I was going to say that we had a really lovely Christmas Eve and then I recalled what actually happened that day and some of it was really stressful and completely out of our hands. But, we pulled through and made some beautiful memories. Every Christmas Eve, I can't help but think of the year 2016. Maeve was brand new and we ate frozen pizza for dinner because that newborn life is no cake walk! Every Christmas Eve that's a notch about that is a real win in my books! We went to a park and caroled with the neighbors. The girls opened up their Christmas Eve gifts. Buying matching jammies for all my girls was the best idea ever! We read our favorite Christmas tales and then we did our best to usher the kiddos into bed. Christmas is so magical!

Decorating the tree this year felt really calm. I love taking the ornaments out of the box and passing them to my girls to hang up. This year, I made felt mittens (free pattern) and have ambitions to make stockings too, but to say I have my hands full is an understatement! Maeve's branch full of all her ornaments is so cute! Maeve loves the Christmas tree, but she thinks the ornaments are toys. It's a tricky distinction.

This year, for a Christmas tree, we went to Greenbluff and cut a tree down at a tree farm. I've never been to a tree farm for a Christmas tree. We had original planned to cut down a tree from a national forest, but the ranger stations aren't open on the weekends this season which means I should've mailed in early for a permit. Right before we were going to drive out of town, I double checked and we regrouped and drove to Greenbluff. It was fun to pick out a tree and see it from every angle. I'm really happy with the beauty we chose!

Our Easter tradition is to put together a Scavenger Hunt for our girls and at the end they find a little parcel of prizes. We keep it small; this year's treats included candy and a t-shirt. Maeve had a little less candy and some Sesame Street figurines in her basket. Our girls are so thrilled by this tradition and you can see it in their smiles. It's fun!

Sometime before Christmas we made swedish gingerbread cookies and sugar cookies. Here are some pictures of my little helpers. Maeve got in like a dirty shirt grabbing fingerfuls of dough to eat! In December, Maeve added the word, "cookie" to her vocabulary.