Birthday Party

We celebrated Hannah's birthday on Saturday.  It was a week early but flexibility is needed when your birthday is only 3 days from Christmas.  I had a great time planning and preparing for everything.  "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" was the theme and it was so fun and easy to work with.  

I really think Hannah understood that the party was for her.  She had a great time chasing the older kids around, posing for pictures, opening her presents and of course getting her first taste of cake.  The cake eating will definitely be the most memorable part of the day or maybe the aftermath of it.  Her smash cake was a butterfly with red icing.  Let's just say she did not enjoy her spur of the moment sink bath to get clean.  Aunt Kristi did do a fantastic job making both cakes and maybe enjoyed a chuckle or two about the red frosting.

And now for the pictures!  You should know that there are a lot of them--I couldn't pick only a few.  Enjoy--we sure did :)

December Daily: 12-8, 12-9 & 12-10

December 8:  This was a much needed family day at home.  I did make a quick, well not really quick because it was Saturday, trip to Target for some things (I would like to know how a few things ends up being over $200 and no I didn't buy anything we didn't need) but the rest of the day was just the 4 of us chillin'.  My favorite part of this day: listening to Troy and Luke talking and laughing as they built a new train track.  They have so much fun together; it truly warms my heart to hear them together.

December 9:  The Jacquie Lawson advent calendar is another Christmas tradition in our house.  We are in our 3rd year with this one.  I know this one will last because Luke talks about it all through the year.  It's the computer advent calendar that Grammy sends to Luke.  It is an interactive calendar with animals, bears, trains, and other very fun things.  Luke loves to look at it every day and most often goes through all the days again.  He also loves to sing along as most days have familiar Christmas songs associated with them.  

December 10:  I have to say that tonight was one of the best nights our family of 4 has had together in a while.  The kids and I picked Troy up from work early and we headed downtown to Bass Pro so the kids could see/talk to Santa.  We only waited about 15 minutes for our turn.  Luke walked right up to Santa; Troy put Hannah in his lap; we took some pictures; Luke told Santa he wanted the Lego Gold Mine; Luke got a candy cane and we were done.  We did walk around a bit and then we headed to dinner.  

I convinced Luke that we should go out for pizza at Upper Crust.  It was a great dinner; both kids were in great moods and we had super yummy food.  It was Hannah's first time eating pizza.  No surprise--she loved it.  I think she probably ate an entire slice except for the crust.  I like the idea of making a pizza dinner out after a Santa visit a tradition.  We'll see I guess.

December Daily: 12-6 & 12-7

December 6:  We have started a new tradition this year.  I'll have to admit it's another idea from Pinterest but a really fun one.  Before the month started, I wrapped 24 Christmas/winter themed books for the kids.  Each night before bed we unwrap a book and read it.  It's another way for Luke to count down the days and it's something that Hannah can also enjoy (she's very slowly learning how to listen to a whole book).  

December 7:  Friday was a pj day at our house.  We LOVE having pj days--especially Luke.  It's been quite a while since we've had one but I wasn't feeling good and it was cold and cloudy outside so it was the perfect day to stay inside with our fuzzy, warm pj's on.  

Luke and I did decorate our gingerbread house while Hannah was napping so we did accomplish something at least.  Last year Luke and I decorated graham cracker houses I put together (it was one of the last special activities we did together before Hannah was born--a memory I'll always cherish).  This year we have a plastic house that Grammy got for us that it super easy.  All you have to do is snap the pieces together and put the icing and candy on.  It's worry-free and very fun!  Luke did a great job decorating.

December Daily: 12-4 & 12-5

December 4:  We finally decorated the Christmas tree last night.  This is by far my most favorite activity of the holiday season.  I love having the Christmas music on in the background and reminicing about all of our different ornaments and spending time together as a family.  

Both kids were in their pj's for the event.  For some reason that really struck me and I love that that's how it worked out--maybe an innocence factor to it all.  Of course Hannah wanted to eat the ornaments which was a challenge but we managed.  Luke was super into hanging ornaments this year--he really got into it which was so much fun to watch.  He even put the angel on top of the year.

