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Molly's had some Legos for some time, but she hasn't been into playing with them until the past couple of weeks. Here she is constructing the Lego Friends Beauty Shop while I took Leah to ballet. Chad was very impressed with how well she focused and followed the directions for the hour and a half it took to build it.

It goes right there…

All done and even a nice, calm pose.

Well, the nice, calm pose didn't last long.

Can't.stop.laughing.

Now that construction is complete, she can focus on playing with the completed product.

Like the last several years, I handmade several of my Christmas gifts this year. Some of them have made it on the blog already, but many have not. So, I'll share them all.

You may recall that we spent an early Thanksgiving with my family in Memphis. I took the opportunity to give my niece and nephew a few gifts early so they could get the most wear out of them.

Emmie loved her new Tianna dress!

And really, how stinkin' cute are these monster hats?!

I used teacher gifts as yet another reason to use my Silhouette. This Summer Countdown will be a lot of fun for Molly's class.

I also did a bit of baking for the teachers. Leah's two teachers and Molly's three paraeducators loved the cranberry white chocolate cookies.

In discussing what to give Pop for Christmas, I thought a nice, large fleece blanket would be useful. So, I made one in Pop's favorite Navy colors.

I found these mini trifle bowls and thought they'd be a perfect gift for Beth. Though I couldn't just leave them plain, so I etched fun desserty words on them.

Beth rarely entertains with just 4 people, so I made her a second set as well.

My grandmother likes to hang wreaths on her apartment door, so I made her this yarn wreath with felt flowers. My mail carriers (aka my parents) were glad that it traveled well in a suitcase.

For several years, my extended family has made donations or done a service project in honor of another family member. I honored my aunt's passion for enriching teacher's lives by trying to enrich the lives of school children. I made six pillowcases to be "purchased" at the annual Back to School Clothing Drive distribution for underprivileged kids.

And lastly, in light of recent events, I thought these Soon to Be mugs would be a perfect birthday gift for EA.

She loved the mugs, and Scott was even more thrilled that he got to share part of EA's gift!

Due to the snow, we spent Boxing Day at home playing with new toys. Leah got some fun salon toys, so the girls had to play with them as soon as they got up.

Molly and Leah enjoy playing Angry Birds on the iPad and iPhone, but now they can play a physical version too. G'Mom and Grampa tested it out with the girls.

Molly got a bunch of early reader books, but Leah loves them too.

Molly had to try out her new roller skates inside since the weather outside was not cooperating.

After things calmed down, Molly got to watch Brave for the first time. What better way to watch it than wearing a Rapunzel dress, reclining in a snow sled, eating popcorn?

We had a nice visit with G'Mom and Grampa. They were able to capture a rare still moment with the girls on the couch.

It snowed on the 24th, but we were too busy to really play in the snow and not much of it ended up staying on the ground. On the 26th, it snowed again, so the girls and Daddy headed out to have fun in it.

The girls were excited to use their new snow boots, which helped them to run without slipping and kept their feet very warm.

Of course, their favorite game is "put snow on Daddy" - either by throwing snowballs or by running up to him and smushing it onto him.

They did occasionally take a break from throwing snow on him to throw snow at each other.

Throwing with your hands is fun, but if you really want good distance, the snowball thrower is what you need.

Here she comes.

Daddy's about to be very cold!

It's easier to hit your target when they don't move.

Chad's family picked up the tradition of doing Christmas Crackers when they lived in England. This year, EA's boyfriend Scott decided to utilize those crackers to give EA something special. Several of us were in on it (Chad was assigned photography duties). Here she is using all her might to pop her cracker. EA - you might want to start working out if a cracker is this strenuous ;).

Looks like whatever was in the cracker went flying and is now on the floor. Perhaps Scott will get down on his knee to pick it up.

"Is that what I think it is?"

"Will you marry me?"

I think that's a yes.

It fits!

I think she likes it.

The ring utilizes the stone from Grandmother's ring that EA inherited, but the design is custom.

Fancy engagement ring, brand new pearls, paper crown. That's how we roll in our family.

Awwww, isn't that sweet.

Santa brought the girls a bunch of dress up clothes. Leah immediately had to put on the wedding attire, including veil and heels, which she wore for the entire time opening presents.

Molly was excited to finally get to see Brave thanks to getting it on Blu-ray from her sister.

This looks like a big present.

It's a scooter!

The girl's 1st cousin twice removed, Ann, restores very nice dolls and makes clothes for them. When Molly was younger, she gave her a very nice American Girl doll (also named Molly) which she continues to love. This Christmas, Leah got this very nice Madame Alexander doll, Wendy, along with a few very nice outfits to go along with her. It looks like she'll be a prominent figure in our house for years to come, too.

After opening Wendy, I made the girls close their eyes for an unwrapped surprise gift. Matching doll nightgowns!

