Christmas Eve

The merriment continues! Friday morning we had Ellie's first grade Christmas program, which was very sweet. We ended up standing in the back, which was fine, because we could see her better and it gave Adam a little more space to roam. Also, I am not all about showing up a half hour early to get a bunch of seats, since I'm a lazy mom.

Can you find her? She's got a big old melon!

The kids did about 20 minutes of singing - each little group with their different costume got to come down and sing in the front for a song, which was darling.

As you can see, she truly knows that the best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.

I got to take her home from school early, which was good because it gave everyone (including me) a chance to nap after the previous late night on the Christmas train. And then afterwards, she did her gymnastics class, which she's loving, and we packed it out to Yorba Linda for the Parmordsen party/Poppy's birthday.

Ellie was so excited to get there and see her "cousin" Carly, Adam was thrilled about the new train going around the Christmas tree. And they were both happy to see Santa this year.

Adam was especially into it this year - he made Santa pause during his reading of the Night Before Christmas to tell him about 1) his boo boo on his arm 2) his friend Judd and 3) to sing a song about peppermint sticks. And he wanted to give Santa a huge hug several times, very cute.

Such a fun, crazy group of kittens

And Santa himself, kind of a wild guy

All in all, a very successful evening, though I was pooped when we finally got home - the kids weren't in bed until almost 11! So yesterday was mostly recovery - the kids both napped for almost three hours, and I spent a solid two hours sitting and reading with the kittens curled up in my lap, which is what I call living my best life. Now, just preparing to start the onslaught of opening presents!