Merry Christmas!

Christmas is upon us once again! It really is the most wonderful time of the year!!!

Dan and I were SUPER excited about Christmas this year, maybe even more than the kids. What a fun age to believe in the magic of Santa and Christmas. Our elf on the shelf, Paul, came to visit once again and we had fun seeing each morning where he landed. We also did Advent calendars first thing in the morning. Nothing like a piece of chocolate before breakfast!

We took the kids to see Santa and finally got a cute pic of them without tears or looks of total fear! Luke took his Toys R Us ad with him so he could show Santa the work goggles and weed eater he really really really wanted. Olivia was content to just sit with him. We also took the kids to see the dancing Berenstein Bears and then we treated them to lunch at their favorite place, Chick Fil A.

On Christmas Eve, Luke and Olivia left water and homemade cookies for Santa, along with a note. After they went to bed, the elves went to work assembling toys and getting stockings filled.

Happily Santa came to our house, and I even managed to grab a pic of him, too :) The kids couldn't believe that Santa was actually in our house! Christmas morning the kids woke up and ran to look over the balcony. Luke said "Santa came, Santa came!!!" It was adorable! They ran downstairs and almost didn't know which present to open first. We tried to take our time and enjoy opening presents, but it's hard with 2 excited four year olds. They are really good about taking turns opening gifts, which is really sweet, but before long it was a sea of paper and boxes.

Santa brought Luke a super cool excavator and Olivia got a vanity for her room. They got lots of puzzles, books and other presents as well. They seemed to really enjoy and appreciate each gift. It was heartwarming to see their faces of excitement and awe, and we treasure these days and memories so much!

Christmas Card Photos

It's getting easier and easier to snap some photos of Luke and Olivia, and it's SO nice!!! As long as we have a general idea of what photos we hope to capture, we can move pretty efficiently. Usually the candid photos are the best anyway! Thankfully our wonderful friend Marc gets behind the camera for us to help with family photos. We used some of these for our card this year.

Christmas Program

Time once again for the annual Cooks Christmas Program. Now that Luke and Olivia are in the "big kid class" (as they like to call it), they got to sing a few more songs this year and participate a little more. They have both been singing their hearts out around the house (Jingle Bells, We Wish you a Merry Christmas and Away in a Manger), but when the time came who knew what they would do.

Olivia was happy to sing the songs and Luke was content to just stand on stage, until it was time for the last song. He sang We Wish you a Merry Christmas with all of his heart. It was so cute to see them standing on stage with their friends and enjoying seeing us in the crowds. It had to be overwhelming for them to see so many people in the audience, and I'm proud that they stood up there for over 30 minutes. To see their smiling little faces waving to us in the crowd...melt my heart.

Mt. Holly Christmas Parade

Miss Rhonda's dance class participates in the Mt. Holly Christmas Parade every year, and Olivia's class got to ride on the float this year. It was a sea of red sweatshirts! Olivia had a great time waving to the crowds, and Luke enjoyed a sucker from the sidelines :)

Truck N Tiara Party

We got to celebrate Luke and Olivia's 4th birthday with a Truck N Tiara party at the clubhouse this year. We did lots of arts and crafts and had fun spending time with family and friends.

Since their first birthday, it's always been important to us for Luke and Olivia to feel that even though they share a birthday, it's a celebration of them as individuals as well. We always sing to them separately and have a cake for each of them. It's tough to be a twin sometimes and we hope that they always know how special each of them is to us, even if they were born only one minute apart. :)