christmas cheer!

this holiday season began in early december on their birthday when the doorbell rang, and we were greeted by a surprise visitor waiting at the door (thanks to leanne!).  john and i were not familiar with 'elf on the shelf' but leanne had been talking to the kids about it for awhile. it's such a fun tradition and definitely got us all in the christmas spirit!

jacks brought up the elf to show john

thankfully, the book that comes with the elf explains what we're supposed to do with it!

we headed off to breakfast on this misty san francisco morning

birthday hot chocolates

livi brought her dog carrier stuffed with random toys
(she always has to bring something!)

and then out came the elf book!

we had the pleasure of reading it over and over and over again

they thought our tree was so big until we looked around
and everyone in line had at least an 8 footer!

they were great little helpers
(with john closely supervising!)

hanging ornaments is probably not their strongest skill

it's perfect!

leanne took the kids to union square to soak up some holiday cheer

they mailed letters to santa

no tears this year! however, they would only sit on
leanne's lap, who then sat on santa's lap!

we did some holiday shopping for
our preschool's adopt-a-family program

we spent christmas eve with grandma vivi, auntie keet and uncle mike

the kids aren't into chinese food, so i artfully
arranged cucumber slices,  cheese and toast with pb

the act of unwrapping presents never disappoints

hmmm, what could be in there??

she was thrilled to receive their very own frozen dvd

jacks, of course, became immediately engrossed in a puzzle

we capped off christmas eve with
the kids' homemade brownies and ice cream

santa left a dress-up closet and two special packages

santa gave them purses stuffed with goodies
(john is trying to train me to call it "a satchel")

of all the gifts received, they showed the most
excitement when they found that santa left them an
applesauce pouch in their purse (i'm not kidding!!)

abuelo flew in christmas morning from seattle and spent the day with us

they loved the gifts they received from our families, leanne and santa!

livi taught us all about the whoopee cushion

"it helps you make a big toot"

jacks LOVED adding to his train collection

after all the gifts were opened, they predictably
split up into their respective areas of interest (trains and babies)

we then had a special christmas french toast breakfast

complimented with some yogurt mustaches

it was a beautiful day so we headed to the park

they were quite the little goofballs

they loved having abuelo there to chase them around
and so they could show off their skills

after nap we tested out some new gifts

the rocket-launcher provided lots of entertainment

how many pellegrinis does it take to build a train table
(to be fair, they were missing uncle mike)

ta-da!

another fancy holiday meal - homemade pizza!

since their birthday, i've gotten numerous requests
to watch frozen and paint their toes again

christmas evening was the perfect time
to sit back and relax with the entire family

they were so excited to wear their
new pajamas to sleep that night

jacks is quite the fan of this new orange slinky

while we may not celebrate christmas in traditional ways,
we love just being silly and enjoying these simple moments together!