Having Ourselves a Merry Little Christmas!

As this Holiday season is coming to a close I can't help but reflect on how fast this year has gone by.

We have been enjoying every single moment of our Christmas break. Staying in pj's, eating great food, playing board games, eating great food, and hanging with family and friends pretty much sums it up! Here are a few (ton) of snapshots of what we have been up to...

Our break started with Isabella's Christmas program at school. Something about hearing children rejoice and sing about the birth of Christ just puts me in the best mood! They did a beautiful job!

A fun visit with Great Grandma Jones

and Great Grandma Hogan.

Believe it or not, these are the children of two families. My BFF and I ventured out to Union Station with this crew to check out the train display and just breathe in everything Christmas!

Every little detail of the display is just amazing. A fun tradition that we have done ever since Isabella was a baby.

Celebrating with a birthday party for Jesus just would not be the same without our BFF's!

Isabella sang in the choir at Christmas Eve mass. We actually got a seat this year because we had to have her there so early.

We are so very blessed that our families merge together for this celebration. It means so much to me to have everyone together for these moments. These are memories that my children will have forever! The highlight of the night was playing the "Just Dance" game on the XBox Kinect. Wish I would have gotten pics of Mimi tearing up the dance floor!

Santa was very generous this year leaving a race track for this guy...

a kitchen for my busy bitty...

lots of doll accessories for this gal...

and some fun electronics for my bug!

Our Christmas would not have been complete without getting to hang with these guys...

COUSINS!!!

Even though it had been a very long time since they had seen one another you would have never guessed it. They are all crazy about each other and clicked instantly. I loved getting to see them all together!

With a few extra days of having daddy around we finally made it to campus to visit the Natural History Museum. Kids loved it! With the amazing weather we were able to walk a bit on campus and visit one of our favorite lunch spots on Mass.

Amazing that another year has come and gone!

Lots of changes coming for the Zimmermans in 2012!

Look who we ran into today...

I took Margaret in to the doctor to see what the deal was with her nasty cough that she has had for three weeks and can't quite get rid of. After finding out that she had walking pneumonia and a tutorial of how to used inhalers with a spacer we ran into this jolly old man in the waiting room...

Margaret couldn't believe her eyes! This was so unexpected that she knew it had to be for real... come on how could mom really plan this one! He had that true twinkle in his eye and the type of beard that didn't pull away from his chin.

Santa read her a story about a snowman, asked her what she was hoping for on Christmas morning, and was even special enough that Miss C spent some time on his lap...

guess it helps when you let her suck on a candy cane:)

As we were leaving the Dr office Margaret kept looking back at the building. I asked her what she was looking for. Her response..."I am looking to see if Santa's reindeer are on top, I think I heard the sleigh bells!"

Oh how I love the magic of Christmas!

Gymnastics

Here is my little bit showing off her stuff at her last gymnastics class this session!

Way to go Margaret!

Nutcracker 2011

Last weekend we also made it out to the Kansas City Nutcracker at the new Kauffman Center! It is gorgeous!

Love getting to go each year with these beautiful ladies that mean so much to me. It is a special treat for us that we look forward to every year. Very blessed to have a mother and three daughters to go with. We missed bringing Miss Caroline but hope to bring her along for the fun next year!

So amazing seeing my girls faces light up as each dancer takes the stage!

Park Place

The season wouldn't be complete without a little bit of hot chocolate and iceskating!

Once again we bundled everyone up and headed to the rink. This is our third year of doing this and I have really seen a difference with the two older girls.

It clicked right away for this chick and she was whizzing by everyone for most of the night. Not even hanging on to the sides this year!

We went on a weekend evening so it was a lot more packed compared to when we go during the week. Margaret was a little bit more cautious. She liked having a hand from her daddy.

Walter did great too! Although he spent most of his time holding onto the rail he was more independent about it than I thought he would be. Unlike the girls, he was actually into falling. When he would fall he would stand up and give me this grin... silly boys!

Next time I think I might make him wear his helmet!

Little Miss C got to hang out with me on the sidelines this year. She was very concerned where her "Daddy" was at all times and could hardly take her eyes off of him. The entire time that everyone skated she was glued to the sidelines watching everyone go round. It was almost as if she was taking mental notes of what to do next year when she got out on the ice.

We ended our night with ice cream for the kiddos (brrrr) and a latte for mom!

Hope you are all finding time to fit in your Holiday traditions!!!

Baked with Love!

Started our baking early this year...

we have got lots of helpers to get the job done!

Getting a little goofy as the night wore on.

