A few of our favorite things...

As excited as I was for the Christmas season, I was feeling a little overwhelmed with all the crafts and activities I thought I HAD to do in order to be a decent mother.  After reading another blogger's perspective about letting go of everything and just focusing on serving others, I decided to do some of my own letting go.  We let go of the advent calendar, the daily Christmas activities and story check lists, and focused on doing what we felt like doing.  We had an incredibly enjoyable month and the kids had a blast with the things we chose to pursue!

Thanks to our zoo membership we went to Zoolight Safari.  In all honesty, I would have been very upset had I not gotten in for free.  The whole place was covered in lights which was cool but the line for the train rides and the carousel were insanely long and it cost a minimum of a $20 picture package to sit on Santa's lap.  In the end, we rode the carousel, wandered among the lights and high-tailed it back to our car and home for hot apple cider!

We also attended our ward Christmas party where Connor was able to sit on Santa's lap and ask him the question he'd been wanting to ask for the past 2 weeks: WHAT kind of cookies did Santa want us to make him this year.  Connor was excited the answer was chocolate chip.  For those of you who provided treats or cookies other than chocolate chip, I'm sure Santa appreciated the variety.  Tyler sat on Santa's lap this year as well and had a 180-experience compared to the fears and tears of last year!

In a moment of weakness/intelligence, I purchased a gingerbread village kit instead of making one.  Saved me money, time, and a lot of stress in the long run and the kids don't know the difference.  They loved decorating their own houses.  Connor got quite artistic with the icing and Tyler, well, he enjoyed licking his fingers and "tasting" the decorations more than actually putting them on his house.