The festivities have begun!

This post is going to be picture-heavy-- since Thursday morning, we've had 1) a pre-school Christmas party, 2) a family Christmas celebration with the Smith clan, and 3) a family wedding. All were fun, and Moses was a trooper for all of them!

It started Thursday morning with his preschool Christmas party (at which, I might add, he received Melissa&Doug waterpaints in the gift exchange-- the PERFECT gift for this little guy!). Here he is stringing beads on the candy-cane craft:

AND, here he is getting ready for a class picture:

He LOVES this little girl (and, from what I can tell, the admiration is returned...) and calls her Abby. The thing is, that's NOT her name...

Right after school, we left for central Illinois for a Christmas party with K's family. Thankfully, we avoided the ice storm that hit that night!

Here is Moses having fun with cousins, and checking out his cool new toys:




The poor little guy still doesn't quite "get" the gift idea. He wanted to leave his presents wrapped, and when Daddy started to unwrap them for him, Moses freaked out just a little and tried to put the paper back on.

And finally, Saturday was what could be one of the most fun wedding receptions I have ever been to. Not only did we get to see a TON of family and friends that we see only rarely anymore, but we also got to see.... Santa! I mean really, what Christmas wedding reception could be complete without a visit from the big red guy, bringing gift bags to all of the children?

K & me:

K & Moses:

Moses & me:

Moses was apparently a big hit with the ladies all weekend:

I have NO idea who that girl was (perhaps she left a slipper behind?). But when she ran off to do something else, Moses went for her older sister (he just walked right up and asked her to dance!):

Moses is still terrified of Santa (all I could get was this blurry pic), but he sure did enjoy the treats that Santa brought!

I would be remiss if I did not add that, after eating only sugar cookies, cucumbers, and suckers all night, Moses later threw up all over PaPa. But he was fine after that. Although it was a little gross picking cucumber seeds off of Moses' clothes...

Phew. I am exhausted just looking at all that we did-- and Christmas isn't even here yet! We still have a Christmas celebration with my family, the Christmas Eve service at our church, and Christmas Eve/Morning with our family of three. And I still need to bake more goodies, or Santa will not have much to choose from!

BUT, as of this afternoon, we are OFF work-- and are greatly looking forward to spending time with Moses!