Trying to split up the baking a bit this year. Hoping it won't be so overwhelming! Usually I try to do something new each year but this year I think I am sticking to the basics!

Happy Baking to All!

Troupe

Isabella has been working hard this fall in her Troupe dance class. This was a step up from her dance lessons that she has taken since she was three. Last spring she got up the nerve to try out and she got in:) This class introduces Jazz to the Tap and Ballet. It also is preparing them for competition.

She celebrated her last class of this session with a Nutcracker Party with the girls.

Melts my heart to see her loving to dance!!!

Very proud of you bug, keep working hard!

Meet Charlie!

Meet Charlie.

He is a jolly ole' elf with a lot of spunk!

So I fell into the "Elf on a Shelf" trap.

I had heard about this last year but didn't think much about it. This year he has seemed to have exploded because he is everywhere and everyone has him.

He fell from the sky and landed right on our porch. When the kids noticed him out in the cold they immediately begged for us to keep him. Of course I couldn't resist this cute little guy and I caved. He is now, offically, the Zimmerman elf. The children named him "Charlie"! Throughout the day he watches to make sure that my children are behaving. By night he sneeks out and takes flight to visit Santa and let him know if they have been naughty or nice. Each morning he is in a new spot and he is not to be touched or his magic will be lost.

This has been great fun for my kids each morning to find "Charlie". He has even gotten them to do things around here on the first time asked. Every time Walter misbehaves and I remind him of Charlie and he walks right up to him and apologizes.

I have decided that I really like this little elf. Even if I have woken up several mornings in a panic to get downstairs to move him before they awake, he is so worth it!

Ho Ho Ho

As I look at this picture of our family with Santa, I kind of feel bad for making this my children's "Santa" experience this year. I mean really Santa, move the hair out of your face so we can see both eyes, and does he look younger in the face than Kyle and I? I think he does, how will I explain that one?

Shame on me for being so critical of Santa! He'll probably leave me a box of rocks now. I really shouldn't complain, my kids were really into him. They told him exactly what they wanted for Christmas, all except for Caroline. She loved looking at him, just didn't want him to touch her or have to touch him herself. Throughout the party she constantly walked right close to him to wave, then would turn to run. No tears this year so that was a plus:)
We took the kids to our church's annual children's Christmas party. It's so much fun for them with crafts, carnival games, face painting, and balloon making.
We look forward to this event every year and I am so thankful that my children never tire of it. It is a great way for us to get into the Christmas spirit!

Business up front...Party in the back

Caroline pulled into Sheer Madness last week to get her first hair trim!

The mullet is offically gone! Not that I have anything against people with mullets, just not on my baby girl. Kyle has been telling me for quite some time that she needed to get rid of the mullet. I resisted thinking the front would somehow catch up on its own. Plus, she is my baby. In my mind I thought maybe if I never get her hair cut she will remain a baby to me forever...right?
Okay, well too many jokes about the mullet got to me and I rushed right into Sheer Madness for this cute little bob...
She did great with no tears and loved getting to drive the orange sportscar.

Mom did great too, no tears, watching the last of her babies get their first hair cut:)

That's it, won't get to do that again!

Another reminder to appreciate each and every moment with my children, no matter how hard that is at times, they grow up way too fast!

Turkey Cake

I will never forget the Thanksgiving night that I went into labor with my Margaret Mary.

We had both sets of families over that year because we knew she would be coming soon. After spending the day in the kitchen and eatting a huge meal I had it in my mind that I was going to walk that baby right out of me. I made my mom walk several miles with me, then Kyle's mom walked a couple more miles.

Once home, nothing.

I waited a bit and then went out and did several laps around the cul-de-sac.

Again no progress.

Frustrated, and barely able to move at this point, I gave up. I sat down to watch Grey's Anatomy at 8:00 p.m. that night and boom, my contractions started! By 8:00 a.m. I got to meet my Margaret Mary:)

I have teased her all month leading up to her big day that since it was on actual Thanksgiving this year we would be having turkey cake, turkey decorations, turkey crafts, and heck we would probably all just dress up like turkeys! Of course she thought this was hysterical but then whispered in my ear "really mom?" I think I actually had her a little worried:)

It was a great day that she got to spend with family. I think I spent too much time in the kitchen because this is the only picture that I got and it was from the morning. Kyle took the cake shots but they were too blurry to post, and no it was not a turkey cake:)

Turkey Stroll 5K 2011

Beautiful day for a run! We took the kids out of the stroller and let them run across the finish line! Loved getting to do this, hope to do it every year!