A Magical Christmas Season Underway......

The Christmas season is underway and it's absolutely magical. Literally! The kids are at an age where they believe in everything! They are simply captivated and filled with wonder; seeing it all through their eyes has brought us so much joy.

We had so much fun picking out the Christmas tree and loading it up onto the car. Our house smells divine -- I just love the fresh scent of pine. Charlie and I strung lights on the perimeter of our fence and I took a stab at my first ever evergreen window boxes and planters, accented with red dogwood sticks. It's fun to see our neighborhood decorations too -- when Charlie notices an evergreen garland, he asks me why people have seaweed hanging on their door.

Every night, after bath and pajamas, the kids sit around the tree for a holiday or winter-themed story, drinking sugarplum tea out of miniature Christmas mugs and nibbling on something sweet while they listen to the book. John climbs up on the ottoman and squeezes in between his big brother and sister. Rob and I make a point to stop everything we're doing to sit down as a family. I'm already thinking about how to continue this lovely time after Christmas is over!

Another new tradition for us this year has been the elf who visits us every morning....the kids named him Tinsel. He's been pretty tame so far, but little do the kids know the silly mischief he's about to create! Rob (such a great dad!) remembers to hide him every night.

This weekend, we had a very special breakfast with Santa and Mrs. Claus at the Pfister, an 1893 historic Lake Michigan hotel; we invited my dad and Ning to come too! The kids all sat on Santa's lap and told him what they wanted. Madeline asked for clothes for her American Girl doll and Charlie asked for firefighting gear. John cracked us up -- it was one of those classic moments where he cried and arched his back, trying to escape from Mrs. Claus' arms. At one point during brunch, we led Charlie astray, giving him what we thought was homemade whipped cream, only to find out (as he retched and gagged) that it was actually butter for the pancakes. Poor kid. How very unsophisticated of us.

And this weekend, we went to a gingerbread house decorating party hosted by the Judy family, new friends of ours here in Whitefish Bay! Each family had a house to decorate and take home. It was such a happy scene -- carols playing behind the cacophony of 25 sugared-up kids having the time of their lives. Fabulous.

The cards are almost all addressed (I underestimated and actually had to order a second shipment!), the Christmas shopping almost complete. Tonight after the kids fall asleep, we'll put chocolate in their shoes to celebrate St. Nick's Day! I can hardly wait for Madeline's Christmas program at school. And of course, the kids run down to the kitchen every morning to open their advent calendars.

While we'll always create wonderful memories at Christmas, this season of life where the kids believe in Santa, mischievous elves and flying reindeer won't last forever. I'm soaking it up and enjoying every second.