A merry little Christmas

The other night a friend of mine came over to visit and asked Lily how her Christmas was.  I wondered what she would share first:  Time at Grandma and Grandpa's playing with her cousins?  Getting a pillow pet and Princess and the Frog polly pockets?  Leaving cookies for Santa?  None of the above.

"Santa brought me candy corn!"  she shouted as she ran into the room with her bag of candy.  Well, there you have it.  The biggest hit this Christmas -- candy corn.  Next year I can save myself a lot of time and money!

Here are a few of our highlights from this past week.

Cookies and milk for Santa.  We also threw reindeer food (sunflower seeds) in the driveway.  The reindeer ate it all and even pooped on our driveway.  (Their poop looks A LOT like chocolate chips, if you were wondering.)

Our own little Bob the Builder

Christmas morning pancakes

We acted out the Christmas Story at my parents' house on Christmas.  (No, my brother is not holding a second baby Jesus; that is Ollie dressed like a sheep!)

 

The holy family  (Did they have pacifiers in ancient times?)  

The Belle dress that my mom made for Lily 

Rides behind the snowmobile

The Rapunzel wig Lily bought with her money from Great Grandma Helen.  I am finding 2-foot-long hairs all around the house!

Time flies

It is hard to believe that Christmas is nearly upon us.  It is bittersweet since the holidays mark the end of my maternity leave.  In an effort to capture as much as possible of this last month at home, this post is a random mix of recent pictures.

My growing boy

 Lily enjoying the snow with her good friends, Emily and Bri

Dressing up with her buddy "T"

Sammy's first taste of rice cereal -- not a huge fan!

The Olson ladies at our Olson Christmas gathering

Cousin Jayda loving up Sam

 Grandma Olson with her oldest grandchild and youngest -- 33 years of grandkids!



Who knew?

Who knew that gurgling could melt your heart?

Who knew a little girl in a leotard could make you burst with pride?

Who knew dead fish could make you smile?

How to make new friends

Yesterday, Lily told me this story:

"Today at school, Evan told me that he likes the Twins, the Cobbers, and the Vikings.  I told him that I like the Twins, the Cobbers, and the Vikings too.  Then I hugged him.  Now we are friends."

I couldn't help but smile at the simplicity of it all.

Here are a few other things that made me smile the last few weeks:

These two pictures were taken only about a week apart!  I can still smile about the snow now, but ask me again in March. . .