Countdown To Christmas

Lots of anticipation this week as the BIG day approached. We prepared for Santa's arrival in many ways.

Sage had a short-lived fascination with Santa hats. 

And he debuted his new Christmas jam jams from Grandma Carter.

He literally wore them for 10 minutes, because shortly after taking this picture, I found him elbow deep in the toilet. He does this a lot. Can't take your eye off him for a second!!!

We watched all the classic Christmas movies. 

My personal favorite is Chevy Chase's National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation!!!

We did some Christmas crafts.

And on Saturday evening we went to the Gardens on Spring Creek for the Garden of Lights display. 

Each light display mimics plants that normally grow in the garden. Pictured above are Sage and Matt standing in front of tomato plants. And below, they are standing in front of grape vines.

Water pouring from a giant watering can.

And then it was time to meet the big man himself. 

Look at us. Together we are Christmas! Green and red. I swear we didn't plan it.

On Sunday I did some baking. While I worked on cranberry pistachio biscotti, Sage had his own unique baking experience. I gave him a cup of flour and a variety of colored sprinkles. Quite the sensory experience. And quite the mess! 

Biscotti pre-baking.

The finished product.

Matt and I both worked Monday and Tuesday. But we both ended the workday early on Christmas Eve. Thank goodness! I was home shortly after noon. And that's exactly why I didn't request it off. It would have been a waste of a vacation day. I knew they couldn't keep us until 5pm! 

I picked up some to-go food at our favorite restaurant, Mt Everest Cafe. The tradition is to eat out on Christmas Eve. But since Sage isn't restaurant-friendly right now, we opted for take-out. And it was a wonderful decision.

We had a relaxing evening. Cleaning, prepping food, and wrapping last-minute gifts. We bought ourselves some time by giving Sage playdough and cookie cutters. Just when I think I'm out of ideas...I stumble across something new.

About an hour before Sage's bedtime, we thought it best to let him open one present. The first gift of Christmas!! He had plenty to open the next day.... and I was desperate to entertain him, as we had already tucked away all the old toys in preparation for the new ones.

He got a puzzle! 

Hours later, Santa arrived and filled the living room with presents, 3/4 of which were for Sage. I could barely sleep the night of Christmas Eve. I was so excited for the next day. 

The Tree Fiasco

This week, we finally got our Christmas tree trimmed! But it was quite the fiasco. In fact, we are considering making a move to fake trees after the troubles we had this past week.We originally tried to purchase a tree after work one evening. I think it was Thursday December 5th. But it was literally 10 degrees outside. And since temps were dipping well below zero every night, the trees were piled on top of each other in a make-shift plastic tent. When cut trees are exposed to extremely cold temps, they will lose their needles very rapidly after placement in a warm house. I appreciate that the nursery made an attempt to protect the trees. But it was hard to pick out a favorite, in the dark, in the cold, and in the plastic tent.

Temperatures were expected to warm up over the weekend, and a new shipment of trees was on its way from Oregon. To be delivered on Monday. And so we waited.

 However, driving conditions outside of the state delayed the delivery. Monday turned into Tuesday. Tuesday into Wednesday. Finally, on Thursday December 12th were were able to purchase the prized family Christmas tree. In Clark Grizwold fashion, we take this decision very seriously.

The winning tree tied to the top of my car.

To make space for the tree, we moved the couch away from the living room window. Sage was very excited about having access to this window. He likes to look at all the Christmas lights in the cul-de-sac.

We moved the tree indoors. Cut the wire wrap. And gave it the first watering. 

And then we opened up our new boxes of LED Christmas lights.

But after applying several strands to the Christmas tree, we all decided we hated the new LED look. Not only were the bulbs mismatched in color (some bright white and some tea stained), but the florescent glow they emitted sort of made us feel like we were inside a Walmart. In the words of Matt, "These lights kind of make me hate Christmas." I totally agreed!

And so Friday at lunch we returned $125 worth of Christmas lights and bought the traditional cheap non-environmental ones we remember from childhood. Much better! 

But there was little time to decorate the tree that evening, as I had big plans! Lainey and I went out for a mommy-only night. We drank, we dined, and we dished. The husbands stayed at home with the babes. And I had a great time!

Below is a picture of the Woodland Pizza I had a 415 (one of my top 3 favorite restaurants). This thing had figs, goat cheese, fancy greens, and a balsamic reduction. Incredible! 

Lainey and I stayed out so late on Friday, that we actually closed the bar down. I'm not sure I've ever done that! 

On Saturday, I was very tired....

but we had some tree decorating to do!

To accommodate the Christmas tree, we had to rearrange the living room furniture. Sage is using this to his full advantage. Nothing is off limits for this kid. We've had to put all our decorations up super high!

I'm pretty proud of myself for putting together this cute little ensemble. He's so dang cute in those overalls!

Throwing ornaments like baseballs...

Helping dad with the lights.

I think I need to move this footstool!!

 

On Saturday evening, I was back out on the town! Matt and I had dinner reservations and tickets to the Fort Collins Nutcracker Ballet. (This was our 3rd night out alone, without Sage, since his birth. I guess we are averaging about 1 date every 6 months.) 

We went to Taverna, where they lit imported cheese on fire, filled our bellies with Greek food, and then served up a gigantic cobbler for dessert. I swore I would never eat again.

On Sunday we took Sage out for a romp in the snow.

Matt made a snowman...complete with a top hat! 

All is well in the Diemer household. The shopping is finished. Trees are trimmed. Menus are prepared. All I have to do is get through CSU's graduation this Saturday and then it's smooth sailing (or should I say sledding???) all the way to Christmas!!