Christmas time!

December started out with our church Christmas party! Our ward had an ugly sweater contest, and that is something that I can not NOT enter!
Stanton was really worried for me. He didn't think I should wear my homemade ugly sweater smock, and he definitely didn't think I should have been running around jingling the bells on the bottom of it for people. However, once he realized I WON the contest (ok, 3rd place) he was proud and impressed!
I was also the party's emcee, and Stanton was also worried that no one would laugh at the Christmas jokes I prepared. He had cause to worry about that one. 

The party was so much fun, good times, good food, good friends!

The primary kids sang a couple songs for everyone, and Noelle was very excited to play the chime for it. She nailed it!

The kids got to visit with Santa, and then the 3 wise men payed a visit to the children afterwards.

The next night Noelle and I kept up our Christmas tradition by going to the Nutcracker Ballet, and this year in matching dresses. Our friends came with us,and all of us girls went to dinner before and dessert after and had the time of our lives!

 The next night we went to a live nativity at the Presbyterian Church down the street from us. It was so beautiful, and it really felt just like they called it, "A Journey to Bethlehem."

The next day, my new friend Maria (who I met in the drive thru cause she liked making  fun of my 2/3 Diet Coke with 1/3 regular Coke on top mixed drink order) invited us on a private tour of the chocolate factory that she works at, Not only did we get to see how everything is made, but we got to use the chocolate covered cherry shaker, AND EAT AS MANY OF ANY KIND OF CHOCOLATE WE WANTED! She just let us have our pick of it all! We were so full, and to top it all off, she gave us a bag to fill up and take home.
It was one of the funnest thing we've ever done, and now the kids are obsessed with Maria and wanna visit her all the time at her other job at McDonalds...perhaps another tour is in our future (:

A few days later after school we made giant gingerbread men. Our favorite stories to read are different variations of the Gingerbread Man (the one made out of fry bread, the one made out of latkes, the one made out of tortillas/gorditas/churros.) They're all so good, so we made our own.

We also went sledding for our first time ever! It was unbelievably fun!

We went to three different hills! On the last one Stanton flew off of a big giant boulder that we didn't see and Robert smacked into a tree. They were both totally fine, and felt cooler and braver for having done so!

A few days later we had our 11th Annual Curry Christmas party! The theme this year was Christmas around the world.The friends were fun (and some were costumed.)! The food was ethnic and tasty, and the white elephant game was intense! It was like the Hunger Games of gift giving, but somehow I managed to win the Home Depot nutcracker that I desperately wanted. I was happy!

We took the kids on the free horse and carriage rides downtown. It was so magical clippety clopping down the streets, with all the lights and decorations! So magical, that I decided to start singing Jingle Bells from the beginning, thinking that at least a few of the 20 people on the carriage would join in, not a single one. My family's mouths were moving, but I'm pretty sure they were lip syncing because it felt to me like my solo performance was never going to end.

The kids really loved it. They kept waving at all the cars passing us.

And it's official now, drinking hot chocolate and being pulled by a horse are mine and Noelle's new favorite hobby!

Then we went inside and listened to carolers sing. (Where were they on the carriage ride when I needed them for Jingle Bells?)

The next night we went to the Davenport Hotel to see their humungus Christmas tree display. Each tree is decorated with a different theme. This one was camping, the boys' favorite!

We also made igloos out of sugar cubes and frosting. Then I gave the kids penguins and polar bears to stick inside when they were done, but they informed me that neither penguins or polar bears live in igloos. I googled it and found out they were right, that only Inuit Eskimoes live in igloos.
I admitted to them I was wrong, and they reminded me that it wasn't the first time. Then I reminded them what a super fun mom I am who comes up with all sorts of enriching activities for them, and we all agreed to use our imaginations and pretend the polar bears were eskimoes.

We also colored some pictures to get free pizza kits and made our own delicious creations. We liked it so  much we did it again on Christmas Eve-eve too!

Winston and I went to a Christmasy story time at the library and made a wintery bear craft, built a block city and checked out hundreds of books that we will never remember to return on time. It was such a sweet time together, and I know Winston enjoyed himself because whenever he is extra excited about something, he does somersaults. It's one of my favorite things about him! We will be walking, and he will just spontaneously run and do a somersault. It's the cutest thing in the whole world, and I don't ever wanna forget it!

 We colored all sorts of pictures and gathered up our friends and went to the nursing home down the street to sing carols and hand out pictures and sugar free goodies.

We met so many sweet Grandmas and Grandpas, sang lots of songs and gave out lots of hugs. It was a perfect activity, and the kids are all truly excited to go back!

Then we took our family Christmas card picture...I couldn't find a donkey to do the Christmas picture I'd envisioned, so I decided to wrap up our family.
First was Noelle, but she kept wiggling and ripping her paper. Then, I wrapped Stanton, but he complained of an itchy nose and no arms. Next I wrapped Winston, and he was doing great, until I gave them all a mint to eat while I wrapped Robert. Winston started choking on his mint while I was calling our neighbor to tell her we were ready for her to come take the picture. Robert busted out of his wrapping paper to help Winston, just as he barfs all over the place and I cry because I'm a bad mom for wrapping up my children, and how nothing I plan ever turns out right....
However, after everything was cleaned up, we re-wrapped ourselves. Our neighbor came back to take our picture at 9:00pm on a school night, and we gave each other armless wrapping paper hugs and laughed at our crazy new Christmas memory.

 On Christmas Eve we went to the free showing of Elf (our favorite) at the Imax theater, and then we continued our family tradition of Mexican food for Christmas Eve dinner. Winston fell asleep, so we put a sombrero on him.

Then we had a great time talking in Spanish to the waiter and listening to him tell us about his mariachi band in Guadalajara. He even showed it to us on a map.
After that we went home,and Robert and I played a Feliz Navidad trumpet/piano duet, which the kids guessed was Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Then we sang all of our own favorite Christmas songs together, read Christmas books and acted out a family Christmas nativity. It was a perfect night for a perfect holiday!