Little People Party

When I grow up I want to be like my mom.  She is such a good grandma and mama!  She knows how to make the kids feel special and loved.  I am so grateful for her and for all the service she gives our family.  She is the best!  Dad is pretty awesome too.  He and Ollie have a special bond.  It must be the "George" thing.  He makes sure to have treats in the candy dish and of course, Ollie knows that he can always watch a show or two on Grandpa's iPad!  Oliver is always asking to go and see Grandpa.  (and Coach.)

My parents have started giving the grandkids Christmas experiences, instead of presents on Christmas morning.  Yesterday, the little grandkids got their turn for some Christmas fun with Grandma and Grandpa.

My mom set up the table nice and fancy and festive.  She made a beautiful Italian dinner with mac and cheese, lasagna, salad, and loaves and loaves of fresh french bread.  It was tasty!  The kids got a little bit wild at the dinner table.  But, they sure had fun playing with their Santa napkin holders and using real silverware.  The knives were especially entertaining.

After dinner, she handed out adorable artist smocks for the kids to wear.  She made them all out of cute dinosaur fabric and a special birdie fabric for Pepper.  The kids put on their new smocks and they did some finger painting.  It was a creative mess.  I thought it was interesting to see how the kids started out pretty timid.  They would dip one or two fingers in the paint at a time.  By the end, their hands were completely covered with the stuff!

Cord painted a picture of his bike.  

I think he likes me almost as much as his bike.  :)

Next, we decorated Christmas cookies.  The kids all frosted their cookies and then covered them with all sorts of fresh cut fruit.  They were tasty!

All little cousins are wild little things, but they sure love being around each other and playing together.  I am so glad that Ollie and Gage have such good little friends to party with.

They got to open a fun little gift from under the Christmas tree.  Gage got an awesome dinosaur art book.  He has been playing with it all day!  Ollie got a box of cute dinosaur magnets.  They were both very happy with their gifts.

On the way home, Gage said, "Mom, that was a GREAT party!"  I had to agree.  We are having a very Merry Christmas.