Blizzard

 The first thing I should say is WE SURVIVED!

I spent part of my Monday 'preparing' for the blizzard that was to come the following day.  Me and the rest of Boston that is.  I stopped by a local toy store to stock up on some novel things to do.  Oma & Opa, Izzy has a new game that she likes.  Get ready!  I wasn't the only parent doing so.  They store manager said they had been busy all day because of the storm.  The second stop was the grocery store.  It was hard to find milk and the check-out lines were awful.  This was the check-out line for the '12 Items or Less'..  

 Nala spent a good portion of the day right here watching the snow fall or the birds trying to find shelter.  The news that night said 24 inches of snow had fall by 4pm.  It continued to snow throughout the night adding a few more inches.  I don't know what the final count was on total snow accumulation.  We were lucky and did not loose any power.  My upstairs neighbor, Michelle, found someone who would dig out your car for $50.  Since we park right next to each other, she asked if I wanted him to work on my car.  That was the best fifty dollars I've spent.

 Today I decided we were getting out of the house.  The park close to us has a hill which is a hit for sledding.  Bonnie asked if Izzy wanted to go sledding.  We ended up meeting 2 other classmates of Izzy's there.  Getting to the park was another issue.  Some places had dug out passageways.  Other's had not yet begun.  Absolutely no stroller would get through.  Will have to rethink how to get to daycare in the morning.

 In our courtyard.  Izzy made seats for everyone to sit on.

 Let the sledding begin!  The girls loved the track that had a ramp built up at the end.  Everyone would go flying over it.

 I was able to get Victoria down the hill once.  That was it.  She was 'all done' after that.  She spent the rest of the time at the top of the hill.  We were out there for almost 2 hours.  Micah on the other hand LOVED sledding.  After only going down once, he wanted more.  I lost track of how many times were went down together.  On the way home he asked when we could go again.  Not sure how to convince Victoria to go again however.  Oma, sound familiar to the water slide this past summer?

Christmas Day

 Before celebrating in Texas with the Bures clan, we celebrated Christmas Even at home.  Thanks to Oma for making her famous sugar cookies we had something to set out for him.

 Izzy was super excited Santa got her sparkly boots.  She's been asking for something like this for awhile.

 Victoria modeling her dress up shoes.   She clip-clops around the condo with them on.

 I laugh at this picture every time I see it.  Micah's face it just priceless.  He LOVES this toy and can spend a long period of time playing with it by himself.

At the end I asked each one of them to hold up their favorite gift.  Micah's was his remote control tractor.  He took it to church with him that day.  However, once I put batteries in it and he saw it moved, he promptly hasn't played with it once since then.  Izzy's was Anna & Elsa Disney clip dress dolls.  Victoria's was magnetic letters and numbers that go on the refrigerator.  An oldie but goodie!

Breakfast with Santa at the Zoo

 Last year we took Oma & Opa to have breakfast with Santa at the zoo.  That was the first time the zoo held such a event.  We were in luck that they did it again this year.  I just happened to stumble upon this and was able to get tickets.  We took Izzy's good friend Bonnie with us.

 He's here!

 Santa was so patient.  He sat at each table and took as much time as he needed with each child.  Izzy and Bonnie just loved it.

 Santa was just as good with Micah & Victoria.  He knew he just had to sit there long enough for them to be comfortable with him.  At one table there was an art project.  Santa just took a seat working with Bonnie & Izzy.  Pretty soon Micah was handing Santa his project to thread string through.  I offered to help him and was met with a prompt "Santa do it".  High fives were given by both Micah & Victoria.

Church Christmas Children's Pageant

 In keeping with the true spirit of Christmas, we celebrated at church.  Our church has a children's pageant.  Izzy was an angel and loved her wings and halo.  She has to wear something sparkly to match.

 I got a wave from Izzy when she was up there.  Reminded me of when Uncle Allen would wave to Diane and I when we were little.  The children were kept up in the balcony and come down depending on what part was being played.  The older children told the story from the balcony.  At times songs were sang including 'Away in the Manger'.  Izzy really knew this one!

My friend Kerry came with me to celebrate.  She lived conveniently 2 blocks away from church.  Afterwards the church had goodies to much on.

"Oh What Fun It Is" Party

Part of the challenge with Christmas when you have little ones is how to get them to see Santa.  It can be difficult to find him locally.  One toy store up here sells tickets for a 3 hour window on one day.  If your working, I guess your kids are just out of luck.  Then the nearest mall that has Santa is a 45 minute drive.  All I could imagine is the kids being cranky by the time we got there.  Then I pictures Micah refusing, Victoria saying 'uppy' so that mama would hold her and Izzy being frustrated because things were going her way.

Then it hit me one day.  I should just bring Santa to them.  I then figured I wasn't the only family in the same situation so invited a few of Izzy's friends and my courtyard neighbors.  Because I was late to this idea, many Santa's were booked.  I was able to find one but it had to be on a Thursday.  That was actually in my favor as many of our friends and neighbors could come.  Izzy helped me the night before setting out as much as we could (she only thought we were having a Christmas party).  I was probably the most efficient I have ever been at work to get home by 6pm.  Santa was showing up at 6:30!  I picked up Izzy who jumped up and waved bye while running out the door.  She was definitely excited. 

Between 6-6:30pm, people were arriving.  Izzy loved to go out and answer the front door.  The best was when the guest was Santa.  She came back in with the best look of surprise wanting to know if I knew Santa was here.  She then went in to grab her two good kindergarten friends, Suri & Bonnie (above) to great him at the door.

 Santa was amazing!  The ages of children were from the twins up to 8th grade.  Somehow he was able to keep that whole group focused and interested.  He even knew how to entertain the adults with well placed humorous comments.  He read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas', sang some carols and performed magic.  Then it was time for everyone to sit on his lap and tell them what they wanted.

 Izzy's request was for a Barbie house.

 This was about as close as Micah & Victoria would come to Santa.

Our many guest enjoying the evening.

Santa was pretty cool!