We decorated the inside of the house with Christmas decorations the week of Thanksgiving, but waited until December 1st to decorate the outside. The kids are always excited for Jingles to make his appearance :)
The Daulton Choir was asked to perform at Hometown Holidays, which took place at The Center for Performing Arts in Mansfield. This event has exploded over the last few years and is now spread over a three day period.
We saw Zalaya as we were walking over...
The next morning was a Stake Primary Activity for children ages 8 and up, so I drove Brooke and Marlie up to the Stake Center. They were encouraged to wear pajamas, which Brooke was thrilled about.
Several kids were already there when we arrived, as well as Jackie Bassett, the Primary President. Since I had a few errands to run, I left the girls at the church and came back two hours later to get them.
Brooke has been dying to wear this free dress she got a few months ago when it was hanging in the foyer of the church with a sign that said, "free", and the first Sunday in December seemed like the perfect occasion. I loved her enthusiasm, but I didn't love her looking like a teenager. (It also came with a sequin jacket, but I assured her that we could save that for a special occasion since it was a bit loud for church.)
I wasn't looking nearly as festive as my girl, but she wanted a pic together anyway. I've trained her well!
We started the expander journey with Colby! He's less than thrilled about getting not one, but TWO expanders (top and bottom), but he was pretty pumped about missing half a day of school. They were only taking scans of his jaw, the actual appliances won't arrive for nearly a month. (Note: We switched orthodontists since we were completely underwhelmed with the office that did Brooke's. )
They watched A Charlie Brown Christmas while working on the cutest manger ornaments made with contact paper and bits of colored tissue paper to create a stained-glass looking background.
Around Thanksgiving time, I overheard Kinley telling Brooke that she wished we could come to her Chimes Concert. I knew it would be a school night, so I was a little worried about that, but I also really wanted to support Kinley in something she was so proud of. Well, it also happened to be the night of my monthly RS meeting, but I rescheduled the meeting to make it happen. We loved watching her perform :)
These cousins have such a special bond...
Especially these two...
The kids helped me tie ribbons around all the journals we were giving the RS sisters for their Christmas gift. I found them on Instagram, and the woman who created the journal offered to do a Zoom Fireside for anyone who ordered 75 or more for their RS sisters. We haven't scheduled the fireside yet, but I think it will be a great event.
Sunday Selfie with my girl since we were wearing matching lipstick. Brooke has had this dress since first grade, and it always brings a smile to my face with its vibrant colors and sweet ruffles.
We went to Bethlehem Revisited in Waxhachie and although it was super crowded, it was still a really cool experience. As we were walking through a crowd of people on "the streets of Bethlehem", the donkey carrying Mary entered right in front of us and I was overcome with emotions. I felt such an overwhelming sense of gratitude for her role as the mother of the Savior. What a humbling experience that must have been!
A friend sent me this sweet pictures of my girl...
Colby enjoyed a biking adventure with his daddy while we were gone, so it was a win for everyone!
The Activity Days leaders hosted a special event for all the current Activity Day kids and those that would attend starting in January. Colby has been semi-patiently waiting for his turn to attend each week, so he was very excited and eager for the night to finally arrive.
Mel texted me later that night to tell me how much it meant to Kinley (and all of them), so I was really happy that we could be there. Kinley was beaming!!
The kids enjoyed seeing how they lived in Bethlehem...
We finally made it over to where the manger scene was being depicted. With all the hustle and bustle of the season, it was nice to focus on what really matters.
Colby said he left his hat on the whole day, haha.
Morning snuggles are a must around here :) Kevin wakes Brooke up for school each morning by snuggling her in bed, then heads to Colby's bed to snuggle him and get him to come downstairs. Kevin then crawls back into our bed, and half the time Colby climbs in with him as well and falls back asleep. We really should work on getting right up when the alarm goes off, but the snuggles are pretty precious as well.
The first thing Colby asks to do every day after school is play basketball with me. Most days I do, even if it's only for a little bit, but he was super excited to play with his daddy on Saturday. It turned into a family game, which was all fun and games until things got a little heated and Brooke lost her temper, but hopefully they'll just remember the good stuff, right?
We spent that Saturday evening at Six Flags, which was a great way to end the day. Kevin and I took turns riding The Titan with Brooke since we couldn't convince Colby to try it, then Kevin and Brooke rode The Texas Giant while Colby and I stayed in the "Chicken Coop" at the top. Colby was squatting down inside so people wouldn't see him, which made me a bit embarrassed since it looked like I was the one too scared to ride, haha.
Kevin commented that Brooke's outfit was a bit much with those crazy tights, but she loved it and I thought she looked adorable.
We made toffee that night for our neighbor treat boxes, and it was delicious! It was especially fun because Brooke was very involved and wanted to do all the steps herself. Train them young, right?
We then moved on to chocolate chip cookies and snickerdoodles. The kids loved rolling the snickerdoodles into the cinnamon sugar mixture, but their hands were a mess by the end! I am very picky about them washing their hands before they help me and making sure they don't touch their faces during the process, so when they asked if they could lick all the cinnamon sugar off their hands, I decided to allow it :)
We had 6 boxes of goodies to deliver and the neighbors all loved them. The last few years, our list had grown to nearly 30 people, and it was just feeling like too much. It was stressful to make that many plates or boxes of treats, and I just felt like I needed to let it go. Most of our friends don't deliver goodies anymore, so it wasn't like we weren't reciprocating the gesture, it just seemed like everyone needed to scale back a bit. I'm really glad that I allowed myself to let it go because it felt really freeing to not have that looming over my head. We walked around the block and delivered to these sweet families, and were done for the night rather than having to drive around town for 2-3 hours making deliveries.
The after-school gang!! I was picking up Brock and Marlie as well, so when the whole group came around the corner looking like best little buddies, I had to take a picture. Oh, and it was also Polar Express day for Kinder and 4th grade.
My parents arrived on the 21st, so all the pics from then on are in a previous post, as are the Christmas pictures. But fast forward to the 26th, and Kevin cooked his own birthday steaks, haha! I felt a little guilty about that, but he said he was just happy to be home and spending some downtime together. The way the holidays fell this year, he had two 3-day weekends in a row and he was really loving the short work week.
He always requests a birthday cheesecake, but since we had an entire cherry cobbler left over from Christmas, he agreed that it was best to eat that up first.
We sure love Kevin and are SO grateful for the wonderful husband, father, and example he is to us!
On a whim, I ordered these elf hats for the kids when I placed my Oriental Trading Company order for the class party, and I'm certainly glad I did. The school had SO many dress-up days during the weeks leading up to Winter Break, and Elf Day was one of them :). They were trying to pose like our elf, Claudia, with their hands together.
We definitely needed an after-school picture with Jingles since they were looking so festive.
We rode the pirate ship as a family, then Brooke "invited" me to ride El Diablo with her. I thought it would be awful, but honestly, it wasn't scary at all. I didn't love hanging upside down for those 11 seconds, but it definitely wasn't bad.
Brooke really wanted to wear purple leggings to church, but since they didn't match anything she had, I convinced her to try on a pair of my smallest tights. They shockingly fit her and I have since given her all my old nylons that never fit quite right. We were both feeling the Christmas vibes...
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