Christmas Preparations

Our home has been abuzz with the Christmas Spirit all month long. It started early in the morning on December 1st when our friendly elf, Elfy, made his way back to our house. The kids were excited to welcome him back. Elfy once again brought with him a letter from Santa addressed to Owen, Cole, Rose and Kate.

After everyone gave Elfy a fond "hello" and read Santa's letter,  it was time to open the chocolate Advent Calendars from Great Nana Dineen. All the kids were eager to find the #1 somewhere on their calendar with a tasty chocolate treat hiding behind the door. There were even a couple fun small toys to open.

Later that day, the big tree box was dragged upstairs and the assembly of the tree commenced. Our poor tree is over 15 years old and every year it's quite the chore to figure out which branch goes where. Once Mom got all the branches organized by size, the kids got to work getting the tree up and decorated.

Some ornaments are household favs, which caused a bit of a ruckus over who got to hang them on the tree. But eventually everything was successfully hung and the littles even smiled nicely for a picture for Mom (a rare feat indeed!)

After the angst over the Christmas ornaments, I had to put a plan in place for the setting up of our nativity to help eliminate the fighting (especially with how fragile the pieces are).  After I got it all unpacked, each kiddo was able to select one statue at a time to move into place next to the stable. They did an amazing job taking turns and carefully placing each piece. Of course Owen rearranged it all in the end.  He's very particular about the Nativity scene!

On December 7th, we dug out all our candles, ordered up some Colombian fare (the tres leches was a fan favorite!), and decorated our paper lanterns for El Dia de las Velitas (the Day of the Little Candles), a Colombian holiday in honor of the Immaculate Conception and the official start of the Christmas season. It was sure a cold night, but we persevered and our front walk glowed beautifully.

 

Throughout the month, the kids had a blast searching the house for Elfy. They never knew when or where that pesky elf would move to next.  Owen was in charge of moving Elfy again this year and he took his assignment quite seriously, moving Ely at least 2, maybe even 3, times a day.  Rose and Cole would find Elfy in the most peculiar predicaments, even hanging upside down!  We all wondered how he could possibly hang upside down without losing his hat! Owen definitely had some tricks up his sleeve.

We are officially ready for Christmas!