December 5:  As I've mentioned numerous times, I'm addicted to Pinterest.  Well, I have seen numerous different ideas for decorating styrofoam trees.  My plan was to work on some about 3 weeks ago--I finally got a chance to work on some today.  Hannah was napping after lunch and Luke was at school so I took an hour and worked on 4 different trees.  I haven't taken any pictures of them but I will at some point.  I really had a lot of fun outside of the fact that I now have a blister on my thumb from the hot glue I was using.

Pic Catch-Up

 9-24: Peek-a-boo

 9-28: They love playing horsey on my lap

9-29: Being silly

10-5: Such a cutie!

10-8: So much fun

10-12: What happens when you get ahold of your brother's kool-aid when no one is watching

 10-20: This is too long of a story to explain--let's just say the likelihood of this ever happening again are slim to none.  Luke loves to remind me of it though.

 11-2: Have I mentioned how much these two LOVE to swing?!?!?!

 11-6: Bath fun

 11-11: Um, no words

 11-18: We took the kids to a dinosaur exhibit (not very scientific); the best part was panning for minerals--Luke found a whole bunch.

 11-19: Stripes at the park

 11-20: Thanksgiving feast at school

 11-22: Thanksgiving Day--having fun outside

 11-23:  LJ and Troy play MarioKart rather often; this is the first time Luke got a place other than 12th all by himself; he was beyond excited.

 11-26: LJ and I put up a small tree in his room

11-28: Spaghetti dinner--she ate 3 helpings and loved every single bite.

December Daily: 12-2 & 12-3

December 2:  Yesterday morning I had a little over 4 hours at home by myself.  Yes, let me repeat that--4 hours at home by myself!  I would've had more time but I decided lying in bed under the warm covers listening to the silence warranted another 30 minutes.  Troy had gone in to work early and the kids had spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa's.  Maggie and I decided that it was very quiet; she really did keep looking at me like where did everybody go?

So, what did I do with this glorious time to myself?  I put up all the Christmas decorations, picked up the house, did 3 loads of laundry and ate two meals alone without having to get anything for anyone.  It was completely marvelous.  But you know what, it was almost too quiet.  Don't get me wrong I enjoyed the time to myself but it just didn't feel right.  I was missing the ones I love the most and it made me realize that long, hard days (like today as a matter of fact) are sweet too and I need to appreciate all the days we spend together making our house a home just a little bit more.

December 3:  Tonight after dinner we put the Christmas lights on our tree.  For some reason or another it seems that every year we get our tree and it takes us 4-5 days to get it put up and decorated.  Troy and I were going to put the lights on last night so we could hang the ornaments tonight after dinner but more than half of our light strands didn't work last night and Lowe's was already closed by the time we figured that out.  So, tomorrow is day 4 and hopefully by tomorrow night the tree will be covered in ornaments.

December Daily: 12-1

It's back.  I plan to attempt to do December Daily again this year (although there probably won't be daily posts).  The goal or aim of this project is not to record all the days events but just one story a day.  It can pertain to the holiday season or not--my choice.  As I have a bunch of things planned for the season I imagine most of my posts will center around Christmas.

December 1: Getting the Tree--We went yesterday morning to get our Christmas tree.  The high temperature yesterday was in the upper 70's so it didn't feel to much like Christmas.  But it was nice not to be freezing.  When we arrived at the tree farm, one of the workers asked if we had been there before; we had.  The guy then asked if we needed a refresher on how everything worked.  

Troy's response, "We walk around for a bit looking at the trees pretending like we'll cut a fresh one and then decide we like the pre-cut ones better and come back up here to pick one out."  

The guy laughed and said, "Yep, that's how my family does it too."  Glad to know we're not the only ones.

It was fun walking around among the trees with the kids.  This obviously was Hannah's first time getting a tree and she did great.  We opted to carry her rather than take the stroller--she's getting heavy!

We were home about an hour and a half after we left with our perfect tree.