{december happenings}

I always feel like Christmas goes by the fastest of any month of the whole year, which always makes me sad. There's so many fun things to do and see, but that's probably what makes it fly by so quickly. Thanksgiving was late this year, so we didn't even have a whole four weeks before Christmas, and I could tell.

Fortunately Rick canceled one of his trips, so he was home the whole month, and then took off the last two weeks for Christmas.  It's been so wonderful to have him home, and we've done some really fun things.

Here's a peek at the month...

It's been so nice outside that I've been taking Liney out with me when I run. She loves it, but hates when I stop or go slow, lol.

Caroline took her washi tape job on our Christmas card assembly line very seriously!  

My friend Carolyn also loves to refinish furniture as much as I do, so she's been my partner in crime over the last few weeks on multiple trips to the Restore.  I've found so may great things, but since we have no room in our apartment, they are sitting in the family room. :)  

Computer buddies.

My poor, sick girl.

Such a great dad--he slept with her on the couch since she was sick.  

Saturday morning cartoons!

Rainboots, headphones, and the iPad--she's a happy girl.  

He does a pretty good job when he has to!  He's a great dad for even trying!

We took Ryan to the post office to get his passport, and the long wait meant little kids lined up!

At the hospital again.  Fortunately we caught it early, and the meds really kicked in to help her.  On the way home, we were hit by another car. Thankfully we were both okay, as well as the other driver, but our truck has been at the repair shop ever since.  We're driving a rental in the meantime. What a CRAZY day.

My girls!! This is a screenshot from our annual gift exchange--they all get together then FaceTime me, and it's always night of laughs.

Kate and Emma have pen pals--twin girls that live in Arizona, and are their same age.  It's so fun to see them so excited about writing and receiving letters.

This is out at our new property--those are snow poles to mark the driveway for the snow plows.  Yes, they are more than seven feet tall, and yes, that's how much snow falls there!

We were over at Carolyn's house for lunch, and Liney turned to me and asked me to take her picture.  So I did. 

These two handsome boys went out to lunch and then to see Star Wars.  Ryan even got to get out of school early!  

Eating ice cream is a tough job, but someone has to do it!

The week after Christmas the girls and I had a shopping day with Carolyn and Quinlan.  SO fun!  We shopped for hours, ate lunch at The Cheesecake Factory, and and a fabulous time.  

Next up is 2016...can't wait to see what the new year brings!

{merry, merry christmas}

Christmas Eve is always one of my favorite days of the year--probably even more than Christmas Day--and this year was no exception.

We had our first annual family book exchange, and it was a HUGE hit.  We exchanged names a few weeks ago, and amazingly, everyone was able to keep it a secret! We opened them one-by-one, and each book was met with excitement.  It was just so fun--definitely a tradition that we will be keeping!

Per tradition, that afternoon we went out to eat, and the kids chose PF Changs.  Rick was a good sport--he doesn't like Chinese food--because they really wanted to try it.  They LOVED it, and even used chopsticks the whole time! We ordered six different dishes and shared them all--it was so fun, and there wasn't a bite left!

When we got home, the kids changed into their Christmas pajamas and we headed over to the McAffees' house.  The Hulse Family was there too, and we all brought a few different Christmas treats to share.  After munching on treats, the kids went to play, and the adults played games and chatted.  There was also a production of the Nativity, directed and performed by all of the kids! They did such a great job, with the staging, costumes, and everything.  It was a wonderful evening with friends.

We got home late, around 10pm, and after we put out sugar & carrots for the reindeer and cookies for Santa, sprinkled reindeer feed on the lawn, read Christmas stories, and had family prayer, we tucked the kids into bed, then got to work.

Rick and I have a tradition of wrapping all the gifts together on Christmas Eve, and we still love it! We turn on a Christmas movie, drink hot chocolate, and get everything ready for the next morning.  We were all finished and in bed by midnight--success!

The next morning the kids woke us up before 6am, but we told them we weren't getting up until 6am. At 6am on the dot, they were back in our room, so sleeping in was clearly not an option.  :)  We open stockings first, then gifts, opening them one-by-one.  We had a simple Christmas this year--I've been on a mission to simplify, and we also just don't have the space here for any more toys.  But the kids were happy, and we were happy, and it was just what we needed.

We had German Pancakes, hash browns, sausage, and orange juice for breakfast. And candy--lots of it!  It's one of the only days of the year where I let the kids eat what they want to, and they love it.  The rest of the day we stayed in our jammies, watched movies, played games, played with toys, and snacked on yummy food that we set out on the counter for everyone to get when they wanted to. It was perfectly relaxing--another wonderful Christmas!

Merry Christmas!!

{letters to santa}

A few years ago I discovered that you could write letters to Santa, and he would send back a reply! It's quickly become one of the kids' favorite thing to do, and they love to open up the mailbox and find letters with their name on it from the North Pole!

We make it kind of an event---hot chocolate, cookies, making lists, and writing letters. Henry and Jack were able to write their own letters this year, with a little help.  I absolutely adore kindergarten writing--so adorable!  I know by next year it will look totally different, so I'm cherishing them. Caroline colored her own little list, and even Ryan got in on the action and wrote a letter.

We mailed them the next day, and a couple of weeks later, sure enough, they had letters back!

{o christmas tree}

We're now on year fourteen of cutting down our Christmas tree, and it's still one of our most favorite traditions, and is the perfect way to kick off the Christmas season.  We usually go the day after Thanksgiving, but since we weren't home from Utah yet, we went the next weekend.

Last year we found the cutest tree farm about an hour from us, and we we were excited to go back there again.  The only difference?  NO SNOW!!  We were all pretty sad about that, because we missed out on sledding through the tree farm, but it was still really fun.

We chose a beautiful Concolor fir that was going to fit perfectly in our apartment, but was still nice and full.  It might be the quickest we've ever decided on a tree!  After we cut it down and got it back to the barn, we had hot chocolate and candy canes that their little shop gave out.

What a fun, fun day!  Merry, merry Christmas!

{all about november}

November, November! It was insanely warm, so warm that it set records here in the Buffalo area.  It had been 125 years since we went made it through November without any snow.  While I couldn't complain about the 60 and even 70 degree weather, I would much rather have it snow before Christmas than in March and April. But...we lived it up, and spent a lot of time outside and enjoying it while we had it.

Liney Lou...she is the sunshine in our family!

Can you tell Henry was thrilled about his eye exam?

Do you see the bows on Henry's pants?  He and Kate accidentally grabbed each other's jeans, and since they wear the same size, they didn't notice until much later.  He actually didn't notice until he got home, which is probably a good thing!

This little face?  It's because I said no to 10 pounds of chocolate. I get it. I really do.

The girls like to come running with me sometimes, and I love it when they do.  We have a system, since Kate likes short distance sand Emma likes staying with me.  Kate will run ahead as fast as she can, then she'll stop until we catch up.  We repeat the process over and over until we get home, and it works so well! 

Emma is my reader--she LOVES to read, and really gets into her books, as you can see in this picture.    I found her like this, super late at night, with her reading light on, totally mesmerized by Harry Potter. I just couldn't be mad!

Oh, my Henry B. Love this guts out!  It was his turn to come shopping with me, and I always love his company.

Is there anything cuter than this grin?  I don't think so!

Playtime at the library!

The pet store at the mall is one of her favorite places. She always leaves asking me for a pet bunny.  

I love finding pictures like this on my phone!

Happy November!  Here's to December!