Random Holiday Festiveness Pt. 2

Two sleeps until Christmas! I'm equal parts disbelief that Christmas is here and so so excited to see the boys' faces on Christmas morning. Things have been quiet around the blog lately while we do "one last round of shopping" approximately twenty times now... Take it from me, this is not the best time of year to forget that one crucial thing off your shopping list because there's no such thing as a quick run to the store the week before Christmas. 

Thankfully Ez and Declan have been troopers. When we haven't been waiting in lines we've been having lots of fun as we continue traditions from last year and add a few new ones to the mix as well, all while Christmas music plays in the background. 

About 80% of our presents are wrapped, and this year presented the new challenge of trying to explain to a toddler that he is not the recipient of every single package. Sometimes we actually give presents to other people. That little talk didn't go over well. I'm hoping when Christmas comes and he actually gets to hand the presents to all his family he'll feel differently. 

I've also been in full on Christmas movie mode. Both boys seemed to like Elf, Charlie Brown's Christmas, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas plus of course Mickey's Christmas Carol. It was a proud moment when I asked Ez if he wanted to watch Cars and instead he requested Chawley Brown. For me it's just not Christmas without Love Actually, which I've yet to watch. Saving the best for last. Here's what else we've been up to this month:

We decorated Ez's first gingerbread house awhile back and he took his job as candy placer very seriously. 

We made salt dough ornaments:

and decorated cookies:

I got my parenting act together this year and made some hand and footprint Christmas crafts. I'm so sad that I skipped this Ez's first Christmas, but better late than never. The handprints are salt dough (1 cup salt, 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup water - refrigerated for awhile before handling, then baked at 200 for 3ish hours). And I used each boys' foot to make one half of a Christmas tree:

Happy Christmas Eve eve!