christmas

i bought these little trees and houses in ny a couple weeks ago and couldnt wait to make a little village out of them. 

and tess couldnt wait to inhale all the peppermint ice cream. 

christmas sugar cookies. i found the reindeer cookie cutter at an antique store last month and had so much fun using it. 

on our way over to the annual gingerbread house decorating party it started snowing. so magical. 

the finished houses. a lotta work/preparation/mess but a very fun tradition. 

craig had care day on christmas eve (an annual event where they open their office to patients and offer free dental work) so i braved the cold and took the kids ice skating. 

it was obviously time for tess' nap.

a fancy night out for christmas eve dinner. afterwards, craig said "well that wasnt very relaxing." duh, craig. duh.  

christmas morning they were ready to get to it! 

sully's mouthguard was a hit. obviously. 

tess' baby.

this was like 5 seconds after he opened his hover board. he now basically lives on it and is a freaking pro.

"make up" so she doesnt play with mine every morning. she likes it although like 5 minutes in she started scratching at it and gave me a "how dumb do you think i am?" look. 

heading off to christmas morning church. i liked having church on christmas. 

later that day we had dinner at my moms and played with the pie-in-your-face game. 

a very merry christmas.

december so far

it took a couple days for tess to warm up to our santa but now she wont walk by him without a big hug and kiss. 

craig made our own laundry soap. it smells amazing and works really well. so i packaged it up and gave some to my friends. 

annual ornament/cookie exchange. this year we also made cute christmas gift tags. it was a very entertaining and productive evening. 

on our way to molbaks we tried to get our christmas tree but the cut-your-own lot was already closed for the night so we just drank free hot chocolate and admired the 15 foot trees. 

the following day we tried again. and found our tree!

tree picking.

our tree on the car and ready to go home. 

we visited santa at the mall the next night. tess was not having it. 

she was only slightly happier with the snow princess. 

snowflake lane with momo and ga. sully loved the "snow".

i freaking love snowflake lane. except when strangers try to steal our spots. :) 

a few nights later it snowed for real. 

tagg's super cute snowman. 

tess loved the snow (sully couldnt be bothered. he was warm inside with hot chocolate and a show) and i loved her little hands in her pockets. 

happy girl. 

that night our friends were coming over for a gingerbread house decorating party. tess had a haaaard time not eating all the candy before everyone arrived. but shes just so dang cute. 

getting ready for our friends. 

let the madness begin!

surprise! santa dropped in to say hello to the children. it was sooo cute. 

tess even got within 5 feet of santa. only because he was showing her his jingle bells like the ones in her piggies. 

family santa shot. the only way we could get tess in the frame. maybe next year.....

friends and santa! a perfect night. 

the next evening the smiths met up with us at snowflake lane.

afterwards, we swam at the hotel pool (we spent the night at a hotel across the street from snowflake lane) and after the kids went to bed the adults snarfed down some cheesecake factory in our rooms. very fun. (except for the 2am fire alarm where we had to go outside in the freezing cold. hope that joint in the stairwell was worth it for some guest)

the next we went to the bellevue nativity. cant pass up hundreds of nativity sets on display and dressing up!

harry potter gingerbread houses at the sheraton downtown were freaking amazing.

christmas carol. one of my all time favorite traditions. next year, sully will get the nod too. cant wait. 

sully's christmas class party. he was so proud of his cute graham cracker rudolph that he wouldnt eat it.

my mom, megan and i had a lot of fun at the christmas nordstrom party this year. i finished up my shopping list so i was especially happy. 

megan and i made chocolates. surprised there were any left to take a picture of. we couldnt stop eating them. 

tagg's december book project was to pick a few poems and read them aloud at the class party.  he read a few super cute christmas poems and did a wonderful job. we were so proud. 

hot chocolate in vintage santa mugs. pretty much heaven.

CHRISTMAS IN NEW YORK!

at the beginning of december my mom and i traveled to new york. it was my first time being in the city at christmas and it was every bit as magical as i knew it would be. i loved flying into new york and seeing this beautiful view. 

as soon as we checked into our hotel we grabbed some magnolia and then walked over to see the tree. it was gorgeous. my mom liked when i wore my red coat. it made it easier to see me in the crowds. 

saks played the most beautiful light/music show every night. 

the following morning we had breakfast (a cronut/the perfect egg sandwich/blossoming hot chocolate) at dominique ansel bakery. my kind of breakfast. 

then we walked off breakfast on the high line. 

just in time to eat custom mini donuts inside chelsea market. 

it was such a gorgeous afternoon that we decided to walk through central park too. the ice rink was pretty but too crowded to be tempting. 

central park. 

after getting an impromptu make up tutorial at bergdorf we wandered through the stunning lobby of the peninsula. 

that evening we went to see the rockettes! it was completely magical. 

getting ready for the 3d part of the show. 

final number (the only time i had the guts to raise my phone up to grab a shot!).

the next morning we had hot chocolate at city bakery and then walked around the flat iron district. i looooved the sidewalk christmas tree lots. so new york. 

lunch (i swear there is a delicious lobster roll on the other side of my french fry mountain) at pearl oyster bar. 

we spent the rest of the afternoon down at the 9/11 memorial. it was touching/inspiring/emotionally exhausting. i am so glad we went. 

later that night we walked over to rockefeller center to see the tree again. we were surprised how short the line was to ice skate so we laced up and went around the rink a few times. there was christmas music blaring and i was in heaven. 

the tree!

my favorite city. 

on our last morning in new york we walked around soho and had lunch at balthazar.

festive!

we had watched the macys day parade together as a family just the week before so i was excited to take a picture in front of the macys and send it to my boys. 

on our last night, we grabbed legit pizza and ate it while watching a great movie. the perfect new york night. we had a wonderful week in new york and i am very grateful for my favorite traveling buddy.