Getting into the Christmas Spirit

The holidays are in full swing here at home. Christmas is so much more magical with kids in the house, especially when you have an adorable 3 year old who loves to comment on how beautiful things are. Beautiful has been the word of the month. "Oh Mommy/Daddy, the tree is beautiful!" "MaMa, your house is beautiful!" "Look at those windows. They are beautiful!" It is almost impossible not to get into the Christmas spirit when you hear comments like that!

Our tree went up last Monday and John Grayson was involved in all of the decorating. He insisted that he and I start putting up decorations before John got home from work. Luckily most of our decorations are child proof and it was fun to see where JGray thought everything should go. We were a little worried that Delia would try to climb the tree this year, but so far so good. She loves to look at the lights but is far more interested in the toys in the other corner (or making a swift turn and trying to climb the stairs). Things might change once there are presents under the tree, but luckily we have a fence if we need it.

Speaking of Christmas lights, John Grayson is obsessed with them! There were lots of "ooos and ahhhs" when we turned on the tree. He makes sure that the tree is turned on at all times. Since JGray is a "big boy" now, John let him help put up the outside lights. I think that was a better idea in theory because John said that he was about 20% help and 80% distraction. It was freezing the night they were outside so JGray only made it for about 30 minutes before asking to come inside for hot chocolate.

We're going to Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden with MaMa and Pop on Wednesday night. They have a spectacular display of lights throughout the entire garden and we're pretty sure that both kids will have a good time.

It's a busy week. I'm taking the kids to see Santa on Tuesday morning. Hopefully Delia is still young enough not to mind being left in the lap of a strange man. Either way, I'm think it will be a memorable picture! John Grayson has his school Christmas party on Wednesday, and Friday we're taking a private tour of the mansion at Maymont. John and I made a donation to Maymont this year because it's our favorite place in Richmond. They were so excited about our donation that they invited us to see behind-the-scenes in the mansion. John and I are very excited (and hopefully the kids remember the '1 finger rule').

Here are some pictures of the kids decorating the tree: