Moments with the McGuires: 'tis the season!

Today we celebrated Christmas at our house before we leave town to be with family. I quickly realized that we had enough pictures and fun that it probably needs its own post. So here is a look at our time leading up to today.

We headed out the weekend after Thanksgiving to pick out our family Christmas tree at the Home Depot that is close to our house. But before we left, our Elf came for a visit for the first time. After reading the story, Teagan decided to name her Joseph {as in Mary and Joseph}. But when we told her that was a boy name and her elf was a girl, she settled on Josephine instead. Ohhh, and it has been so much fun ever since. She tells Josephine goodnight before she takes a nap, tells her goodbye before we leave to run errands, and gets excited to find her each morning. And she incorporates her into the story of the first Christmas. She learned about the angel that appeared to the shepherds, and when we asked her what the angel said she told us, "Hey Josephine!" So, she may think that Josephine was around for that first Christmas. Now she'll sometimes tell us that as a joke because we thought it was so funny the first time.

Patrick prides himself in being able to pick out the 8 foot tree that is marked as 6-7 foot one. If you know him, you know he loves to save a buck or two. This year, he did it again. That was before the guy cutting the tree took 5 inches off the bottom. Ohhhh boy.

"Hey Teagan, see that one back there stacked underneath all the other trees. I think that's a tall one."

...and my laughing ensued as I watched him pick up and move 10+ trees to get to the tall one to save a few bucks. Ha, and then the guy cut off 5 inches.

Decorating this year took several days. By the time we got the tree set up on the first night, it was time for Teagan and Reynolds to go to sleep. So the next night we did the lights. And the next came the ornaments. All the while we wanted Teagan to be able to participate, but most of the time she was more interested in dancing to the Christmas music that we had playing in the background. Reynolds hung out in the nap nanny for most of it.

...refusing to stop dancing to take a picture.

We went to visit Santa at Perimeter Mall this year. We waited 0 minutes and Santa was so nice. It certainly beat the hour we waited for Teagan's first Christmas and the angry Santa we saw last year. We've learned a few things since then. Go early and while the kids are still in school, not on the Saturday before Christmas. Seems like a no brainer, but we were newbies at that point.

...nervous twirling of the hair when she was telling him what she wanted for Christmas. Which is: "a lollipop and a cow!" And when you ask with surprise, "A lollipop and a cow?!?!?!?" She'll tell you, "Yes. A red, big lollypop and a cow necklace." We probably have about as much an idea of where this came from as you do. We knew she liked the ChickfilA cow, but a cow necklace?! No clue.

So maybe Santa's dark eyebrows make him look a little scary, but he was so sweet to them!

Teagan asks for a Christmas dance party....every.single.night. Ohhh my goodness, we love it! I hope this little tradition continues, because when she looks up at her dad and says, "Dance with me daddy, dance!" we both melt.

When Mariah Carey comes on, you better believe the whole family is dancing! {And when Mary Did You Know comes on, you better believe we're all singing...opera style of course.}

Patrick and I both remember driving around with our families to look at lights, so that was definitely a tradition that we wanted to continue. We added to it this year by everyone getting in their pjs and picking up a fun treat while we were out {because pjs and treats make everything more fun}. And since Teagan requests a dance party every night, this night was no different. It was a perfect little night. I started having a mini-meltdown when I looked around at our dance party and how much I love life right now. Patrick noticed it, and decided I needed to hear, "They'll never be this little again." Waterworks. Seriously, so very thankful to God for the blessings he has poured out on our life in the form of this little family of ours. I thought my heart was going to burst. I pray that these nights continue to end with dance parties like this and that our kids won't find themselves getting too embarrassed by us to let this happen.