Monday, December 11, 2017

Gingerbread Houses, Disney on Ice, & Visiting Santa


Aunt Beverly and Grandma bought us a gingerbread house to decorate - what a big hit this was!


Brock loved making patterns and squeezing the green and red icing on the house. At one point he commented "Momma, this is even better than tablet!" That is a HUGE compliment!

Decorating the little gingerbread man


What a fun activity with my big guy while the little one napped!

Then it was time for Brock to write his first letter to Santa! He has really come so far this school year with his penmanship!

He needed a bit of help with the letter - he dictated while I wrote. He got frustrated with his picture - it was supposed to be a chocolate coin. He was very proud of his letter after it was all done!

Later that night, we picked up Grandma for our big event - Disney on Ice at the PNC Arena (where the Carolina Hurricanes play!).

Awesome seats that night! And I was so glad I brought my big heavy coat - gave Kade a little cushion to sit on! Grandma was so smart to order cheap glowsticks/wands from Amazon Prime so we didn't have to pay $25+ for the light-up spinny things they were selling! Good call Grandma!

The best part was watching Brock and Kade's reactions to all the characters, singing and dancing. Brock was singing along and tapping his feet.


Such happy smiles! Thank you Grandma for taking us!


Yup..... still working on this letter to Santa. Three days after we wrote the letter, we addressed the envelope. 

The gingerbread was such a big hit, I picked up another kit from Trader Joe's. This was a little more hands-on than the Costco kit where everything was ready to go..... I had to actually add ingredients to make the frosting AND put the house all together. First world problems, I know, but harder to do with four hands grabbing everything!

Much smaller house also meant less candies to decorate with. The boys had fun working on it together, but it confirmed my original decision to let Brock work on the big one himself - Kade was not quite ready for this project.

Finally, we ended our week with our visit to see Santa! All the way there, we prepped the boys on what to say, trying to get them excited... and not anxious. We decided to head to Crabtree Valley Mall to see the Santa there. (I miss Bellevue Square!) At least they set Santa up right next to the play area - the boys played while Brent held our place in line. Finally, it was our turn!

Poor Kade was very hesitant about sitting next to this complete stranger. I sat him down and he was just not having it. So sorry, but these are the memories we are capturing! ;) He's such a poop though - as soon as I picked him up, he was completely over it and even said "Good bye Santa" as I carried him away.

Brock on the other hand was amazing. He was quiet, but answered all of Santa's questions. Nodded his head when Santa asked him if he'd been good. He told Santa that his brother wanted presents (which is what Kade had said in the car) and then told him he wanted chocolate coins for himself. He even smiled for the picture!

It's so good to see him enjoying this holiday and getting so excited about Christmas. And he's doing a great job getting Kade excited! I should also mention the Elf on the Shelf has been making his rounds since Thanksgiving and Brock LOVES searching for him. Brent has taken on the duty to help the elf find a new hiding spot every night and I think it's adorable.

14 days until Christmas!!

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