Lovey

After going through a catalog, Emily had her heart set on a life-size lamb stuffed animal.  Well, there was no way in the world that Lee and I were getting it for her, so I passed along THE gift idea to my sister, along with the previously mentioned Easy Bake Oven.  Emily is completely in love with this creepy looking lamb, who she calls Lovey.

Worlds largest gift bag.

The Easy Bake Oven

Auntie Kathy called me several weeks ago and wanted to know what THE present was on Elizabeth's Christmas list, the gift that she wanted most of all.  For the last few months, Elizabeth has been talking about the Easy Bake Oven - I'm not sure why she wants her own oven when we can cook together in our own kitchen, but she talks about it non-stop.  So Auntie Kathy and Uncle Peter got it for her!!!

Serious excitement!!

On Christmas Eve Eve, Elizabeth got to work, baking whoopie pies for Santa:

SOOOOOO HAPPY!!!!

Forgot to mention - these are red velvet whoopie pies.....

Carefully reading the instructions.

Into the oven!

Time for the frosting.

VERY proud of herself!

Boy, don't those look yummy......

More O'Connor Christmas

The girls got so many spectacular gifts from their aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents last weekend!

Furry slippers from Uncle Joe and Auntie Karen!! 

What a diva!! 

YES!!! 

Harry Potter movie! 

Beautiful ornaments. 

Outfits for their beloved American Girl Dolls!!!

Where in the House is Nick: Week Four

Another week of visits from Nick!

Eat your oatmeal!!!

Hanging out in Mommy's stocking on Monday.

Paying homage to the baby Jesus on Tuesday.

Swinging from the dining room light on Thursday. 

Thirsty on Friday!!

We found him on Emily's new bookshelf on Saturday morning.  "Well, he is an elf on the SHELF," she pointed out in delight!

Hanging on to our kitchen light for dear life on Sunday!!

Birthday Party

Last Sunday, we attended a birthday party for Jesus at our church.  It was a great way to unwind from the chaos of our trip to New Hampshire and to think about the true meaning of Christmas.

Working on a manger scene in stickers. 

Snack time! 

More Christmas crafts. 

First of Many Celebrations

Last weekend, we kicked off the Christmas season by celebrating with my family in New Hampshire.  Our time together is always short, but we always seem to make the best of it.  The girls had a wonderful time playing with their cousins and chatting with their aunts and uncles.  We had more fun watching them open gifts this year than any year I can remember.  More on the girls' gifts in another post, but here are some photos from our celebration:

At least someone in our family had a nice tree this year.... 

Joe and Mom, sharing some shrimp. 

Let the gift giving begin! 

I remember Meghan's first Christmas like it was yesterday - hard to believe she's a junior in high school now! 

Hit the jackpot with an Alex & Ani bracelet. 

Sparkly headbands! 

Guess she wanted this game! 

All blinged out! 

Meghan got a stunning ring from Emily! 

The girls! 

The meat inspector...