The Most Wonderful Time of the Year, Part 1

 Our calendars are always a little fuller in December. It's such a fun, busy month!

Nathan celebrated his friend Caden's 12th birthday with a sleepover at his new house. He stayed up way too late and needed a nap the next day, but he had a great time. Those boys have been friends since pre-k, and I love it!

Our co-op hosted a fun Polar Express Christmas party. The kids wore their pajamas, enjoyed popcorn and hot chocolate and watched the movie. It was the perfect way to spend a December morning. 

Later that weekend, we attended our church's Christmas on the Hill. They had a petting zoo, cookie decorating, games, hot chocolate, etc and a big tree lighting ceremony. The kids had a blast and are already looking forward to next year. 

December means Christmas dresses! Elisabeth is aging out of the fancy, frilly ones, but she's still adorable. 

And I'm savoring Katherine's desire to wear one every single day for now. I know it won't last forever. 

Our co-op continued into December, and Nathan's Forensics class shot marshmallow shooters as part of a ballistics lab. It was such a creative way to teach the kids about ballistics. They shot four different guns and then had to figure out which gun was used in the crime based on the evidence they gathered. 

I love these cute ballerinas. 

Their big sisters look forward to dance days as much as the little ones. 

One day in December, the weather was gorgeous, and we organized a neighborhood park day that turned into a giant football game. 

The kids were so serious deciding which plays to run. 

Goodness, I'm just so thankful for all these neighborhood friends. Such a blessing. I won't ever take it for granted. 

I got to spend a fun evening celebrating Christmas with the other CHEER Moms (without kids, yay!) It was a fun night visiting, eating yummy food and exchanging gifts. 

Nathan also attended a fun Middle School Christmas party, but I didn't get any pictures of his night. That's the problem with the kids growing up and doing drop and go parties, ha! I gave him and a couple of neighbors a ride home though, and they happily chatted the whole way home about the fun they had. 

Elisabeth had the opportunity to be flag bearer during opening ceremonies at AHG. 

Then the following week, the girls participated in their first awards ceremony with their troop. 

Love my little Pathfinder and Tenderheart. 

These girls love having yet another opportunity to hang out together during the week. 

Katherine earned beads for her Pathfinder necklace. 

And Elisabeth earned some badges and patches for her vest. We've had a wonderful first semester of AHG. It's been a great extracurricular activity for the girls. 

Katherine wore this adorable hat and scarf to her "Christmas accessory" day at school. 

And she came home with the most adorable craft. I love displaying all their sweet Preschool crafts at Christmas time. 

Katherine also had her Christmas Dance performance in December. She's growing into a graceful little ballerina. 

Thanksgiving 2022

Our Thanksgiving plans this year were modified due to an unwelcome visitor... the flu.

Matt started feeling sick the Tuesday of Thanksgiving week. He went to the doctor on Wednesday morning and tested positive for the flu. My grandparents had planned to celebrate with us. They decided to postpone, so we had a quiet Thanksgiving. I had already finished all the grocery shopping, so we went ahead and prepared a small Thanksgiving meal. 

The girls are excited every year to prepare the cherry fluff and pistachio salads. 

Samuel is my pie boy. Since we already had the ingredients for apple pie, we also baked that for dessert. 

Barry tested positive for the flu also. Nathan had been sick the previous weekend, and we think he shared his germs with Matt and Barry. But since he was sick anyway, he joined us for Thanksgiving lunch. 

We snuggled and watched Christmas movies Thanksgiving evening. Both girls started showing symptoms Thursday evening. Thankfully, their cases were mild and both were feeling mostly back to normal on Saturday. 

This is my favorite Thanksgiving decoration made by my grandma. The kids get excited everytime I pull it out. It reminds me of how fun I thought it was when I was a kid. 

Matt was feeling a little better on Friday, so we spent the day resting and decorating for Christmas. We all snuggled up by the fire and watched movies on Friday night. 

We had a very low-key weekend, but the boys had friends in town visiting from out of state, and since they were 100% healthy, they got to spend Sunday afternoon swimming with them. Nathan and Samuel still count Brett and Bennett as their best friends even though they live across the country now. I'm thankful for the sweet friendships they've been able to maintain. 

We rescheduled our Thanksgiving with Granny and Grandaddy and Aunt Sydney for the weekend after Thanksgiving. One of our favorite things to do together is play games. 

Since we had already baked an apple pie the week before, Samuel decided on a cherry pie for our second Thanksgiving meal. 

We had a delicious spread of food. 

And more importantly we had a wonderful visit with family, and we all survived our first Thanksgiving without Grammy. Throughout the week, I was grateful for all the things she taught me and all the memories of past Thanksgivings.