It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

With the first of Advent this past Sunday, Christmas season has officially begun. And I'm all excited and giddy about it (maybe even more so than the kids). The decorating is in full swing (I'm still not finished yet as I was busy working on some peg doll orders over the weekend) and every day, our house looks more and more christmas-sy.  Here is a glimpse of what we decorated so far:

Instead of a wreath for Advent, I decided to only put a single candle on a tray with some fragrant pine cones so that the kids would not play with it. So far, it works.  Elliot and Amelia helped in decoration the little Christmas tree above the entrance. They were very proud of their work:

Last night, we took the kids to Bass Pro Shop to meet Santa. As usual, Bass Pro Shop did a great job with their decorations:

The kids were able to color a picture for Santa or play with some race cars. There was also a train that Elliot loved watching. He will be excited once we put our tree up and add the train underneath it.

 Waiting in line for Santa:

 

Amelia was very excited to see Santa, mostly about the candy canes though. Both of them enjoyed seeing the big jolly fellow and Elliot even ran up to him to hug him.

A last picture, or two, in front of the Christmas tree and then we headed back home. It was an eventful night and the kids were ready for some good sleep.

Today, on the first day of December, our elf, Eli, has arrived back from the North Pole and he even brought some yummy breakfast and some fun cups with him. This little scout elf will be hanging around for the next 24 days and every night when the kids go to bed, he flies back to the North Pole (with magic of course) to report back to Santa if Amelia and Elliot have been good that day. When he comes back the next day, he usually can be found in a new spot, often doing silly things. The kids are not allowed to touch him or otherwise he looses his magic. 

What a great start to this holiday season. We hope you all will enjoy this season of hope, love, joy, laughter and giving.