Our Little Christmas

Following tradition, our little family of four celebrated our Christmas this weekend. Santa always makes a practice run to fill our stockings and remind us he knows where to arrive Christmas morning:

 And we give the kids our gift. I love Evan's face here:

 He had just opened a china tea cup. Then we told them we were going to the holiday market and high tea at the Carolina Inn:

 It was absolutely gorgeous:

And we actually took a really good family picture:

We had so much fun finding all of the twelve days of Christmas decorations throughout the Inn, and the tea was fabulous. We also were able to watch people arrive for a black tie gala, which was really fun! Issa found a beautiful ring at the market and got to meet the artist who created it, too!

We came home and snuggled in to just be and watch the Trolls holiday special, which is hysterical.

Evan did not find anything at the market, so he and Dad went to see the Star Wars movie yesterday, which did not disappoint. I made beef bourguignon and bread for dinner, and then we all set about making teacher gift ornaments. Issa and I perfected the technique when we made hers in the afternoon:

 But the boys brought a certain chaos to the crafting. At one point I was losing it: "Crafting is not about efficiency! Slow down!"

 We all laughed until we cried, and somehow the ornaments came out beautifully! We only have three days left until break, and I think we are looking forward to more family time.