After finishing opening presents at our house, we headed to Grams and Pop's house to open presents there. This music box from Aunt EA was a big hit for Leah, and we've been hearing It's a Small World over and over since she opened it.

We always open one present at a time, going around the room from youngest to oldest. So, Leah spent a lot of time waiting patiently for her turn to open another.

There were lots and lots of dress up clothes this Christmas - for the girls, for their dolls, and even for Molly's bear.

Grammy was in town to partake of the Christmas festivities too.

EA's boyfriend, Scott, loves all things bacon. So when I saw this recipe for Candied Bacon Fudge I had to make it for him. It got thumbs up from all who tasted it. Chad even said it was the best chocolate-bacon combo he's had!

Grams is shocked at the ceramic trivet with custom artwork created by Molly we gave her.

The blanket I made got a thumbs up from Pop.

Of course, Minnie Mouse is always a hit.

The one gift Molly kept talking about getting were these Unusual Unicorn Stompeez Slippers. When you walk in them, the eyes pop up due to the force of your foot pushing air from the bottom up into the eyes.

Nice pearls Aunt EA (given by her boyfriend Scott).

For Pop, EA (with help from several of us) put together a video montage of pictures throughout his life.

After seeing the video, the girls wanted to see some of Pop's Navy stuff, including his sword.

The girls tried on some of Pop's Navy hats. Before Chad took this picture, Aunt Caroline told them to make the biggest smiles they could. She apparently has not learned that you don't tell little kids that, as it will inevitably result in these faces.

Commander Sellers and Aunt Caroline got in on the hat fun as well.

Our Christmas visitors were flying to see us, so the girls decided to make their own plane to go for a flight as well. Of course, there are lots of passengers on the plane.

As always, G'Mom and Grampa arrived with lots and lots of new books to read.

Even though the girls made Christmas cookies with Grams, Molly insisted we make some at home too. She wanted to decorate them with icing, which she proved to be very good at.

I may have had just as much fun decorating!

Leah has heard Molly singing Gloria so many times that she knows it now too. So when the carol was sung at our Christmas Eve service, Leah knew just what to sing.

Per tradition, we opened one gift on Christmas Eve. The girls got these fancy snow boots from Grammy, which came in handy since it snowed on Christmas Eve.

I think the boots go very well with Molly's smocked dress.

The girls had fun tracking Santa as he circled the globe on G'Mom's iPhone.

The girls were excited to pick out the perfect cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer. They were also thrilled to finally wear the Christmas nightgowns I made for them.

Editor's note: The title of this post was inspired by the song Christmas Is Coming on Laurie Berkner's new Christmas album. We are huge fans of Laurie Berkner and her new album does not disappoint!

As a child, my family always drove through the lights at Celebration in the Oaks in New Orleans City Park. I have since always compared Christmas light displays to those memories. (I know, it might be a tad skewed since I was so little and the lights were so big, but whatev!) So, when my parents asked about going to see some lights, I knew just where to take them.

The night of the 23rd we headed to Brookside Gardens with some of our friends to see the trains and The Garden of Lights. Here are the six kids lined up to look at the trains before heading out into the cold to see the lights.

These are the same gardens we took pictures at a couple years ago. Molly and Leah had fun in this house then, too.

This is the same rail as this picture. She's a bit bigger now.

Mesmerizing lights

They had an impressive number of lights and some really cool light sculptures.

The girls had a great time running through all the lights.

Leah, the Ghost of Christmas Pretty Soon.

The kids all thought this tree of milk cartons was pretty neat.

By the end of the evening, our toes and hands were frozen, but there were still smiley, happy kids!

I would venture to say that this was the best lights display I'd been to. Walking through the lights was a unique way to experience them. So, if any locals have not made the trip down, here's my recommendation to do so!

We ended the night with a great dinner at Squisito. (Thank to EMK for the recommendation.) The kids had their own table, which was fantastic for everyone!

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host…Luke 2:13

Molly and I participated in Walk to Bethlehem as angels singing "Gloria!" She and Simon sang out loud and clear every time (which was roughly every 5-10 minutes during the two hours we were there!)

I was not planning to dress and sing, but when Molly asked, I couldn't say no.

It's become a tradition for the girls to go over to Grams and Pop's house and bake Christmas cookies with Grams, Aunt EA, and Aunt Caroline. When Chad and I arrived to pick them up, we found Leah surveying their product.

I think Molly has her eye on one.

Astounding cookies. Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!

Yes, they get pretty excited about cookies.

Saturday afternoon turned out to be quite nice, so Molly took advantage and spent it outside. She spent most of the time playing with the stomp rocket. The yellow rocket is about ready for launch.

We have lift off.

Next stop, outer space! OK, maybe not.

What goes up must come down. Think she can catch it?

Catching with your hands is too easy. Catching with your hat is much more challenging.