December Fun

Our December was full of festivities. We started the month with the CHEER elementary Christmas party. 

These kiddos were ready for a morning of fun. 

Nathan and I headed up the cookie decorating station. I stayed busy there for most of the party while the kids rotated through the different stations. 

These three girls are best friends at all CHEER events. 

Nora and Katherine were matching. Sweet Friends!

We love all these people!

They ended the party with popcorn and Frosty the Snowman. 

They also played a dress up Frosty game too. Such a fun party!

We breaked for lunch and then met back up at a nursing home for caroling and gifts. Samuel played the piano, Katherine sang a song, and Nathan and Elisabeth played guitar/sang Silent Night. 

Right after the girls left with Papa for a fun weekend in Arkansas. They swam at the hotel, visited the Amazeum, watched the new Trolls movie, and ate at IHOP. They had the best time, and I love the way Barry intentionally invests in them with quality time. 

The girls arrived back just in time to attend our church's annual Christmas on the Hill. Katherine played all the games. 

They also decorated cookies, took a train ride, pet the animals at the live nativity and sang Christmas songs. Fun times all around. 

I spent one evening in early December shopping with some ladies from my Sunday school class for gifts for a local Hispanic ministry. 

Then the next week, the kids went over to Mrs. Ruthann's house and helped us wrap and organize everything. They're the best little elves. 

Samuel and Elisabeth participated in CHEER's Christmas market selling hand painted ornaments and Christmas popcorn. It was a good learning experience for them. They are already planning for next year. 

On the last day of co-op before break, the kids played some fun games in science class. 

Not surprisingly, Elisabeth took charge of her team. 

Barry treated the boys to another Kansas City Chiefs game again this year. They were so excited and had a great time, even with a tough loss. 

Elisabeth and Katherine were recognized at their AHG winter awards. They've worked hard earning badges all semester. 

After all the shopping and organizing, we attended the Camino Villa Christmas party where the kids got to serve food and help hand out all the gifts. Elisabeth lights up when she has opportunities to serve. And even though she couldn't understand the sermon or the songs, because they were all in Spanish, she kept smiling all night and loved watching the kids choose their gifts. 

Katherine and Brynn were big fans of all the yummy food.

Christmas dresses and Christmas trees, I can't ever get enough. Glad Katherine will still happily pose for pictures at church. 

Santa pancakes are another Baugher Christmas tradition. Samuel created a Rudolph pancake this year. He's the most creative kid I know. 

We purchased a water color tutorial download this Christmas, and the kids and I enjoyed painting so much. We painted several pictures, and each painting was paired with a Christmas picture book. Such a fun way to spend time together. I love the extra time we have for special projects like this.

The girls had a playdate with some of their favorite friends right before Christmas. These girls dressed up all fancy and asked to have a tea party. How could I tell them no???

The big girls joined them too.

Not only did we spend time water coloring this Christmas, we also worked on puzzles. We finished three this year. 

Katherine had a winter dance performance for the parents. She switched to a new dance studio this year and is loving it! She's made so many new friends. It's a multi age class, and Katherine is one of the youngest. She holds her own though! We can't wait for the Spring recital. 

She performed two dances, a ballet dance and a jazz dance. She was so proud of mastering the can opener for her American Bandstand dance. She worked hard for a long time on it! And then she taught all her friends how to do it too. 

December really is the most wonderful month of the year!

First Lego League State Championship

 After a strong showing at Regionals, Nathan and Samuel and their Riptide team worked diligently and fervently to prepare for the state competition. They put in many long hours improving their innovative project, coding new challenges, and debugging code. They were ready to show off their hard work at the state competition in Stillwater. 

These kids spent the entire day on Friday practicing and preparing for the competition. It was a tiring day!

We were up and in Stillwater bright and early ready for a big day. 

These two learned some good lessons about taking care of each other and the importance of their relationship over any competition. 

It was tense morning. Their first robot run was a huge failure. 

But those kids didn't give up. Nathan worked on code, they problem solved and their last two runs were much smoother. They improved their score significantly over regionals. 

The team also significantly improved their scores on their innovative project. 

And the biggest surprise of the day was bringing home a third place trophy for robot design. Such an exciting day for these kids!

We can't wait to see what they can do next year with more experience under their belts. This was such a worthwhile activity for my boys to be involved in this year- so many lessons learned and skills gained. They are ready for another year!