December: Leading up to Christmas

I love Mr. Man, I do, he is loyal, dedicated, a great father, motivated, and the man does not know how to relax. He started his "vacation" with a bang and a plan, "Let's clean out the house!" 

I kept protesting, "Pourquoi? Mr. Man, it's Christmas!  I still have gifts to buy, to wrap, and baking to do."  Mr. Man assured me it would all get done and he was right, even though I threw several tantrums along the way.    We worked as a team and everything came together for the most part.  

The kids decorated Gingerbread houses while Mr. Man & I purged the closets. 

They turned out great, and the best thing I did this year was buy the ones that are pre-assembled, I'll have to remember that for next year. 

Mr. Boys looks a bit like it's frowning, but no worries it's actually a door with two upstairs windows. 

We took one day off and ventured to Universal Studios for the day!  It's just a stone's throw away from our house and we ended up getting passes for the year.   

So very fun, and a fun break from cleaning out closets.

My favorite was that they had an actual Kwik E Mart from The Simpsons. While the studio tour had some fun features, but it wasn't nearly as fun as hanging out with Mr. Man on the Warner Bros lot.  Even Mr. Boy said, "What we can't go into the soundstages? Daddy.. tell them it's okay!"  I don't think Mr. Boy knows that not everyone has a dad who works in the Entertainment Biz. 

One of the nights, Mr. Man arranged for a night out for me to see the musical, "White Christmas" with Mr. Mans extended family and cousins.  Ms. Cousin and I shared lots of laughs during the evening. 

One day Mr. Man and I split up the kids and went on our own "dates".   AK and I headed over to Nordstroms for lunch and some shopping.   We were on the hunt for the holy grail of all gifts for Mr. Boy and were coming up empty handed, yikes!

We attended my company Christmas Party, which I love because it is a family affair.  The kids love it because they get all the root beer they want plus gifts. 

Mr. Boy was hiding out under the table anxiously awaiting his gift. 

We ended the day with a marathon Merry Go Round session on this fabulous Merry Go Round that has Reindeer and Sleighs. 

The house was cleaned out and tidy, the holiday activities complete, the Christmas Cards were mostly out, gifts were purchased, and it was the evening of December 23rd.  Phew!  We had packed in the festivities!