Other Christmas Activities

Advent Calendar

Seoul LOVED the advent calendar we got from Kelley's mom. There are little toys to hang up in Santa's workshop for each day. She lived for the time Kelley got home from work and they'd get the next piece out. Even after Christmas she asked for it... and was SO sad when we had to put it all away until next year.

Gingerbread House

For FHE one night we surprised Kelley with a gingerbread house kit from Target. Seoul was SO excited for him to come home so we could put it together. In her world, that meant eating all the candy :)

I admit it was quite the learning experience for me to let a small child touch everything and "do it herself"! Kelley had to remind me that it was OK that it wasn't perfect. Seoul had so much fun and I think it turned out very cute. (The downside was that she had lots of candy so maybe that is why she had difficulty going to bed that night!)

Christmas Goodies

Kelley, Seoul, and I made sugar cookies. Seoul is in love with sprinkles and yellow frosting! Kelley is a pro at CUTE decorated sugar cookies whereas I just smear one color frosting with some sprinkles on top.

Christmas Dress

Or should I say New Years Dress? Haha! I'm a terrible procrastinator in the first place and with this big belly it made it even harder to finish it in time. Either way it got done. (With two girls I better start in October!) Seoul had a ball talking about her "new dress" with each part that I finished. I am pleased with the way it turned out and she seems to love it.

Bodice & first sleeve

Bodice and first ruffle (although obviously not sewn together yet).

The finished product. Love it!

Seoul likes to cook!

These days Seoul is very into standing on the step stool and helping make anything and everything! Of course that includes sampling everything... multiple times. Better make sure it's good before we all consume it, right?

Here she is helping me make crumb cake - yum!

Seoul and Grandma were making & frosting cookies for Christmas.

This time Kelley and Seoul were making delicious enchiladas for dinner to give me a break - thanks guys! I love how she looks to daddy for approval as she adds the cheese and chicken.

What a good little helper we have!

Choo Choo Train!

Kelley discovered the Lowe's Build and Grow Clinics. He took us to help Seoul build a choo choo train over a series of 3 weeks. Seoul had a lot of fun hammering and putting the tiny nails in the tiny holes.

First week was the caboose:

Second week was the passenger car:

The last week was the engine. Too bad we got there late and they were out of supplies. I was REALLY bummed that we couldn't complete her 3-car set. SO, the cool daddy that he is, Kelley found it online and it was delivered to our house a few days ago and we put it together.

Now we have a complete set!

Happy 5th Anniversary!

Kelley and I have been married for FIVE fantastic years! Through ups and downs and tears and laughter we have grown together and are we're ready to go for many more years. What have we learned? Communication and laughter are the keys to our success. We love Seoul and are excited for Sydney. Seoul's new favorite thing is to pull us together and hug both of us and say "family hugs!" Who knew we could be happier than just being the two of us newly married?!

Funny: I had thought we could have dinner at the restaurant The Melting Pot if Kelley hadn't planned anything. (Silly me for thinking he wouldn't have something planned.) One night he asked what I wanted to do just to see what I'd say. When I said the place I thought of to eat he started laughing hysterically. That is where he had planned to take me! (Guess the romance isn't over... we still think the same - haha)

So, he got me red roses and my favorite holiday chocolates. Then he took me to see the Christmas lights at Peacock Lane... so beautiful! Then we had a late dinner at The Melting Pot and it was absolutely amazing. We loved it! The food was fabulous and after dessert (white chocolate creme brulee fondue - divine!) we joked that we were "chocolate wasted"! It was a great evening and we had so much fun together!

 

Kelley is my best friend! I love him so much and I'm so grateful for the person he is... what he teaches me and how we complement each other in our strengths. He is my rock and keeps me grounded and makes me smile & laugh. His love for our family is astounding and he does so much to provide for us.

Love you forever Kelley!

'tis the season!

We love Christmas! The music, the decorations, the festivities, the treats... all of it!


House Lights
Kelley was on top of doing lights on the house this year... got them and put them up Thanksgiving weekend. Sweet man that he is he made the effort to do the red & white lights because I mentioned that I like the look.

 


The Singing Christmas Tree
By chance I had the opportunity to go to The Singing Christmas Tree in Portland with my mom, brother & sister-in-law and their friends. It was pretty cool, I have to admit. I think maybe next year I will try and go as a family with Kelley, Seoul, and Sydney. Love that Christmas music!
 

Christmas Tree
As usual we had the annual adventure of getting a Christmas tree. The tree farm we were intending to go to was closed so we followed the signs to another one... which turned out to be way farther than the sign indicated. Seoul found pine cones and helped pick the perfect tree. We decorated the next day and it looks "beautiful" as Seoul says every day. She was very helpful putting up lights and even the bulbs... until she shattered one in her hand. Don't worry - she didn't get hurt... and the plus side is that she doesn't play with them now :)

Macy's Santaland
This year Kelley surprised us and took us to see Santa at Macy's in Portland. It was pretty fun, although Seoul didn't write Santa a letter... oops! The line was longer than at Bridgeport last year but it was all inside out of the rain. Seoul was excited until the second I put her on Santa's lap. We have a matching picture to last year! The decorations were really pretty.

House decorations
We added a few things in our house to make it festive. We have just enough for the space we live, which is nice. It is so fun!

We have to start/do our Christmas shopping to prepare. For whatever reason I thought we had lots of time until Kelley pointed out we have two weeks (from last Saturday) - oops!

Happy Holidays! We hope everyone is happy and doing well!