put pen to paper (or in this case keyboard to computer) about it all did. 

We decided to spend this year's Thanksgiving in Oak Island. As always, this place holds so much magic for our family. Despite it being a little chilly, it was a wonderful time. We were able to slow down and focus on us. We were also fortunate to be joined by my parents. Here are a few photos from a couple times on the beach and our ferry ride to the NC Aquarium.