Christmas

Today I attended Nolan’s third (and final) Christmas party at his preschool today. As usual it was fun and entertaining to watch Nolan in his school surroundings. He really seems to like his school friends, teachers, and genuinely enjoys learning. I cannot believe this time next year he will be celebrating the season in Kindergarten. BIG sigh!

Getting ready for refreshments

Playing “Pin the Tail on the Donkey” or also known as “Put Baby Jesus in his Manger”

Notice where Nolan placed his Baby Jesus. Notice the placement of the majority of the other Baby Jesus’. In Nolan’s defense he was blindfolded. Of course so were the other children.

They gave out a bell for the Baby Jesus closest to his manager. They also gave a bell for the Baby Jesus closest to Heaven. Guess which one Nolan won?

Making a Gingerbread House out of graham crackers and icing. Guess who mainly put that together?

Still working…..

Nolan’s Best School Buddy Ben. They are adorable to watch together. His mom and I commented today they are NEVER sitting next to each other. Their teachers figured out that was a bad idea early on.

Playing Bingo

Saying Merry Christmas to his sweet teacher Ms. Monica. If she does not refer to a child by their name, she always calls them “My Friend.” She is wonderful!!

Another celebration over!

On Saturday we took the boys with James’ sister, brother-in-law, and their precious little one, Lily, to Grapevine to ride the “North Pole Express.” This is the third year Nolan has embarked on this Christmas tradition. It is amazing to see how much more he enjoys it each year. Griffin and Lily had a great time riding on the train too. There was plenty of banging on the windows in excitement as we traveled along! Santa also made a visit and to my surprise (after Griffin’s reaction to Santa last Wednesday. That is another post), Santa was somewhat welcomed by the crew. The train is modeled after the story “The Polar Express” thus why the kids are in their pajamas!

Here is the link to the pictures.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamesprescott/sets/72157622871417057/detail/

A few nights ago, “Nolan the Elf” made his return to the Prescott household after a few weeks of speculation on when his arrival may occur. (More about who Nolan the Elf is here). Thankfully Nolan the Elf was able to find our new home. I cannot believe this is our third year that Nolan the Elf has visited up during the holiday season. Time is certainly flying by!

When Nolan discovered Nolan the Elf on our mantle this year he was excited to see him. But of course he would not our Nolan if he did not quickly point out that Nolan the Elf “may be fake. He is just frozen all the time and won’t move” he said. After that comment I think our days of Nolan the Elf may be numbered.

Until then Nolan looks forward to finding our little elf friend each morning. Today Nolan expressed his concern for Elf’s safety when he found him in the middle of our lighted snow village. “I am thinking he may burn up” he said.

On a side note, James and I have not been very good on remembering to move elf each night. It is always a mad dash in the morning (or even in the middle of the night) when I remember! There is no room for error with this Christmas bribery system. One slip up and the gig really is up!

Wonders never cease. I managed to get the Christmas video for 2008 done before 2010. As you’ll see, this was the first year that Nolan didn’t need reminding that it was Christmas. He was 100% on board this time around, and I expect next Christmas will be the first where he has trouble sleeping on Christmas Eve.

These videos are getting harder to do now that he talks all the time. I can’t just edit random clips together with a song anymore. The upside of all the talking is that he says some pretty funny things.

Because we’ve posted so many videos this weekend, don’t forget these:

• Christmas 2007
• Nolan the Rock Star 2: Electric Boogaloo

Also, I think a lot of people may have missed this one from a few months back:

• Griffin’s Arrival

And now, here’s Christmas 2008. Enjoy!

It’s only a year (or so) late, but I finally had some free time to do the Christmas video from 2007. It’s odd to watch this one now, having just seen a much older Nolan experience Christmas this year.

All of us were sick, so this is probably the most no frills video you’ll ever see from us. I could barely stay awake to hold the camera, and it shows. There are still some funny moments as this is the first Christmas where Nolan could speak well and started to get Christmas.

Enjoy!