December was filled with lots of fun things. Here are a few...
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Cole is mad because Erik keeps
eating his marshmallows! |
We hosted Joy School on Dec 2 & 4. We learned about snow and ice and dressing warm in the winter. The kids thought the book "The Mitten" was really funny and loved putting the animals inside. I used some of my music class stuff and the kids played bells and sticks. They thought it was great fun! However, the favorite activity was probably eating snowflake tortillas!
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When I volunteered at Elise's class, she wanted us to dress as close to
twins as possible, so she picked out our gray shirts, leggings, jean jackets,
black ballet flats and black headbands. :) |
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Cole and his artwork.
The bandaid was an attempt to get Cole
to stop picking his scab off his face.
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Project backyard improvements. The rock fire pit arrived! They had to use a big 'ol crane and the kids thought it was great fun to watch!
I'll admit, it's kinda large (George says we can roast a buffalo) but I think it fits the space well. Merry Christmas to me!
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| trimming the tree |
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The tree changed thoughout Dec. Ornaments
moved higher and higher to avoid cute little hands.
Plus those hands regularly threw things in...
Elmo and a car this time I think. |
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a little science with Blake H.
I was getting ready for our date so Geo was supervising
this activity. Love the safety glasses. |
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Movies with Grandma Liz and Grandpa Tom...
hey! We need them in this pic! |
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date night to Tanner Clinic's Christmas party...
always fun to dress up and get out! |
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this sight makes me smile...
5 little cuties in a row.
I should take a pic of the floor afterwards...
but it doesn't bring as many smiles. |
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Erik and I went shopping to get some things for the kids in Mexico.
Poor kid. But I can't help laugh my head off! |
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Geo reading our new Christmas book for the year... C is for Christmas
(and for Cole!) :) |
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| We love Grandpa Grant! |
Usually when we visit grandpa, we sings songs together and the kids show off their talents. Elise loves to show off her handstands! This time, Cole said he wanted to sing something and proceeded to sing the ENTIRE 12 days of Christmas. I thought it was the funniest thing ever. We tried to get him to shorten it a bit, but he wouldn't have it! By the time he got to the 12th day, he was a bit out of steam, but here's the clip anyway:
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Erik's first hair cut. Really just a trim off the back. He was pretty excited to
be a big boy at first... |
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| ... but that lasted about a minute! |
We were so happy to have the Pieroni's come by! It's always great to visit with them. Both the adults and the kids can just pick up where we left off.
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it snowed about 2 inches and the kids took full advantage
of the mud mess! |
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| budding artists |
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We love our nativity advent calendar from
grandma Liz! |
This year, we also decided to add in a scripture/quote a day. I ordered this ornament kit from
25 days of Christ website. It took a few Sundays to paint and put together. The girls were pretty enthusiastic.
Boys... not so much. Especially Austin. I did get them to paint a couple and then they were done.
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they'd rather do this!
(can you blame them?) :) |
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| Elise was my finisher. She could paint and paint all day. |
The little ornament with the scripture was a good thing. We missed some days that we caught up later, but the length of the little devotional was about right for our little crew. And it provided some good discussion as to why a certain ornament went with a particular story. I'd be lying if I didn't say there was some fighting involved (especially if I forgot who put the ornament on the tree the day before... must be FAIR!) but all in all, it was good and brought the spirit of Christ in our home.
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this is my favorite decoration every year.
I LOVE getting cards from our friends & family...so fun!
If your's is missing, I'm blaming it on Erik... he
destroyed the whole bottom corner.
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Sunday before Christmas... what cuties!
Poor Erik was sick so Geo and I each went to half of church. |
And that's a wrap...
George worked New Year's Eve, so it was basically the kids and I planning our "Ring in 2015" party! We shopped at the dollar store for party hats. This was a surprising big hit. Cole was insistent his have a feather... pretty funny! We took down the Christmas tree decorations and I filled balloons with jokes and coins (idea from here) and the kids re-decorated. We cut and cut and cut snowflakes until the den was covered in paper. We threw in a few "Frozen" party ideas too. It was great fun! 
George joined us for dinner (which was great because that is my most exhausting part of the day) and then had to go back to the hospital. He missed out on the karaoke and dance party. Austin surprised me with singing the entire theme to "Dinosaur Train" - apparently learned while playing the game on pbs kids???
