Enjoying Holiday Cheer with Christmas Mouse from @PaperHatPress

I walked by Macy's last night and was surprised to find Christmas decorations already up and shining. The first winter holiday commercial started airing last week and a chill is in the air. Christmas countdown is on and that means one thing... preparing for the craziness that is my favorite time of year!

And in preparing for the craziness, I love to step back and enjoy the moments I have with my children during this time of year. The excitement on their faces, the anticipation as we count down to the time that we get together with all of our family and celebrate the birth of Jesus.

My kids absolutely love presents, don't get me wrong, but I see the joy they get when they're amongst all of the people who love them and my heart just melts.

Creating Christmas Cheer
In preparation of the coming holidays one of my favorite companies, Paper Hat Press, has come out with a personalized holiday book called Christmas Mouse. The story follows the path of a little mouse on Christmas Eve who makes sure that Christmas morning turns out just right for it's owner, your child!

Following along the journey of this mouse adds that bit of sparkle and joy into the Christmas preparation and I cannot wait to see my kids as they follow the story and read along. We'll be using this book to help build the excitement of Christmas morning for our kids and I know that they will love the special personalized touches along the way.
 

Personalized Fun with Christmas Mouse
If you're looking for a great way to include the children in a more festive way as we prepare for a busy holiday season, I highly suggest checking out the latest book in the Paper Hat Press family. Christmas Mouse is a sweet and joyful story filled with bright illustrations.

Children are sure to fall in love with this book and enjoy reading about the journey of Christmas Mouse on Christmas Eve. The thought of going to bed and what goes on while they sleep is not only exciting but entertaining as well. And waking up Christmas morning to surprises around the house and gifts under the tree is exactly what I'm looking forward to watching my children experience.

Share the personalized story of Christmas Mouse with a child you love this holiday season and bring the joy of the holiday to life! Christmas Mouse will be available on the Paper Hat Press website very soon so stay tuned and be the first to know when it hits the store!

You can also check out their great selection of personalized books and notebooks while you're there. We absolutely love our copy of Little Super and are already eying a few of the notebooks and sketchbooks available for stocking stuffers.

Visit Paper Hat Press on Facebook and follow them on twitter at @PaperHatPress to find out the latest on sales, new books, and fun information about the stories created.


Paper Hat Press has excitedly agreed to include a copy of Christmas Mouse and a notebook of the winner's choice in the Noise Girls Winter Gift Guide giveaway starting November 1st.

Head back to enter to win one of three amazing prize packages featured in this giveaway. And make sure to check out our complete Winter Gift Guide for ideas on what to give this holiday season.

Disclaimer: I received a personalized copy of Christmas Mouse for review purposes only. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.  

Christmas 2011

Our Christmas this year was simply perfect! We were able to stay home the whole day. A first for me in I don't know how many years. Probably ever. We started the day off by seeing what Santa had in store for us. Miss M was super excited about her Pottery Barn Kids Anywhere Chair. She had been favoring her brother's for quite a while so we knew she'd know just what to do when she got one of her own. She also received a Little Tykes Push & Ride Doll Walker. And as soon as her brother pointed it out to her she was pushing him around the living room in no time.

E received a trio of ImagiNext airplanes, Dinosaur Train interactive dinos (including Boris Tyrannosaurus, Buddy and Tiny), and an art easel complete with a Melissa & Doug easel companion set.

And Santa was kind enough to drop off a train table from Grandma Tammy & Grandpa John! How awesome is that? He even set it up for Ethan to play with.

The kids played together and enjoyed some yummy cinnamon rolls that Daddy baked up before it was time to go to Christmas Mass. We headed out as a family and enjoyed the service. Afterwards the kids earned a special treat... donuts after Mass! They played a bit with a few other kids in the Church hall before it was time to head back home.

