Pre Christmas Eve and Christmas Eve

A few days before Christmas Eve we were putting the finishing touches on our tree and taking in the last minute festivities.

We had our Lessons In Carols performance at church where the children sang as well as Young.  Here is Young singing the quartet but I couldn't get the children singing...they were siting too far away and the sound didn't come out very loud.  But I can tell you it was the most beautiful "Silent Night" I've ever hear!  After church we drove down to see our favorite neighborhood all decked out in lights!

Christmas Eve we continued another tradition...Exploring downtown San Francisco.  We had lunch at our usual Scala's Bistro and checked out all the window displays, trees and gingerbread houses around town. Looking for any excuse to come to the city, the Hirtzles joined us again.

The excitement of Christmas was certainly in the air..we had four crazy, pumped and excited kids on our hands!

We attended the candle light service at church and managed not to catch the church on fire, whew!  (Timo asking Mr. Arron if he can give him guitar lessons...)

It was easier than I thought to get the kids in bed, read the Christmas Story and asleep...good thing b/c Santa had a lot of work to do. Note to self...telescopes are harder to put together than you think!

Sing-A-Long & Magical Tea

One of the anticipated Christmas traditions we have is the Grace Cathedral Sing-A-Long and the Magical Tea at the Top of the Mark.  We've talked about how much fun the whole day is that our friends The Hirzels decided to join us this year!  This year I splurged the extra $5 for the center row seats so we could have the "snow" fall on us (bottom right pic).

The kids were excited to see all their favorite characters like Nija, Super Hero Girl, Princess and a few new ones this year.  Cameron was being miss social butterfly, wanting to meet and talk to all the characters after the show!

We headed over to The Fairmont Hotel to see the walk-through gingerbread house and write our letters to Santa.

Then we were off to Top of the Mark for our Magical Tea!  We had an amazing table, in the corner with windows all around.  Lot's of space for the kids to run around...not that they were at the table very long, there was so much going on to go see and do!

Cameron went straight to the face painting to become a snow princesses.  Timo made a bee-line for the magician making balloon animals.  All the kids then gathered around the cookie decorating table before we could get them to sit down and eat a few bites.

This year there were a few great additions...like a local chorus group sang beautifully in between the magic shows.  Cameron was captivated.  And the magic was great as always...funny and very kid appropriate.

Whew, it's hard being a kid!  All four of the little ones were wiped out by the afternoon.  They all took a break in the sunshine while eating their candy canes...taking in the view.
                     

A sign of a good time had by all...painted face, balloon animals, sticky face and fingers and Santa! (yes, that Santa is a real person.  He looks a little plastic but he's real!)  We're already counting the days till next year's Magical Tea!

Holiday Spirit

December was full of getting in the Holiday Spirit. It was also party planning for me...several events I was in charge of pulling together, starting with our church Volunteer Appreciation Dinner. My dad flew in to help with the food as well as helping decorate our house.  With school activites, Young working and all the events I as overseeing, Daddy was a HUGE help in getting our home ready for Christmas.  As you can see, the kids were his best assistants.

We added lots more ornaments to our tree again this at 13 Annual Ornament party.  Again, in in the rush, I needed help pulling it all together and my eager assistants were more than willing to help...for a little extra Christmas candy payment!  We had a wonderful time seeing all our friends and judging the amazing ornaments they brought.  I think at some point we might need to make it just a Christmas Party...we have 6 boxes overflowing with all the ornaments from the past years.

The month was also full of activities for the children, of course.  We have our Advent Calender that has a different activity a day...simple like make an ornament, baking cookies for our teachers, making hot chocolate, reading new Christmas books, etc.  I don't know who loves the holiday spirit making more...me or the kids!  I'm just thankful I have children so I don't look so silly doing and the fun things by myself!