Christmas Day

If there is ONE thing to say about Christmas this year it's that we sure do feel very fortunate and very loved.  It was yet another amazing Christmas for one and all.  I posted on Instagram that "seeing Christmas through the eyes of your kids is pretty freaking awesome" and that is basically exactly how I feel about it.

It's such a magical time of year and while it's always busy and there is always a to do list or a grocery list happening somewhere, it's a time for being thankful, showing (and telling) people how much you love them and making family traditions that will live on for years and years to come.

Christmas has always been a fun time of year for us, but adding the excitement of the kids just takes it to another level.

Christmas in Freeport

Santa visited us AGAIN this year.  Actually, after I posted a picture online, Jamie texted me and asked why Santa was following us around.  HAHA!  My little girls sure were lucky to have the big man in red visit us so much this year.

As our families have grown, we've started doing "Ritterbusch Christmas" the weekend before real Christmas.  This year it worked our perfectly that it really was just a few days before real Christmas.

Hazel was still pretty reluctant but each time she saw the big guy, she got a little braver...but only from a distance!

The big girls were really excited to see him and even more excited to see what was in his big bag!

And, we even got a pretty near perfect family photo of us all!

Abby's Christmas Concert

Abby's school does a K-4 Christmas Concert each year and it was the sweetest little thing.  You'll have to excuse the pictures, we didn't have ideal seats so Ryan was able to snap these by standing up quick (blocking other's view) and snapping a few pictures before sitting back down.  At least we have some action shots!

Each year Ellyn gets Abby a sweet little fancy Christmas dress like this one.  It's perfect because I save them for Hazel and then both girls are set for events just like this one.  She just looks so grown up here in this picture!

And of course, the highlight of the night was the holiday sugar cookies Ellyn had tucked away in her purse for after the show.  As you can tell, both girls were pretty excited about them!

A Train Ride with Santa

Last year near Christmas Erin told us that they do a Polar Express thing out of Union Station (downtown) and we looked into getting tickets.  Apparently the sell out quickly so we didn't get them...but in researching that, we found out that the local train museum by our house did a similar thing...basically in our back yard and for a much lower price point.

So, when this year came around we snagged tickets early on and figured we'd give it a try.  All in all, I think it was perfect for the kids ages now...but I think we might try to do the REAL one next year.  It was perfect for the price point, but I was hoping for a little more pep and pizzazz!

Hazel was terrified of Santa, she wouldn't look at him.  She figured if she couldn't see him, he wasn't there.  HAHAHA!

Abby wasn't scared and she told him what she wanted (a unicorn cart...long story).  But, as soon as Santa left she told me "Mommy, I know that's not the REAL Santa".  

Me: "Why do you think that?"

Abby: "Because he was wearing gym shoes and the real Santa has pretty black boots."

I swear, this kid is too dang smart for her own good!  What am I going to do?

1 Family x 12 (Dec)

Tying up all the lose ends on the blog this week...get ready for a lot of posts. Merry Christmas from the McGrath's!

Christmas Tree Cutting

Tree cutting - a McGrath family tradition that has been around FAR longer than me...but I was adopted into the tradition when Ryan and I started dating and we've been doing it ever since.  When I was growing up we always had a fake tree so things like "watering the tree" often go undone if assigned to me.  This year, we gave the job to Abby and she woke us up the very first morning at 5:30 to remind us it was time to water the tree...that's what we get I suppose. 

What's interesting is how much the weather can differ from year to year.  We've had cold/snowy tree cutting trips, rain and mud or near t-shirt weather.  This year it hit almost 60 degrees the day after Thanksgiving so, as you can imagine, the tree cutting place was CROWDED! 

It was windy windy windy though and we were so thankful when we finally got inside Ms. Claus's house and away from the wind for a bit.  The kids were VERY patient...actually, more patient than me for once and super excited to see Ms. Claus.  That is, until Hazel ACTUALLY saw her...then it was all tears and "pick me up" and hiding her face....so...basically what I expected from a two year old.  Abby on the other hand, was super excited.  She wrote her and Hazel's names on the Good List and told Ms. Claus all about what they wanted for Christmas.  Apparently it's a car with a horse pulling it...which, I'm not sure if that's on Santa's list this year, we'll have to see. 

Maybe next year Hazel will be brave enough to stand and get her picture taken with Abby...but NOT this year!