More December Fun

The second half of December was filled with many more fun activities!

Nathan had Grinch day at school. It was just for second graders and he has been waiting since Kindergarten to get to dress up, ha! We didn't have any face paint and he was determined to have a green face, so he colored it with a green marker.

His class got to watch the movie and make green slime. He had a great day!

Elisabeth and I baked Christmas cookies one day while the boys were at school.

And the next day we all decorated them. The kids worked really hard on their cookies.

Matt and I had a fun night at our Sunday school Christmas party. We all went out to dinner and then went on a Christmas light tour. It was so fun! I think Matt and I both had low expectations, but we enjoyed it so much. We saw some great decorated houses and enjoyed visiting with everyone.

As part of our teacher Christmas gifts, the kids and I made a Christmas popcorn snack mix (Reindeer food). They always look forward to making (and eating it).

Earlier this summer, Nathan randomly asked when he could read Harry Potter and watch the movies. I brushed him off and told him that those books were for fifth graders, so he could read them when he could read fifth grade books. I forgot about it, and I thought he did too, until I went to his parent teacher conference in October. His teacher told me that Nathan asked her weekly how many reading levels he needed to improve to get to a fifth grade reading level, so he could read Harry Potter. Apparently, he had set a goal to get to that level and guess what, by the middle of December, she tested him and he had done it. Matt and I weren't really prepared for him to read those so early, but after all his hard work (and a talk about the themes/fiction/reality in the book) we gave him the first book.

I'm really proud of his hard work and determination to achieve a goal. He finished it a few days after Christmas and got to watch the first movie. Now, he's on to the second book. I recently reread all of the books before our vacation to Universal Studios, so it's been fun to follow along with him since they're fresh in my mind.

Samuel went to a fun birthday party at a Ninja Warrior gym. It was fun watching him play with his school friends and show off all his ninja tricks.

The boys had fun at their school parties. It was a little hectic for me running back and forth between their classes, but I was glad I could attend. Samuel decorated cookies and played a game and Nathan made some ornaments.

And I loved his letter to Santa (especially the parentheses)

On the first day of break, I pulled out some perler beads I had bought, and the kids played with them for HOURS. It was awesome. They were so creative.

Samuel made all these Christmas themed creations.

Nathan's karate class had a family Christmas party that we all attended.

The kids even got to see Santa and get a fun little present.

We've been playing the Switch a lot during break. I had to document a funny thing Samuel said when he was playing Mario Kart. He said, "Mommy, I was coming out hot and everyone was trying to catch me... and they did"

Samuel has been having a great year at Kindergarten, and he's learning so much. His reading has really taken off. I'm so proud of him. He read all of Green Eggs and Ham with very minimal help from me.



Matt took off work the Friday before Christmas, and the weather was great, so we spent the day at the Gathering Place. We love that place. We tried to play at the areas that we hadn't been to before. We packed a lunch and ate it in the lodge.

This swing is everyone's favorite.

I love Kate's giggling

And this slide playground was a big hit. Even Matt and I liked the slides, ha!

We all went to Grammy and Papa Joe's church candlelight service on the 23rd.

And we went out to dinner afterward.

Our calendars are full at Christmas time, but I cherish all these fun, special memories that we make.