This Christmas

I'm not sure that there is anything better than having a two and three year old at Christmastime. I will probably feel the same way next year and the year after that too, but they were a lot of fun this year.

Timmy was excited and Cate was REALLY excited. All the way to church on Christmas Eve, she made everyone in the car hold their hands to their ears to listen for Santa's sleigh. At 4:30. She definitely thought that she heard the bells on his sleigh jingling.

Cate's three year old class had a singing and dancing birthday party for Jesus. She loved it.

Timmy's two year old class was singing and dancing too, but when Tim went in to pick him up, he found Timmy lying on the floor in front of the stage. Timmy reported, "I lay on the floor. I tired." When Cate found out about this, she quizzed Timmy all the way home. "T, were you really tired? Were other kids stepping on you while you were on the floor? Did you cry?" His reply to all of the above was simply, "Nope".

After church we came home for a late Christmas Eve dinner with Mimi, Pop, Auntie Jenn and Nana and Uncle Rusty.

Right before bed, we picked out cookies to leave on the mantle for Santa.

I was so excited to see Cate and Timmy come into the family room and see the tree on Christmas morning. We left Timmy's new Toy Story figures and Cate's long awaited microphone unwrapped because Santa doesn't have time to wrap everything. I expected Cate to see the microphone and go crazy because she has been asking for it for so long. Instead, she saw Timmy's big Toy Story box and started yelling, "Look, T! Look at what Santa brought for you! Do you want to open this?! Look at all of the new stuff you got!"

After we stopped laughing, we directed her to her microphone and she was thrilled.

For the next hour or so they opened so many thoughtful and generous gifts from Mimi, Pop, Nana, Auntie Jenn and Uncle Rusty.

When we were about finished, Cate and Pop checked to see if Santa ate his cookies. Only a few crumbs were left (courtesy of Pop, who did not think I did a good job with the cookie plate or fireplace...he went back and added crumbs to the plate and cracked the door open on the fireplace).

Merry Christmas!

We are Ready!

Cate and Timmy are so excited for Christmas this year. Especially Cate. The number one item on her list for Santa is still a microphone and Timmy just wants more cars. Cars and cars and cars. Last weekend, while I was in Phoenix to see our new house for the first time, Cate got to work with Mimi and Auntie Jenn.

They made Christmas cut out cookies while Timmy was napping. Cate was in charge of all of the sprinkles and had a great time.

Yesterday she pulled up her chair to help me with chocolate chip cookies and peanut butter balls.

She also helped me wrap all of the presents earlier this week. It's kind of nice to have a three year old help you when you're not a great gift wrapper. That way, when the paper isn't even or doesn't lay flat, you just remind everyone that Cate was helping!

So today we'll finish the cooking and hang out a bit. We'll try to squeeze in a trip to Home Depot while Tim and I are in the same state and then we'll all go to church tonight and have a late dinner. I can't wait to see their little faces tomorrow morning when they come around the corner and see the tree! Merry Christmas!

Cate's First Show

If you ask Cate what she would like for Christmas, the answer is always the same. A microphone. Currently she uses paper towel rolls, part of Timmy's t-ball set or the remote as her microphone when she and Timmy have their evening dance party.

When she is supposed to be up in her room having rest time, I have to flicker the lights at the bottom of the stairs to remind her not to sing so loudly.

Lately, she has been singing all of the Christmas songs that she has learned at preschool as they have been preparing for their annual Holiday program. She knows the songs and finger plays word for word. Every hand motion, every extra shout for emphasis, but I knew long before I took my seat at the show that she would not sing one single syllable on stage.

She never uttered a word during practice and told me at home that she doesn't like to sing at school. My Dad asked Cate if she would like it if he came to her show. Her face lit up and she said she would. I asked her if she would sing if Pop took the morning off from work. "Oh...no. Probably not."

I can hardly blame her. I was the exact same way. I can remember standing at the entrance to my preschool classroom and just watching all of the kids play...for a long time...before I would join in. I know that she wants to sing, but she is just not comfortable enough yet.

So we still made a big deal of her first show (and the fact that she stayed on the stage and didn't bolt for me in the audience). Cate found a new, red purse hanging on the Christmas tree the morning of her show and was so excited to stuff it with tissues and bring it to school. She loved twirling around in her fancy dress and eating cupcakes with Timmy after the auditorium had cleared out.

The morning wore her out and when we got home, she wanted to change into her pajamas and she even let me tuck her into bed for a real rest in the afternoon. Of course that only lasted about fifteen minutes. Then I was back to flickering the lights to remind her not to sing quite so loudly.