Winter Break

This year I was pretty nervous about Christmas/Winter Break given that I would be recovering from surgery.  But thankfully I bounced back pretty quickly and we were able to have a wonderful holiday.

First up was Eric's school play.  His class were gingerbread man bakers.  He stood the entire song, staring at the audience with a horrified look on his face.  Until the very end when he was walking out and noticed Olivia and burst into tears, yelling "Yah Yah!!!"  That being said, after the show he told us he had fun and that he danced.

His disdain for the holidays was not helped by the school's annual breakfast with Santa

But, we introduced Eric to cookie decorating which he seemed to enjoy!

Matt and I got dressed up for my firm's holiday party.

I adore matching PJs!  They adore donuts.  Win-win.

We treated Mimi to a showing of The Nutcracker, complete with "VIP Passes" to meet the dancers after the show!

The Steeg family joined us as well and Olivia/Sarah had a blast.

Olivia's class read A Christmas Carol this year.  After they were finished with the book, Ms. Brown led them in a traditional Victorian caroling session around the school and a Dickens Festival in class.  We were lucky enough to watch the first part of the caroling and it was so sweet.  Just another reminder of the interesting and challenging endeavors this school undertakes with the kiddos - reading Dickens to 1st graders!  Olivia was so excited every night to tell us about the story and practice her songs.

We surprised Olivia that weekend with tickets to see the play of A Christmas Carol at the Alley Theater.  I stayed home with baby, while she and Matt had a daddy-daughter date, enjoying dinner at a fancy Italian restaurant first and then the show.  I think there were some deviations from the book that she was quick to point out to Matt and a few scary scenes at the beginning but overall I think they had a ball!

Olivia finished up her last day of the semester with a Holiday Singing & Sharing at school.  It was a great way to start the Winter Break (and she was THRILLED to not have to wear her uniform!)

We spent Christmas Eve in Humble and had a blast!  It was the first year back at my parent's house after Hurricane Harvey.  Mimi got a new tree that looked great!

There was lots of good food and drinks!

And of course lots of presents!  Olivia got some a new Barbie and Legos from Mimi & Grandpa.

Yazzie and Naz got her a beanbag chair which she and brother both loved!

Eric got a new firetruck from Yazzie and Naz and a train set from Mimi & Grandpa.

And once he got bored with those, he had lots of willing readers for him:

We also spent some time outside riding bikes/playing basketball and burning off some energy. 

 The Kaltenbachers joined us for a delicious dinner

And then we went home to prepare for Christmas Day.  These 2 made the nice list again!

Both babes were up before 6 am and excited to see what presents awaited them.

Eric got a singing Elmo doll.  We thought he would be scared at first but eventually like it.  In reality, he was and has remained lukewarm on ol' "Melmo"

He also sort of liked the race-cars we got him.  When Olivia set them up, then he liked it but he wasn't quite sure how to do it by himself.

Conversely, in true Olivia fashion, she was visibly thrilled by all gifts!

The karaoke microphone has been an especially big hit!

 

Both kids got boats for Christmas (one Barbie, one tugboat) which have been HUGE hits and have made bath time a lot easier!

Olivia's new scooter was probably the biggest success of the morning and thankfully she generously shared with Eric who was OBSESSED with it and kept yelling "Mine! Mine" and "Rreeric!  Rreerick! (Eric)"

 After all the presents were opened, Daddy and Eric played while Olivia and I got breakfast together.

We stuck to our breakfast taco tradition but also added nutella hot chocolate in the mix, as well as a cinnamon roll tree!

We spent the morning relaxing, watching the Disney Parade, and playing with our new toys.  

It was nice to have a few hours of quiet time with just us.

Olivia helped me prepare a delicious cheeseboard for lunch, which was promptly devoured!

After lunch Popo and Tutu came over!  They spoiled both kids with lots of presents.  

Olivia got a new American Girl Doll (Nanea) complete with her matching sno cone set and some new Legos.

Eric got a new book all about Ducks and a barn filled with animals

I hate the idea of spending time during the holidays cooking alone in the kitchen, while the kids are playing, so I made sure that all meals were easy and/or make-ahead.  I tried my hand at a beef tenderloin and it turned out great.  We had truffle mac & cheese and a salad to go along with it.  I didn't snap a picture but we had a skillet chocolate chip cookie with peppermint ice cream for dessert that was amazing!

Olivia is obsessed with Christmas crackers (the tubes with the presents inside that you pull apart).  We had some at my mom's house, she made some at school, and then I bought some as well.  So she "helped" everyone pop theirs after dinner.

After Eric went to bed, we opened up the new Scrabble game we got for Christmas.  Olivia and Popo were on the winning team!  (Which really riled up that Dean competitive spirit!  The game also included a word challenge (i.e. someone (Matt) was trying to play a word that wasn't really a word and got challenged by Tutu and then by Olivia!).

The Scrabble obsession continued nightly throughout the break + we added in Monopoly.

The days after Christmas we enjoyed some much needed quiet time at home, playing with all the new toys.  The nice weather allowed an opportunity to open up the new finger painting kit the kids got for Christmas.  Both of them had a lot of fun and it provided the perfect opportunity to test out the new boats in the bath after!

We also continued our annual tradition of New Years at the Ranch.  We always have the best time!  This year the dads took the kids to Santa's Wonderland in College Station while the mammas stayed back with napping babies.

Love that these 2 babes are close in age and seem to be close in personality so far.  They are both just sweet little bundles of love who are ALL ABOUT THE SNACKS!

The last sunset of 2018 did not disappoint!

And just like that, we said goodbye to 2018 (with an AMAZING fireworks show by Uncle David!) and welcomed in 2019.

One of Olivia's Christmas presents was a gift card for the new 2019 Girl of the Year.  She was released on Jan 1, so Olivia and I faced the madness and secured a Blaire Wilson doll!

One random note: Eric discovered pillows over the break and was upset that he was the only family member without a pillow.  So, we got him one and he has been loving his new found luxury!

We eased Eric back to school a little early so that Olivia and I could have a little date with Annabelle and Casey to lunch and see Mary Poppins.  Eric was happy to be back at school and all his friends were eager to see him!

Olivia and Annabelle were happy to see each other too!

And so, we head into 2019 with lots of expectations for health and happiness.  Olivia is playing basketball this season + starting piano lessons, cheerleading and ramping up her gymnastics classes.  Matt's travel starts up again next week and I'm starting to get back into the swing of things at work.  I am hopeful and excited for what this year will bring.