On Thursday our Christmas officially kicked off. I took off work Thursday and Friday, Elle had her Christmas party at school and after we were meeting up with the Voss family for lunch, last minute shopping and celebrating Elle's birthday.
As we left the house to drop off Elle at preschool we were so excited!
A perk to your mom being the room mom, you get to help with the treat bags!
At the Christmas party they also celebrated Elle's 4th birthday!
She was so excited I was in her classroom for her party, although she did want to stay at my center the whole time instead of rotating. :)
I planned 4 centers...
1. Chocolate milk and cookies, plus princess fruit snacks as Elle's birthday treat for her friends
2. Pin the nose on Rudolph
3. Snowball toss
4. Decorate your own stocking
After school we went to Mary's house and brought lunch then they did a little birthday celebration for Elle.
Then we went to Target for some last minute shopping where this little lady passed out in the cart.
I didn't think anything of it...if my kids are tired they will pass out anywhere.
Well, when we got home I soon realized they were both sick with the stomach bug. Eric was at work so it was just me and 2 sick babies for the night. Since neither one of them could make it through an hour (or even 15 minutes for awhile) without being sick we just camped out in the kitchen and kept the laundry going all. night. long.
It was a rough night but they both woke up feeling much better in the morning!
We took it easy and laid around all day to let these babies rest as much as possible.
We had picked this up at Target the day before and Elle had so much fun with it! It was a little pyramid that you dig through to find a hidden jewel.
Every scientist needs a good pair of goggles.
That night since the kids were feeling great we drove through the Celebration of Lights.
I was chanting inside my head the entire time, "you will not get sick, you will not get sick".
I got sick...on Christmas Eve I spent all day in bed sick with the stomach bug. I was miserable and so so sad to be missing all of our fun Christmas Eve traditions.
That night Eric went to his sisters house to drop off the presents we bought everyone and I laid on the couch while Princess Belle took care of me. :)
Eric returned with presents from Aunt Sarah so the kids each opened her gift on Christmas Eve. New shoes for both kids, Ollie immediately wanted to try his on!
We weren't able to make cookies this year due to everyone getting sick but we still had Christmas cookies to set out for Santa along with a cup of milk and a carrot for Rudolph. Specifically for Rudolph, Elle was nervous one of the other reindeer would try to eat it.
Our Santa plate and cup we leave out every year was a gift from my mom before we even had kids and it is one of my most favorite things!
Then Elle, Eric and Oliver went outside to sprinkle Elle's homemade reindeer food in the yard. She has been so excited to do this since she brought it home from school!
Christmas morning!!!
Elle woke up first around 8:30 and immediately wanted to go check to see if Santa had stopped by. Ollie was still sleeping so she woke him up so they could head to the living room together.
Eric woke up sick early Christmas morning but he managed to watch the kids open presents before heading back to bed.
Ollie is playing with the Star Wars guys Elle got for him. As soon as he opened them he was done with presents, he just wanted to play.
Elle and Star Lily, her baby unicorn.
And Ollie with Zurg!
Look at these babies! So so so glad they were both feeling better by Christmas morning!
Since we were all sick we postponed our Mulligan family Christmas so MawMaw and PawPaw stopped by Christmas morning with gifts that Santa left at their house!
Elle, Ollie and I spent all day opening toys and playing while poor Eric was in bed.
This little bird was one of Elle's favorite gifts, girlfriend has her own beautiful bird now.
Oliver Russell pulled down his tree to get a better look at some ornaments.
And he spent the day riding this into the back of my heels. :)
The three of us went out for a super fancy Christmas dinner of Jack n' the Box...we had little to no food in the house since we thought we would be out celebrating with family. We brought our food home and watched Elle's new Tinkerbell movie then rand through the house like Winter and Summer fairies. :)
Even though we were sick I like to think we made the most of this Christmas. When we were out getting Christmas food we sang Christmas songs, rolled our windows down (it was 50 degrees Christmas night!) and Elle and I would scream "Merry Christmas!!!!!!" to anyone we saw.
Another Christmas in the books, such a fun season celebrating!
