Party and Holiday Prep...

Along with the busyness of the holidays and birthdays I have gotten a few runs in :) 

 And we made some gifts in jars for Linnea's teachers...Cinnamon Chip cake mix cookies and potato soup. Yummy!

Harper and I went out to lunch with some friends on another one of my days off. One of those friends was giving me a ton of hand me down gifts for Linnea and Harper too :) So nice! I put Harps in this cute lil Christmas outfit and we enjoyed our lunch, shopping for Linnea's party decor and a shopping spree for mommy at Old Navy.

Harper was so helpful crawling into everything the day before Linnea's birthday party :)

She loves to attempt to take everything out of this cooking supply cabinet to make a space for her to sit. We tried organizing it once by taking everything out when she was around and she crawled right in. Apparently she took notes since like I said that is all she wants to do now.

One of the hand me downs from my friend...a cozy winter nightgown! We let her have that as an early gift since my friends daughter was so curious if she liked it or not. I'd say she does :)

Christmas Programs

To add to the busyness of the weekend of the Holidazzle and the Henjum Christmas Gathering we also had Linnea's Sunday School Christmas program. She was a sheep and she was adorable. She sang to all the songs with a smile and I think she really "gets" the story of Jesus' birth, well as much as a almost 5 year old can. Harper also had a few things to say/sing during the program :)

We of course had to get some family pictures.

and a picture with her co-stars/friends.

That following Tuesday Linnea got to perform again with her preschool. It was another adorable program and Linnea did a great job. It is so fun to see her having fun with her friends and teachers.

We took a few pictures at home with just her and I. Harper actually wasn't with us, we would be meeting her at the program with my parents. She spent the night with them so my mom could watch her on Tuesday for us. Her first night away from us! I guess she did okay until around 1am until 2:30 am when she cried and cried since she didn't know where she was or where we were. But mom slept with her after that and everything was fine.

And here a few pics of the program and having fun with friends and treats after the super sweet program:

They also put all the kids cute Christmas crafts up :)

Henjum Christmas Gathering, Santa and NPC Play Group

We had our annual New Parent Connection (NPC) playgroup the morning after Christmas in Downtown Mpls. The kids played beautifully, the adults chatted, everyone snacked and then we did the book exchange. Harper got a cute lift the flap zoo book and Linnea got Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2.

We had a lil time to spare in between the play group and my parents house soooo naturally we packed an activity in and we went to see Santa again! He was at Valley Creek Mall this time which is a mile from my parents house so it was perfect. Both girls sat on his lap and there were no tears at all. This time Linnea said she wanted a Brave dress and a book for Harper. When we saw him Red Wing outside she wanted Spin Art...hmmm what will Santa bring :)

My parents hosted the Annual Henjum Christmas Gathering with my dads siblings, their kids and their kids' kids...I think there were a dozen kids there! We had plenty of yummy food, lots of toys and playing and some crafts. It was a great day :)

 Harper enjoying her favorite chair :)

 Linnea and Kaylan loving playing with a friend of cousin Nathan's and a game of pin the nose on Rudolph.

 craft time!

 Cookie time!

What a fun time had by all! we ended the day by watching Prep and Landing :)

Macy's 8th Floor and Holidazzle

Friday the 13th we met our friends downtown for one of my favorite holiday activities...Macy's 8th Floor and the Holidazzle Parade. This is the last year for the parade so I'm so glad we squeezed it into our crazy December.

waiting in line!

blinded by my camera flash...Sophia and Linnea :)

We loved the parade and hope that next years winter festival they are saying they are having is comparable