MERRY CHRISTMAS from the MOTT FAMILY!!!
Well, another Christmas come and gone! As usual, at this point (December 28th), I am ready to put away all the decorations and toss the tree and do my yearly purge. But, since it's been a month since I posted, I will relive the past month! :-) As I type I realize I should have put these photos in reverse order, but at this point - not gonna happen. I had lots of expectations for this month. I am home for the first time ever - since I am not working. So I was really looking forward to just doing all I could with my family and enjoy the season as much as we could. The weather was perfect, and while we did a lot, I wish we would have done a bit more. It didn't help that I came down with bronchitis and have been pretty much out of commission for the past three weeks. NOT FUN by the way. I am just now finally feeling better, thankfully, but it's been a rough road to recovery. My sister has been here for a week, and although I had hoped we had done more all together, we had a good visit.
This year was really fun since John is just realizing what is happening around him. Although he kept saying he was excited for Halloween, he did seem to realize that something more was going on. I love a child's wonder and anticipation and that makes the whole holiday season fun for me. Seeing my kids' happy, smiling faces...
Christmas morning, the kids woke and opened their stockings and opened a few gifts at our house. Afterwards, we headed to my dad's house and opened the rest of our gifts there and spent time with the rest of the family. I was pretty ill on Christmas day and kind of out of it (and I FORGOT my camera - errr). But, once we got back to our house and I got a nap I felt much better. We headed over to Mark's parents for more presents and dinner. It was a busy day and over in a flash, but I think the kids had a great Christmas.
My mom made the kids a Countdown to Christmas Box. Each night I put a chocolate in the box and they really enjoyed counting down that way. It will be a fun tradition and treasure for years to come I am sure.
Visting Santa's Workshop!
We had to hit up a train at some point this season for John's sake. We didn't like the stress of going to Hood River and were invited to the train by Oaks Park with some friends and decided to do that instead. It was a great ride. John was just in awe and it was a great day with some wonderful people. Definitely one of my favorite memories of this Christmas.
We got to Portland on a Saturday evening and had wanted to visit the tree at Pioneer Sq. It was the first time we went downtown during the holidays and were a bit disappointed that the tree was encircled by a beer festival and it was pretty crazy downtown, but we made the most of it. We did make it to Macys and walked right up to Santa, which was a first. Mel got to talk to Santa for several minutes and he read her list. I even got to take my own pictures! Of course, John wanted nothing to do with Santa and was more interested in watching the train display around the corner. At least everyone was happy and Melanie was nice enough to tell Santa what John wanted - what a sweet sister.
The kids love light displays - as do I - and I wanted to take them to a light display somewhere around town. We did walk around our neighborhood one night and that honestly, was pretty fun and the kids seemed to be perfectly content with that. But, I heard about a place called Storybook Lane in Forest Grove that I wanted to check out as well. We made it one week night before Christmas and it was a very cute place. Small, but its all done by a couple on their property and it's free to visit. Very cute place.
We missed Zoo Lights, which I really wanted to do, but who knows, we may still make it. Regardless, we had a very full December and a good Christmas. The kids made a haul, we made some good family memories. Continued with our traditions and made more. I am so thankful to be home and to spend all this time with my family and kids. It felt much less stressful than in years past and I felt like we got to enjoy things more and not rush so much trying to fit everything in. I wish I hadn't been sick much of the month, I probably would have had more energy to do more with the kids, but I unfortunately spent a lot of time hacking my lungs out and trying to get better. Sucks, but what are you going to do? We still did a lot and got out for some adventures and had a great Christmas with our kids. Can't ask for much more than that!
This year was really fun since John is just realizing what is happening around him. Although he kept saying he was excited for Halloween, he did seem to realize that something more was going on. I love a child's wonder and anticipation and that makes the whole holiday season fun for me. Seeing my kids' happy, smiling faces...
Christmas morning, the kids woke and opened their stockings and opened a few gifts at our house. Afterwards, we headed to my dad's house and opened the rest of our gifts there and spent time with the rest of the family. I was pretty ill on Christmas day and kind of out of it (and I FORGOT my camera - errr). But, once we got back to our house and I got a nap I felt much better. We headed over to Mark's parents for more presents and dinner. It was a busy day and over in a flash, but I think the kids had a great Christmas.
My mom made the kids a Countdown to Christmas Box. Each night I put a chocolate in the box and they really enjoyed counting down that way. It will be a fun tradition and treasure for years to come I am sure.
Mel and her microscope kit. She asked for that as her No. 1 request, along with a Wii (which yaya and papa got her), science kits, art supplies and books. It was about the easiest Christmas to shop for yet! And I think the most useful. We should have plenty to do around the house for a while! :-)
With the colder weather, I have had to be a bit more creative on keeping the kids from getting on each other's nerves (and mine) and keeping them busy. We played with lots of play-do, made lots of crafts, and John and I took some art classes at the rec center and went swimming a lot!
When Mel was on break, I had to get even MORE creative! I swear these kids just wanted to wrestle the whole time. I needed to get them out of the house :-) We had a fun afternoon one day making gingerbread houses. Mel and I have been making gingerbread kits for the last several years and let's just say, they don't always work out as it shows on the box...I saw that our rec center was having a class and decided that may be easier and less clean up for me. It was pretty cute. There were premade little houses and TONS of stuff to decorate with. Mel made a very cute house and did a great job. John, well, I just loved his. He was the last kid at the table and he was just piling and piling. I am honestly surprised his plate didn't collapse under the weight of everything on it. Anyway, it was a good time. The kids had fun and they are VERY proud of their houses. I can't bear to toss them - they may be a permanent fixture for a while :-)
Melanie's House
John's House
Visting Santa's Workshop!
We had to hit up a train at some point this season for John's sake. We didn't like the stress of going to Hood River and were invited to the train by Oaks Park with some friends and decided to do that instead. It was a great ride. John was just in awe and it was a great day with some wonderful people. Definitely one of my favorite memories of this Christmas.
We got to Portland on a Saturday evening and had wanted to visit the tree at Pioneer Sq. It was the first time we went downtown during the holidays and were a bit disappointed that the tree was encircled by a beer festival and it was pretty crazy downtown, but we made the most of it. We did make it to Macys and walked right up to Santa, which was a first. Mel got to talk to Santa for several minutes and he read her list. I even got to take my own pictures! Of course, John wanted nothing to do with Santa and was more interested in watching the train display around the corner. At least everyone was happy and Melanie was nice enough to tell Santa what John wanted - what a sweet sister.
The kids love light displays - as do I - and I wanted to take them to a light display somewhere around town. We did walk around our neighborhood one night and that honestly, was pretty fun and the kids seemed to be perfectly content with that. But, I heard about a place called Storybook Lane in Forest Grove that I wanted to check out as well. We made it one week night before Christmas and it was a very cute place. Small, but its all done by a couple on their property and it's free to visit. Very cute place.
We missed Zoo Lights, which I really wanted to do, but who knows, we may still make it. Regardless, we had a very full December and a good Christmas. The kids made a haul, we made some good family memories. Continued with our traditions and made more. I am so thankful to be home and to spend all this time with my family and kids. It felt much less stressful than in years past and I felt like we got to enjoy things more and not rush so much trying to fit everything in. I wish I hadn't been sick much of the month, I probably would have had more energy to do more with the kids, but I unfortunately spent a lot of time hacking my lungs out and trying to get better. Sucks, but what are you going to do? We still did a lot and got out for some adventures and had a great Christmas with our kids. Can't ask for much more than that!
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