Day Twelve: Christmas Eve

Day 12 of the 12 Days of the Reeders' Christmas...

Christmas Eve did not quite go as planned this year, but it was still a very fun day. Jack woke up with a fever of 102 and spent the whole day battling the fever. Thankfully, we hadn't made any big plans for the day, so extra snuggle time was possible (he didn't let us put him down to sleep the entire day.) With Daddy home, we were still able to do fun, festive things with the big kids. We made salt dough ornaments to pass out to family and painted them later in the day. We made chocolate chip and M&M cookies for Santa (Mrs. Claus told us these were his favorites - with a sick baby, I was grateful his favorites were so easy to make!) We spent the day at home with our sick boy, watching Christmas shows and playing games. Before bed, the big kids snacked on cookies and hot chocolate, then we all snuggled on the couch to read Christmas books. Finally, the kids picked out cookies for Santa and a carrot for Dasher (the kids and Daddy had been tracking Santa on Daddy's phone and saw a note that Dasher was especially hungry.) The big kids were in bed by 9 but had a very hard time falling asleep - the excitement was overwhelming! While I didn't make it to Midnight Mass this year thanks to a very fussy baby who only wanted his mama, it was a great day...for most of us. (Jack's fever hit 103, not a happy camper!)

This was taken right before bed. It's not easy to see, but there are cookies, milk, and a carrot behind Jack's head. Jack was a trooper and took a great picture for us, despite feeling pretty crummy.

Day Eleven: Letters to Santa

Day 11 of the 12 Days of the Reeders' Christmas...

The kids had their letters to Santa written mid-November. Once the toy catalogs came in the mail, they feverishly started narrowing down what they wanted to ask for. We didn't get around to actually mailing the letters until a couple of weeks ago. Both of the big kids had 5 things on their list. Brooke's included a Barbie doll house, a Barbie Curls Doll, a Doc Mobile, a Dora & Friends Café, and an Elsa dress. Joe's included Batman Legos, a Ninja Turtle, a remote control car, dinosaurs, and the Paw Patrol Lookout Tower. We wrote a letter to Santa to let him know that all 3 kids had been good this year! And we let him know that Baby Jack didn't make a list because he wasn't picky :) We put the letter and lists in an envelope, and Daddy took it to a special mailbox at the Rec Center that goes straight to Santa. Just the other day, Santa wrote us back! Brooke, Joe, & Jack received a letter from Santa himself, telling them how proud he was of all of them for having such a great year & promising he'd stop at our house on Christmas night!

Day Ten: Entertrainment Junction

Day 10 of the 12 Days of the Reeders' Christmas...

On Friday, we went to Entertrainment Junction for a couple hours in the morning. Our kids have been before with others, but the husband and I had no idea what to expect. It was a fun morning! Joe really liked the train displays, though he had trouble slowing down enough to really look at them. (Our kids really struggle with being in the moment. They live in a constant state of "What's next?", something I think they get from me.) There was a big jungle gym with tunnels and a slide that they climbed through for a long time, train tables to play at, and a little train they could ride. After weaving our way through all of the displays, we moved into the holiday section where the kids got to meet Mrs. Claus and see Santa. This Santa was a tad more realistic than the first one we saw and I was able to snap a few good pictures. The kids liked getting some last-minute reassurance that they were still on his Nice List. Although we weren't there long, I'm so glad we took a timeout from all the shopping and wrapping and cleaning to spend some fun family time together :)

Day Nine: Christmas Lights Drive

Day 9 of the 12 Days of the Reeders' Christmas...

