Let the celebrating begin!

Noelle (7), Anna Kate (4) and Rose (2)

Everyone loves when our puppy, Jax, comes for a visit!  He is such a good puppy!  (He’s really my parents puppy, but the girls don’t know the difference!)

Peppermints and Poppa

Noelle gave Rose a bouncy ball with streamers!  She knows her like no other.  This gift was so thoughtful and perfect for our 2 year old!

Scenes from Christmas Eve

Noelle gave Anna Kate a purple bracelet and ring that she bought her sissy with her chore money.  She picked them out all by herself at her school’s Penguin Patch!

Noelle drew pictures for Poppa and Rara the day of Poppa’s surgery, and they were from the heart!  On the back of the fold, they said, “Good will.”  She’s been saying that throughout this holiday season.  So sweet!  I’m not sure where she got it, but it fits.

Noelle gave me a beaded bracelet that spelled out “MOM” on it and a high heel shoe ornament.  She gave Mikey a magnetic picture frame to put out on our grill that says, “My Dad, King of the Grill!”  and a little pin in the shape of a blue hand with a finger sticking up that says, “#1 Dad!”  She worked so hard earning chore money ever since we’ve been home from Disney saving up for her family!

We asked Rose was she was doing with the Ariel placemats, and she said, “Ice skating!!!”  Where does she come up with this stuff!?!

On to pizza making, a PondFam5 tradition!

After opening wonderful presents from Poppa and Rara, it was Anna Kate’s turn to pass out her gifts.  Noelle taught Anna Kate all about the spirit of giving this season!  It was totally precious, and the most adorable memory.  Noelle told Anna Kate she would help wrap her presents if Anna Kate would go around the house and pick out what she wanted to give everyone.  I got a sweet picture of a tree, Noelle got her fashion portfolio from last year and Mike got a neon pink crayon holder.  His present was wrapped using 3 pieces of notebook paper, carefully taped together with a bow on top.  These were from the heart, and although some of the adults (uh hum) got really tickled as she revealed her re-gifted presents to us, it couldn’t have been more precious! She’s learning, and next year, she’ll get to shop at the Penguin Patch too!  If I had known she was doing all of this for us, I would’ve taken her shopping, but it’s truly more special the way it all worked out.

Next came gifts from my siblings.  The Banks family gave them Monters Inc. (which is right up our alley, check out Rose’s Santa presents below), and the Ebert family gave the girls gifts from their travels all over the world this year.  We have such sweet aunt, uncles and cousins (and great aunts too)!

Poppa gave Rara a cool life jacket for her new exciting lake contraption (pics to come this summer of that), and Rara gave Poppa a permit fish necklace from Belize.  Here are the girls in their African dresses/necklaces from the Ebert fam.  I can tell in this picture Anna Kate was not well, and her cough turned into bronchitis, but hopefully she is on the mend now that we’ve got medicine and the nebulizer going.  Bless her baby heart!  This picture is so sweet but makes me yearn for her to have felt better.

A picture is worth a thousand words… or a few pictures…

The Pond Princesses, Africa style!

Sprinkling reindeer food! (oatmeal, sparkles, and sprinkles)

Someone got her second wind when Poppa and Rara told her that she could spend the night with them at the hotel!!!

Thanks Aunt Sharon for the sugar cookies and ingredients to decorate them!  So thoughtful!  I don’t think cookie decorating would have happened this year without your help! 

Thanks for Rose’s sugar high, Poppa!  This is Noelle’s Christmas tree cookie made with love for Santa.  She said she likes sprinkles, so she wanted him to have some too!  As I tucked her in tonight, she made sure, her words “Santa Chuck Lee” was going to come help me with the presents.  Thankfully, I had just the answer I’ve always been searching for… Santa Chuck is our friend, and he will always be here for us when we need him!  Pretty wonderful.

Here’s Rose’s sticky hand and what’s left of her bell cookie!  I’m not going to lie, I’ve been pretty sick this December.  I can usually fake it till I make it… as in, you’d never know from the outside looking in… but I’ve almost killed myself trying to get well this year.  I could barely get out of bed Christmas Eve and again on Christmas day, which is not a norm.  But, I had my light-up Rudolph shirt on, and it was all about the fam bam!  A huge gigantic thanks to Mike, Rara, and Kay Kay for taking care of everything this year!

Santa was so random and fun this year!  I have to say, there is a little bit of everything mixed in, but we pulled it off!  Noelle’s couch is on the left, Rose’s chair is on the right.

Here’s Cutie Kate’s couch o’ goodies! 

 

Bikes, bikes and more bikes were the big gifts to the girls this year.  Noelle is deathly afraid of riding a bike, so we figured a diva pink fancy bike would help her over come her fear!  Anna Kate’s is purple (her favorite color) with training wheels and Rose’s is actually Noelle’s trike she got for Christmas when she was 2 (shhh…).  Having 3 girls has it’s pay-offs here and there.  After Santa and I finished up in the living room, I found this scene in my bedroom.  Rose had pulled Jax’s bed next to her pack n play (where she sleeps when she has bad dreams), and they were both out.  Best friends, conked out, side by side.  What a night!  Can’t wait for Christmas day!