Can there be too much Christmas? -Nonnie

Winter Solstice from Nonnie

Winter Solstice is one of my favorite nights of the year.  We celebrate the peace of the night and the coming of the light by lighting candles and turning off all but the little white lights as soon as the sun sets.  Pictures are hard to take in the dark.  Annie asked me to post a few, but the pickin's were slim.  The one of Brian and Viv is just random.

Santa Came! 2014

This was the first year that Santa came to our house to find a kid that actually got the concept somewhat, and it was so much fun! Here's a video of the first reaction. Also, I'm aware a strand of lights on our tree is out. I didn't manage to fix it this year. Maybe next year...

The night before Christmas Eve we wrote a letter to Santa. We set out carrots for the reindeer, and for the letter, Nathan dictated, and I transcribed...

It reads: "Dear Santa, We want some toys, a slide with some people and swing too, and a round about (merry go round) and we want some more people and a truck. The carrots are for the reindeer. We also want a pencil and a computer, and some animal/Elmo and a Cookie Monster. Be safe, Santa! Love, Nathan and Vivian (and Daddy and Mama)."

Santa kept his gifts relatively low key, some books (notably, The Adventures of Lowly Worm and I am a Bunny by Richard Scarry), a few dinosaur figures, and a couple of stuffed animals -- among other things. We added in a ride along dump truck and a tea set (ostensibly for Viv, but we know who will play with it more) from Brian and I, but they are really from Zach and Leah in their toy purge. Big thanks to Liz for the matching pjs!

The best I could get of them that morning - staying still for pictures was the last thing on his mind.

 These are the things that make me grin from ear to ear in the chaos of our lives right now. I found this while I was cleaning up all of the wrapping paper. A dinosaur tea party. Of course.

The V's at 7 months old

Poor Ted. Except, he actually loves it. 

And these two love each other. At some point Violet threw her foot in Viv's mouth. It was like Vivian's dream come true, she gave the biggest grin and just started sucking. It was gross, but also very cute. Have I mentioned that Viv thinks feet (toes especially) are the best thing ever?

Santa Baby

I thought I would take some more pictures of Viv to match these that I took of Nathan. I don't know how well they match, but they sure are cute!