This will probably be a long post ... there is just so much to share about Christmas, and what a holiday season it has been!
One of the other decorations we put up was an advent calendar Granny Gail made for Matt years ago. Victoria helped Daddy put the "ornaments" on the advent tree throughout the few weeks before Christmas.
We introduced V to some of the traditional Christmas movies, starting with Rudolph. It was an instant favorite. She sat riveted time and time again:
V and Piper both think Daddy makes a cuddly chair while watching movies
I expected her to love the reindeer, but who was her favorite character? The abominable snow monster! - you know, this guy with the big scary teeth who roars loudly and threatens to eat everyone.
She kept asking for "monster 'dain!" and then would sit on the edge of her seat. "Monster chase 'em!" My friends with kids the same age have reported that their kids are scared of the snow monster ... but not our girl.
The week before Christmas, Victoria got sick. Matt and I split the time off work to stay home, monitor her temperature, and attempt to get fluids and food into her. It was influenza, and she was pretty miserable. Anything holiday-ish took a back seat. I figured she would be better in time for Christmas itself, but I was worried she would miss one of the season's highlights: the daycare Christmas party.
Our daycare is AMAZING. One of the many, many fun things they do each year is the Christmas party, which includes a visit from Santa, candy canes and presents for each kid, crafts, and a gift exchange among all the kids. By the morning of the party, V's temperature was close to normal, she had more energy, and after a conversation with daycare about how she wasn't contagious any more, Daddy brought her there just in time for the party. She was thrilled to put on her "party dress" and even asked Daddy for hair pretties ... so then we knew she was on the mend!
Daddy texted me this picture to show me the hair pretties
As you can see, she wasn't so sure about Santa. She wanted to hide behind him but did consent to getting close enough to get a candy cane.
Although unsure of him in person, by the time I called her at lunch time to ask about the party, the first thing she said was "Santa candy cane! Ho ho ho!"
This girl loves her candy canes
There was even Christmas crafts
Portrait of a happy kid: mouth covered in chocolate, opening up her princess headband and
wand that one of her friends gave her
Christmas Eve
On Christmas Eve, we made sure Victoria went down for an early nap so she could be well rested in time for church. We enjoyed the candlelight church service overlooking Lake Superior. Victoria was a very good girl sitting through the church service, and even let us take a few pictures afterwards (although getting the puffs out of her hands for the pictures was a little more challenging).
After church, we dashed home to get the puppies, then went to Uncle Adam's house. My formerly-scrooge brother had completely decorated his house with a tree, stockings, lights, a beautifully set table, and even party favors for everyone. We took some photos in front of his tree ...
Mommy, Daddy, Toria, and the "ne-nens"! She just wouldn't put her candy down.
With Dama and Bapa
And Uncle Adam
After dinner, I got to read V my childhood version of The Night Before Christmas. Reading to her in front of the tree was a very precious moment for me.
Victoria convinced Bapa to give her M&Ms...
We opened up a few gifts ...
Uncle Roger with his new hat from Molly
Victoria helping the puppies open their bones
Played silly games ...
This game involved throwing a ball of wrapping paper back and forth across the room
And as the night went on, enjoyed some snuggles before heading home to bed.
Christmas Day
We went almost straight downstairs to check out the stockings. The puppies had to be first.
Rawhide candy canes from Santa!
Victoria got "ne-nens" and a candy cane. Two of her favorite things of the morning.
And fun sparkly socks...
Three sets of hair pretties -- she picked one pair from each set that had to go in immediately.
We handed out gifts. Check out the tower V had! She was pretty excited to dive in, but I have to admit -- after about the first half, gift fatigue set in, and she was tired of opening. Mama had to open the last few for her.
Here is the gift Matt and I were most excited about. Remember the big scary monster above? Well, Daddy found a stuffed version of the snow monster. We thought she would love him and he would be the favorite gift of all.
Lo and behold, when she pulled him out of the wrapping paper, she quickly tossed him to mama and looked at him very suspiciously. Guess she *was* a little scared after all.
I'm happy to report, though, that after warming up to him, she now snuggles with him at night and calls him "my monster." (I think he is pretty cute and very soft, so even mama has snuggled with him!)
Some of our other gifts ... this was a girls camping set with toy truck, tent, kayak, four wheeler, etc. For some reason V had to lay on top of the box.
This is V's gift to Daddy ...
A new set of comfy PJs!
From Santa ... (drumroll) ...
A train set!
Victoria loved this new outfit so much she instantly unzipped her PJs and tried it on.
She got some workbooks and coloring books, flashcards and paint-with-water books ...
And then she had a couple hours to sit and play with everything while Mommy made brunch. Then my parents and brother came over. We enjoyed some ham, egg bake, homemade cardamom twist bread (thanks Dad!), and other goodies before heading back downstairs to the tree and more presents.
We started with the puppies again (how do they luck out?). I love this video of Adam and Toria passing out the pups' presents. Look at those happy wagging tails! And at how even V is excited about "puppy teets."
From Uncle Adam, V got this cool drawing/animation toy. Which she thought was a hat.
The adults had drawn names for a gift exchange. At first, I wasn't sure how I would feel about not giving gifts to everyone, but in the end I really enjoyed our gift exchange. It was fun not knowing who had everyone's names. We adults certainly don't need tons of gifts, and I found it surprisingly refreshing to only get one gift. I hope we keep it up ... less stress, less money spent, more appreciation, and more time spent focusing on time with family.
Toria was obviously exempt from the one gift rule. From my parents: her very own kitchen!
I'm not sure she understood what it was. First, there was the fact that she was way more excited about the big box.
Here's a video to further demonstrate the box's star power:
Second, as she looked over the pieces that came out of the box, she first started climbing on them like it was a jungle gym, and putting dolls from her dollhouse on them. Eventually, though, as Daddy started assembling, she understood the true intent of her new toy.
Here it is, all set up and with her hanging her frying pan on the hooks.
We all enjoyed some relaxation, cookies, and family time before the little one had to take a nap.
The pups too love family gatherings. Spoiled girls!
Christmas Continues ...
The next night, my cousin Rachel and uncle Dale were in town. Rachel gathered several members of the Tondryk clan for a fun hour of catching up. Love seeing extended family!
Finally, this past weekend, Matt's sister and family drove up from the Cities. We had loads of fun, and as soon as I get pictures from the weekend I will post them here to share.
