Christmas and New Year's

Christmas Eve started with a cozy night at Oma and Grampie's house. We watched church online and had a delicious dinner. 

The kids were so excited to get home and get to bed before Santa's arrival. Donovan checked the Santa Tracker one last time before heading to bed. 

The girls fell asleep almost immediately. 

Donovan was the first one up. The kids slept in until about 7. Donovan ran into the girls' room to wake them up and Dusting and I overheard Taylor telling him, "Donovan, you're the best brother I could ever ask for!" The kids were SO happy and so filled with joy. They were surprisingly patient gearing up for gifts. They organized taking turns and were so excited for one another as they watched the gifts being unwrapped.

Santa brought this boy some Axe deodorant and body spray and he was actually super excited about it. 

Taylor got lots of activities that will help her gear up for kindergarten next year. 

Donovan also got some pit viper glasses, baseball cards, a gun ball machine and a remote control helicopter. 

Emmerson got lots of arts and crafts, a gumball machine, puppy stuffed animals, a new backpack and more. 

Around 9 Oma Oma, Oma, and Grampie joined us for breakfast.

Then more gifts were opened.

A big surprise was a Nintendo Switch and games from their grandparents. The kids couldn't believe they got one!

It was the most relaxing Christmas. It was drizzly and cold and we spent the whole day lounging around and playing with new toys. 

New Year's Eve was spent at our neighbor's house. We played games and ate lots of treats. 

Taylor and Grammie went home around 10:30 but the big kids stayed up with us and we made it to midnight. We had a blast! 

So thankful for the friends and family that have been our greatest gifts of 2021. Now onto the new year!

 

Winter Break!

Woo to the hoo winter break could not come soon enough! We were so excited to have three whole weeks of relaxation and fun!

Starting with baking with the neighbors. 

And pickle ball with the neighbors. 

I had to save this memory of when the kids found a vintage elf ornament on the tree and then wrote a letter to their elf Michael asking if this little elf could also receive magic and hide along side him each day... Ladies and Gents, welcome Tommy to the elf gig. 

Quite possibly the most anticipated event of the holiday season: Neighborhood Secret Santa Party!

First, a potluck dinner devoured by all. 

Then the gifts!

The kids had been SO good about keeping their secret for the whole month. Then the second they walked in the door for the party they couldn't help but blurt out who they had for their secret person. The gift exchange was the cutest thing ever. We started with the oldest which was Win. Taylor was thrilled to give Win his gift of baseball cards, silly socks, and candy. 

Next up, Donovan has Kinley. He bought her bracelets and candy. 

Jordan has Donovan. She surprised him with silly socks and Oreo cookies. 

Emmerson had Brynnlee. She gifted her with stuffed animals and some candies. 

Eddie had Emmerson. He spoiled her with art supplies, horse stickers, socks, and candy. 

And Kinley had Taylor. She gifted her a huge unicorn stuffed animal and a ton of lollipops. 

Afterwards, the kids enjoyed hot cocoa, sugar cookies and an outdoor movie. 

Next up, Grammie's arrival! We'd been counting down the days. 

When Grammie is here that means Taylor tries to have as many sleepovers as she can with Gram downstairs. I decided to have a sleepover with Em on this very rainy night. It was so cozy. 

Also vacation mode means finally moving my body again. It has felt so good to jog again... not at first. At first, I felt like I was going to explode after my first half mile. But now, we're cruising. I jog and my boys bike beside me. It's kind of the best! 

And so is vacation. One week left and we are soaking it up!

 

Saint Nicholas 2021

Oma Oma did it again. At 99 she threw yet another incredible Saint Nicholas party for the family. 

Is she not the cutest thing ever? 

Cutie cousins.

Santa surprised us by leaving a bag of goodies at the front door. He magically appeared and avoided the GoPro that the cousins had set up for Santa lookout. 

After the dinner, party, and presents at Oma Oma's house, the grandkids all got to spend the night at Oma and Grampie's house. 

The next morning we were off to Legoland for another fun filled day with our cousins. 

It was such a holly-jolly weekend with our family. Thank you Oma and Grampie for making it so special and for Oma Oma for being the hostess with the most-ess. 

 

December

So friends, every year we decorate. Every year I take great pride in decking the halls and creating these picturesque little scenes around the house. This year, the name of the game was way less Pinterest and way more let's relax and enjoy the season, shall we? In fact, I didn't even take pictures of the rooms decorated this year. But what we did do was soak up the lightning fast weeks that led up to Christmas. I did manage to sneak a few pictures with my phone of some of the happenings of the month. 

First off, decorating our tree. We opted for only one tree this year and only got out about a quarter of our usual ornaments. It was still perfectly charming and full of our favorite hand crafter ornaments that we love!

The girls decorated their sweet little room tree together. Notice it was laundry day and all sheets are off their beds. Real life. My favorite. 

Our next door neighbors are always so nice and generous to the kids. They brought over some gingerbread kits so we decided to bust them out immediately with the neighbors. They turned out so cute!

Meanwhile, wiffle ball and a perfectly kid-friendly charcuterie board at the neighbor's. 

Taylor so proudly brought this award home. She received the "Jesus Moment" of the day which she explained as "acting like Jesus because (she) cleaned up without even being asked." She also got to pick a prize from the treasure box. She chose a "Do NOT Disturb" sign for her bedroom door. Hmmmm. Jesus like, indeed. 

We finally got some rain and it was heavenly! This is our absolute favorite weather around here because it does not happen often. 

And it POURED! 

Our school celebrated Rock Your School Day in which the students have no idea it's coming and the teachers deck themselves out in costumes and plan fun activities that remind us all of how fun school can be. It was such a FUN day for all of us!