December Round-Up!

December gets quite a few posts about all the activities we do throughout the month, so that means I don't have as many photos as usual for my round-up post. However, as we close out 2019, here are a few random photos I want to share! 

My college besties and I love to get together for breakfast every once in a while to catch up on life. We refer to this as OLB (Old Lady Breakfast . . . because we meet super early when the older crowd is out). We haven't been able to do this in a good while, so when it worked out for us to meet one Saturday earlier in December, I was so excited. We were missing Kendall, but we had a great time visiting, laughing, and catching up. I'm so blessed the call these gals friends!

Angie, Amy, and Chelley

We are blessed with amazing sunrises all throughout the year, but I think I've decided that the late Autumn/early Winter sunrises are the BEST. Just look at that sky!

The kids had a variety of activities going at school in December, and that meant there were several home projects to be completed. The second grade teachers held an "Ugly Sweater Contest" for their students, and Chris helped Bren with his "Ugly Sweater". It turned out so great!

I love how they made it 3-D!

One Saturday, we decided to take the kids to downtown in the nearby big city for the big Christmas Parade. Our plan was to eat brunch then find a place to watch the parade. On the way there, I noticed that the back of our van was super quiet, so I turned around to check on everyone. There was no need for alarm . . .  they were all just reading!

Brooke and Brecklyn

Brianna and Brenson

Once we arrived downtown, we realized that it was much colder and windier than we had anticipated. We had coats, but we needed much warmer clothing if we had any chance of not being completely miserable. Instead of eating brunch and watching the parade, we decided to have an early lunch at one of our favorite Mexican food restaurants and go back home. We were all pretty disappointed, but I think trying to brave the weather without proper attire would have been a disaster!

We spent the afternoon doing a bit of crafting and writing out Christmas cards for the faculty and staff at the kids' school. I laughed so hard when I saw what Bren wrote in the card we made for the building principal. She did have to "deal" with him a few times last year, and he obviously has not forgotten!

That evening, we let the kids eat upstairs while we watched The Polar Express. It was the perfect, cozy evening!

I always try to take a few festive photos of the kids in front of the Christmas tree every year. I can't get over how big my babies are getting!

Brecklyn and Brooke

Brenson, Brianna, Brecklyn, and Brooke

This photo captures pretty well what it's really like trying to take photos of four kids. Brooke screamed and claimed that Brianna pinched her. Brianna denied it, but I think this photo tells the story! I feel like Brianna's face tells on her in the photo above . . . she looks like she's getting ready to do something mischievous!

We haven't gone a single, full month since we started school without one or more of the kids being sick. It's SO frustrating to me! In December, Brenson had bronchitis (thankfully we got meds for him and he recovered quickly), and Brooke had a random fever for a few days. She missed two days of school, and I knew she was truly sick when I looked over at her one morning and saw this:

During that same time, Brecklyn also had a fever for one day, so I kept them both home from school. We spent some time working on book work (which they love) and drawing. I love how focused they can be!

I also painted their nails for them!

One evening, Chris called me on his way home from work to let me know that his manager's son was going to be in our town that night playing basketball. We decided it would be fun to watch him play, so we headed up to the high school gym after dinner to cheer him on. It was a fun outing!

Brenson's teacher took photos of all her students this month and used an app to turn them into Christmas themed storybook characters. Brenson knew he was going to be the Grinch, so he made his best Grinch face in the photo. It made me smile, for sure!

The day after Christmas, my sister texted me and invited Brianna and I to join her, Chloe, and my mom for an afternoon movie. Lisa and I were obsessed with the movie, Little Women, when we were younger, so we thought the newest Little Women would be a good choice. I didn't actually have high hopes for liking the movie because I love the 1994 version soooooo much. However, I loved the 2019 version as well! Lisa and I both cried through the entire thing (and Bri and Chloe ate alllll the snacks through the entire thing!), and I was exhausted by the end of it! I was so thankful to get to go see it, though, and Brianna has since watched the 1994 version a few times. I felt like it was a victory when she told me that she couldn't decide which version she likes best :-).

One of the teachers at the kids' school makes really cool jewelry out of skateboards. I have a ring and a pair of earrings that she made, and I asked Chris to get me another pair of earrings for Christmas. A couple days after Christmas, he remembered that he had a gift he had forgotten to give me, and it was the earrings I had asked for!

I love to do really big puzzles, so during Christmas break I typically have a puzzle going on our dining room table. This year, I started the puzzle before the kids got out of school for break, and it took me a full ten days to finish it! Chris and the kids do help me with it some, but maybe next I'll choose something smaller than 3000 pieces . . . although probably not, haha!

The weather on Christmas day was a gorgeous 70 degrees, and the days that followed were also unseasonably warm. One afternoon, we loaded up the kids and their scooters and headed out to the lake to ride on the trails. Grampy and G-Jo met us out there, and we all enjoyed the lovely weather and exercise.

Brecklyn, Brianna, and Brooke

Brooke, Brenson, Brecklyn, and Brianna

Even in the winter, the lake is pretty.

After Christmas, we always spend a lot of time at home just relaxing and playing and letting the house be a big mess. We set up extra tables for the kids to play on, and Brooke and Brecklyn thought that was fantastic. We even let them watch a movie on my computer, which I'm pretty sure we've never done before. I love how little things can be special, even when they're really not a big deal.

I've been doing these round-up posts for two years now, and they are becoming some of my favorite posts to write and look back on. It's all the little and somewhat random moments that tend to be forgotten, so I love having record of some of it. I'm so thankful for a wonderful 2019!