Day 7... Cookie Exchange/Nutcracker/MNO... Phewww!

Third straight day of complete sanity begins!



Just look at our little Christmas Countdown! Can't believe we have only 1 more week to go till Christmas is here. :)



We started our day with a cookie exchange at our friends The Glowackas. It was pretty laid back. A small number of kids and a huge number of cookies! LOL. The kids all decorated and ate their own sugar cookies,





and as if that wasn't enough sugar, we had snowmen and sprinkled donuts from Krispy Kreme for good measure! Num, Num, Num...




We had some cuddles and giggles with the young'ens...






and the kids played while the Moms stuffed box after box after box full of treats to go home with. Oy Vey! lol.



But some of the girls were cute about posing for some pics before we left. There is nothing like friends at Christmas time.






After the cookie exchange we dropped Ryen off with Daddy and me and Ella got ready for our "date" to The Nutcracker. We both get dressed up every year and she gets to wear make-up. :) She loves it. Here we are front row at the show.



And Ella and goofball Samantha who loves to ham it up and be dramatic for the camera! See her smelling her fake flower from her headband here! LOL



Samantha and Alexa



Nina and Manolito



Paulina and Alexa



Act One




During intermission the girls danced. And danced. And danced. And danced. LOL



Act Two




After the show some girls came out and recreated the story of the Grinch. This part I could have done without. There was a lot of skimpy dressed little girls gyrating and doing hip hop. Check out the stripper like costume on this little girl on the left???? Unnecessary, in my opinion. At one point the girls turned their butts to the audience and bent over and touched the ground while sticking their butts up out at the audience and they just held it like that for an uncomfortably long time, in their skimpy costumes. I swear, this is true. lol.



But the best part was when they brought Santa out on stage. And they invited all the kids up to meet him. Santa spent a lot of time with each child... (not to sound again like an overprotective parent but he almost spent a little too much time with each kid). Long after we had snapped our share of photos he continued to cuddle with, talk with, and stroke the hair of some children for a bit longer. Other parents commented too and a few of us were like "Ok Santa, we got our photo op, we're good. Thanks!" LOL Maybe he is just a real nice guy who loves kids and wants to give them a great experience, and it is sad that you even have to worry or wonder about things like this. But check out the pics below and you will see what I mean. Most people have time to snap one or two only...

Ella and Santa (here are the two I got that I LOVE)



(and here are the 9 extra pics I took cause I had nothing else to do but stand there lol)



After we found the Nutcracker and the Mouse King and had a photo taken. Ella was nervous of the Mouse King at first. She thought he might want to "eat her". LOL. But we also found her FAVORITE person, The Sugar Plum Princess.



And this was her favorite photo of all...



Ella loved it and next year Ryen will be old enough to join us on our annual Mother Daughter Nutcracker event. :)

After The Nutcracker it was off to home to help feed and put the kids to bed and then head out for our annual MNO Christmas Dinner and gift exchange. We went to Chelsea's Kitchen in Phoenix. The place was very cute and the food was delish. As was the pitcher of White Sangria. Yum... We actually opted this year to do an ornament exchange instead of a gift exchange so we could put more money towards a nice meal instead of a gift. It was fun. We did it Yankee Swap style but it was a little lame cause no one stole from anyone. I guess it is just too damn tempting to find out what is still wrapped, than it is to grab what is already out in the open! The whole what is behind door #2 mentality. LOL Here are some pics:







And the ornament that got the most attention was the one made by Sue. It had all the NDMs names on snowmen hats and scarves. It was really cute!! Brooke got to take it home with her :)



And when it came to our group photo... well this was interesting. The first one we took in the restaurant, but of course we are women and never happy with how we look. Puffy sweaters, pockets on dresses etc were making some of us want a re-do.



So outside we went to ham it up for an eager valet who I think appreciated our show! LOL



And finally!! A WINNER!!! LMAO



And PS hell yeah I am proud of my legs looking skinny in pictures WITHOUT the help of editing. That hasn't happened in awhile. Go bootcamp!!! :) YAY! Overall it was a busy day and night and I was exhausted by the end of it, but more great memories to add to this Holiday season and more quality time with good friends is always worth it. Merry Christmas everyone! ONE WEEK TO GO!!!