As we left dinner one night this week, the husband purposefully made a wrong turn, eliciting immediate "Wait, where are we going?" questions from our oldest. We proceeded to drive around the area looking for Christmas lights! Jack fell asleep for an evening nap within seconds of buckling him into his seat, giving us a quiet 30-45 minutes to find the best houses. Thanks to a tip from some friends, we headed straight to a local neighborhood we knew had lots of lights. It did not disappoint! We found a street where all but 1 of about two dozen houses was lit up! Then, as we weaved our way through the same neighborhood, we found the most well-lit house the husband and I have ever seen, with roughly 75 blow-ups and things to look at in the yard (the picture below does not do it justice!!) We ruled that the best house of the night when determining our top 3 at the end of our drive. We capped off our night with a trip through the Wendy's drive-thru for Frostys :)

Day Eight: Breakfast with Santa

Day 8 of the 12 Days of the Reeders' Christmas...

Breakfast with Santa was a highly anticipated event in our house this year! The kids talked about it for days before (and it might or might not have been used as a bargaining chip for good behavior...) When the morning finally arrived, they couldn't wait to see him. We all sang Jingle Bells as he entered the room (at which point my 2-year-old niece did her absolutely hysterical Will Ferrell impression from Elf with her cry of "Saaaantaaaaa!") Though he seemed pumped about seeing Santa all morning, Joe's nerves kicked in as it got closer and closer to our turn. Thankfully, watching his sister climb right up onto the Big Guy's lap without any hesitation gave Joe the confidence to do the same. Baby Jack was a little confused at first, staring at (a pretty terrible version of) Santa in bewilderment. He was ok when his big sibs were with him, but eventually started to cry when he went solo (making the Reeder family 5 for 5 on tearful Santa visits.) Santa gave each child a small present - games for Brooke & Joe and new sippy cups for Jack. It was a super fun morning!

Disclaimer: I'm not very happy with my pictures from this event. We've since been to visit another (much better looking) Santa and I got the classic pics I wanted (those will be posted soon!)

Day Seven: Festival of Lights

Day 7 of the 12 Days of the Reeders' Christmas...

We spent an evening with friends at the Cincinnati Zoo's Festival of Lights this week. The kids' eyes were wide as they took in all the twinkling light displays. Joe loved the tunnel of lights that leads into the zoo as well as the flashing tree by the entrance. Brooke's favorite spot was the fairy land by the elephant house that was filled with pink & purple lights. I'm pretty sure Jack's favorite part was the nap he took midway through :)

They have lots of fun Christmas activities for the kids. There were 4 reindeer for the kids to see; Brooke & Joe spent several minutes trying to guess which of Santa's reindeer they were (they both agreed one of them had to be Prancer.) Brooke got to write a letter to Santa and put it in the zoo's mailbox. A zoo employee told her that the letter would be taken to Santa that night - he said the reindeer fly back to the North Pole each night to get ready for Christmas. They also got to take pictures with Frosty & a gingerbread girl (Joe was very nervous and wouldn't get too close, though.) I think my favorite part was meeting Mrs. Claus. She's the best! There weren't any other children around so she spent a solid 5 minutes with the kids, telling them all of Santa's favorite things and about the North Pole. It was super cute!

It was freeeeezing cold with a fierce wind that did not help things. Although I prepared the kids for the cold (2 pair of pants each, sweatshirts under winter coats, hats/gloves/scarves/etc.), we found ourselves ducking inside every chance we got. This actually worked to our advantage, though, because our kids are usually too afraid to go in the "houses" at the zoo (think insect house, nocturnal house, cat house, etc.) Since there weren't any animals outside, this was the only way we got to see anything. Between the lack of animals and the bitter cold, our stay was brief. Despite this, we had a great time and the kids did, too.

Day Six: Christmas Book Countdown

Day 6 of the 12 Days of the Reeders' Christmas...

One of my favorite holiday traditions that we started a couple of years ago is our Christmas book countdown. On November 30th, I wrapped up 24 of our Christmas books. Every night in December, the kids take turns opening a book, and then we read it before bed. Since we pack away our Christmas books with our decorations, they barely remember which holiday books we have so it's exciting to open them. I usually add in a couple new ones each year, too. So much fun!