A few days after Thanksgiving, Chris and I sat down with a paper calendar and planned out all the activities we wanted to do in December. We have a lot of traditions, and I wanted to be sure that we did all the things we wanted to do. We truly try to not go overboard with being on the go, but we also want to enjoy the things the season has to offer.
Last year we attended our local Christmas parade for the first time since we'd had the twins. This is an activity that I could personally take or leave, but the children all enjoyed it so much and couldn't wait to go again. Really, I think they just like the free candy most of all 😁. We put it on our calendar, but when the day came it was COLD . . . like 20 degrees cold! But did that keep us away?!? Nope! We just bundled up and enjoyed ourselves anyhow!
Look at Brecklyn's face!
Brooke was excited, too!
You can just see how happy they were by their expressions. The cold didn't bother them at all!
After the parade began, Brooke and Brecklyn stood on the sidewalk shouting "Merry Christmas!" to all the floats that came by. After a while, they started saying, "Merry Christmas! Congratulations!" I finally asked them, "Why are you saying congratulations?" and they replied, "Because they in a PARADE!" Hahaha!
Another fun thing we did this season was make a few Christmas crafts. A couple years ago, Papa made me a whole box of these wooden discs, and I've used and used them for different craft projects. I didn't have many left, so I decided we would use the last few up by making Christmas ornaments out of them. Brianna and Brenson both helped me, and we had a blast!
I loved the way the ornaments turned out! We mostly used scrapbooking supplies I had lying around.
Later, I added an epoxy finish to seal them, and it gave them a very finished look.
We went on to make many more besides just these . . . probably at least another 20. We gave them as gifts to teachers, friends, and family. I wish I had taken photos of all the ones we made because each one was unique!
And, just when I thought I had used all my wooden discs, Papa cut me about 200 more! Lol.
Another Christmas craft we did was make sock snowmen with the children one evening. My Aunt Cindy sent us a package with all the supplies to make them, and they turned out really cute!
Isn't the finished product adorable? I sent my Aunt this photo of all the cute children and all the cute snowmen :-).
Each year, we have a Christmas luncheon and small gift exchange at church. For the past few years, Lisa has created a cute backdrop for photos. This year, it was spot on! I loved it! I'm also happy to report that I came home from the gift exchange with a gift I really like and actually used. This doesn't happen every year, so I want to document that it did!
Finally, one of our yearly traditions is to get together with Ross & Tia for an evening of good food, laughter, and fun. This is something we've been doing for at least 10 years now, and since Russ & Lisa moved here they always join us, as well. This year, another family from church also joined in on the fun. We all met at Ross & Tia's house, had Chick-Fil-A and finger foods, then headed to the Tulsa Botanic Garden for their Garden of Lights event.
None of us had ever been to this event before, and we loved it! It did cost to get in, but Chris and I both felt it was worth the money.
Tia, Chelle, Rebekah, and Lisa
The weather was chilly but not miserably cold. It was perfect for a winter night looking at lights!
Tia took this pic on her camera, and I think it turned out so beautiful!
My twinbie girls loved walking around in the beautiful lights, and they were able to take a little train ride, too!
💓
BFF Cousins, Chloe Jo and Brianna
I took this photo right as we were getting ready to leave. It had been a long day (we had all been at the school for Rise and Shine that morning to see Bren get his running medal), and my babies were tired. In fact, they ALL fell asleep in the van on the way home! So all of that to say, this pic isn't the best, haha.
I love the traditions that we've established through the years, but more than that I just love all the time we spend together as a family. I know our traditions may change as the kids get older, but I pray that we'll always make family time a priority!
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