After we returned home Miss M laid down for a nap while E played with his train table. Then Gramma Cathy and Grandpa Steve came over with Aunt Carly to open more gifts! E was excited to receive a Cars Shake & Go race track. As soon as he opened it he wanted Daddy and Grandpa to put it together. So they did and then the boys played and played and played until their laughter woke up Miss M.

She then opened her gifts. She LOVED the doll stroller she received and the cool Leap Frog phone. She walks around pushing her dolls and stuffed animals. And the phone stays in my diaper bag as a bribing tool to keep her happy while we go out to stores and restaurants.

After Gramma & Grandpa left we started prepping for Christmas dinner. We hosted my husband's family and had a simple menu planned. Beef tenderloin, twice baked potato casserole, roasted tomatoes & green beans and salad. Plus a few appetizers for when everyone arrived. I made some yummy buffalo chicken dip and laid out some cheeses with crackers, bread and veggies. And dessert was brought by our family... delicious french apple and lemon meringue pies.

Once we ate dinner and finished opening gifts the kids got a special surprise! Santa came back to deliver one last small gift. It was the perfect ending to a great Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas at Disneyland 2011

Disneyland at Christmastime is a magical thing. Decorations are hung, Christmas cheer is everywhere and the magic is ALIVE! As soon as you walk towards the entrance you start to feel the electricity. You hear the Disneyland Railroad train, you see the excitement of the children running towards their favorite part of the park and a grin starts to form. Because you know that you are going to have a great time no matter what! We've been going to Disneyland for Christmas just about every year we've been together.

So taking our kids during the holiday festivities is just a given for us. And we're so glad we made time this year. We were able to share our favorite holiday with our kids at our favorite place to be. We didn't ride many rides but we did everything our son wanted. Heck... he would have just stayed on the train the whole day if we would have let him.

We visited with Santa (and kept Miss M at a distance until it was time for a quick picture) and E told him, again, that he wanted a choo choo set. Then we saw Santa's reindeer and rode Casey Jr's Train before heading to see a show at the Golden Horseshoe.

Billy Hill and the Hillbillies were a perfect way to enjoy our lunch and not miss any of the holiday celebration. They had a special holiday show complete with fun Christmas songs and holiday tunes.

After a few more rides at Disneyland we headed over to California Adventure to ride the new Little Mermaid ride and play at Brother Bear's Redwood Creek Challenge Trail. E mastered the rope bridges while Miss M explored on her own. Both kids were having a great time choosing where they wanted to go next and what they wanted to do.

We ended our trip by watching the Aladdin performance and then the Disney Junior show. The kids thought they were quite awesome. When we got home from our fun-filled day E looked back at us and asked, "Can we go again?" And of course the answer was soon!

Christmas Morning

Santa brought E a lot of fun things! He got a PBK Anywhere Chair, a cool stackable choo choo train, a soccer ball and lots of fun stocking stuffers (including Toy Story 3, Buzz slippers and chocolate!). His sister also got some fun stuff in her stocking too...

M got a cool lovey and some links

E was more interested in opening up each present and playing with it right away. He didn't want to move onto the next present.

He was kind enough to open his sister's gifts and give them to her. 

Molly received a Sophie!

"Chocket" was probably the one thing that ended gift opening in our home that morning... and Daddy gave in :)

E loved his fire engine and dalmation from Grandma Tammy as well as his cool drum.

He also loved opening and playing with his and his sister's pillow pets

After we opened gifts E relaxed in his new chair and watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

Than we packed up and went to Christmas mass and made our way to Grandpa's house...

E was fascinated by the dolphins on the tree... so he took them off and played with them.

He opened fun gifts!

Daddy got the compressor hose he wanted...

And Grandpa played with E while others opened their gifts

E got a cool placemat from Grandma & Grandpa

We got Grandma Cathy a cool back up drive for all the pictures she takes

And Grandpa got a Brugo mug!

And E's favorite gift of the morning...

A Little People Airport from Grandma & Grandpa!

We had such a fun and eventful morning that we went home and napped together before Christmas dinner and Uncle Jeremy's...