A bunch of friends and our daughters went to see the Nutcracker today. We went to lunch beforehand, which made it extra special. We had so much fun, even though "there was no talking at all" and they had no idea what the performance was about. I enjoyed the warm auditorium and the beautiful music so much, I may have dozed off a bit. This tradition is always such a treat for me and my girls.
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Nikki asked if that was the "real" Santa at the ward Christmas party (Brother Crowe plays an amazing Santa--real beard and all). She said she could feel his skin. We don't really try and make Santa a big deal in our home. We usually just divert the kids from it all and focus on the Savior. But I have told my kids that Santa is make believe and that it's fun to pretend he's real. We do the same thing for the Easter bunny and tooth fairy. But it seems as though Nicole hasn't figured it out yet. My response, "Well, I don't know, what do you think?" I just couldn't break it to her.
I love getting Christmas cards. I hang them all up so I can look at them often throughout the month. Tonight we had the missionaries over for dinner. The new sister missionary was "getting to know the ward" by taking a peek at the cards. I know that technology and social media makes it so we don't necessarily need the updates from our friends and family much anymore, but I hope this tradition never dies.
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We went to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner tonight. Aaron has been wanting to take us there for a while now. It was crowded, loud and there were like a hundred TVs, even in the bathrooms. The kids were given ipads to play games on, which made it so fun and entertaining. I'm sure we'll be heading there again for a birthday or two. Fun place.
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I went to the store today and couldn't resist buying the elf on the shelf. I kept wondering when I'd buy one. So, I read the book to the kids, we named him Jinx and I hid him for the first night. I have to say the kids weren't super interested in him at first. Maybe we are working on Christmas overload right now. Not sure. We'll see if he sparks more interest in the next few days.
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I heard a buzzing type of sound coming from the other room. I realized I hadn't seen Cameron for a short time so I began to investigate, following the sound. It led me to my bathroom where Cameron had pulled out and was trying all the toothbrushes. My electric toothbrush, the source of the sound banging against the wall, was hidden in the corner because he couldn't turn it off. I asked him why he put my toothbrush there and he said, "Because it was too loud mommy." So, I helped him turn it off. I asked him to put them away and went back to the kitchen to attend to the pot on the stove. I returned a couple minutes later. All of the toothbrushes were put away and mine was lodged in the back of the deep drawer on and still humming. Guess it was hard to turn off.
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While I was at some meetings today the kids wrote Noah's Christmas wish list. I told them when I returned that they would only get one small present this year because we had gone to Disneyland. I read a little of President Monson's Christmas devotional and thought having us make a list of things we could give to Christ this year might be an appropriate response to their list. They were very sweet.
Noah's List
1. Gak
2. Pexo (Which is a robot dogs they saw on tv--real name is called zommer dog, I have come to find out)
3. Nanobugs
4. Hex-bugs
5. Remote control helicopter
6. Crayon maker (some machine that combines broken up crayons?)
7. Snowglobe
8. Marker highlighter (apparently really cool)
9. Pool & hot tub with toys (my favorite)
10. Electronics (with a side note...important)
11. All the candy in the world
