Lately

I blinked and it's December 1st! I think I may make these "Lately" posts a monthly thing . . . they're a great way to recap the ins and outs of our daily life, and it gives me an excuse to post a bunch of pictures that might not otherwise make it to the blog :-).

I'm sure this isn't a newsflash to anyone, but sometimes toddlers can be really needy. And sometimes, I have things that I need to get accomplished. I'm always looking for innovative ways to keep the girls occupied (aside from screentime). They love to color, but it doesn't always keep them busy as long as I need it to. This day, I thought I'd change it up a bit and put paper down the middle of our coffee table, and let them go to town with stamps and crayons. 

They thought this was the best activity ever! It kept them entertained for over half an hour, the mess was minimal, and they loved it! Win-win-win!

We've been struggling with sickness off and on since the week before Halloween. It's mostly a cough and congestion that seems like it's getting better, only to get worse again. Brenson, especially, is really having a hard time with it. He's missed several days of school simply because he can't stop coughing. Sometimes, his cough gets really worked up at night, and he might cough for two to three hours before we can finally get it under control. On days like those, I'm not going to send him to school when he hasn't had any sleep! Brianna has missed two days of school because of sickness, as well. I'm so over it! It's rough when the Littles don't feel good!

Chris and I rarely go out just the two of us. We did have a date night in October for our anniversary, but before that it had been months. My friend, Amy, has been wanting to come hang out with the kids and convinced me to let her watch all of them so Chris and I could go out for the evening. She recruited my friend, Angie, to help her, and they came over in early November to babysit for us. The date was great for Chris and me, but I think the kids had an even better time than we did. When we got home, Brianna had Angie putting curlers in her hair while Amy was painting her nails. Bri was living it up, haha! We were so grateful for our friends' generosity to come watch our kids after they'd both taught all week.

Brecklyn and Brooke have very different hair, but it's starting to get SO long for both of them. I've been experimenting with different ways to fix their hair. This night, I pulled their hair back and put a small topsy-tail in.

Brecklyn, Brooke

Sweet girls <3 p="">

They've really lost so much of their 'baby' look *tear*

My birthday fell on a Friday this year, so Chris decided to take the day off work to spend with me. It was a day we were dreading a bit as it was the weekend of Bristol's due date, and we had sincerely hoped she would have been born on my birthday. If she had, she would have been the third generation with that birthday (I share it with my dad). How neat would that have been?

However, it ended up being a really good day, despite the empty place in our hearts for Bristol. We started out the morning at the school watching Brianna get her 25 mile running medal. We are so proud of her hard work! Her goal is to earn the 50 mile medal this year, so she's officially half-way there!

There was a whole group of students who earned their medals this day.

Victory lap!

When we were back at the school later in the day, I talked with Mrs. S, the PE teacher. She told me that as of that day, 16 percent of the students had earned their 25 mile medal. I thought that was pretty amazing!

This was also the day of Thanksgiving lunch at school, so we only had a couple hours once we got home before we had to head back to the school to eat with Brenson and Brianna. Chris had some work to do in the garage, so Brooke and Brecklyn were thrilled to get to play outside. We let them drive the powerwheels truck for the first time. It was so cute!

Brooke, Brecklyn

Brecklyn was content to be the passenger while Brooke wanted to drive, so it worked out just right. She could definitely use a little more practice, though :-)

I saw my future watching these two in the truck!

It was a little chilly outside, so we came in to warm up for a few minutes before going back to the school. I loved looking over and seeing this:

The Thanksgiving luncheon was really nice, and the food was tasty! I'm not sure Bren could have been more excited to have us there! 

After we ate lunch with Bren, Chris volunteered to help serve lunch to the next group (1st graders), then we ate with Brianna during the next lunch session. Several of her little friends sat with us and wanted to visit, so I forgot to take a photo of us eating with her :-(.

I had been battling a cough, sour throat, and headache for a day or so, so I took a fat birthday nap that afternoon. It was so nice! When I woke up, we all went outside and played for a while (the weather was gorgeous!)

And the sunset? Well, obviously it was gorgeous, too!

It just kept getting better and better!

We had planned to go out to dinner for my birthday that evening, but I just wasn't feel up to it. (I found out a couple days later - after a visit to Urgent Care - that I had bronchitis. That is very unusual for me!) Instead of going out to eat, Chris just picked up Chili's to-go for him and me, and we ate at home. The kids always want mac-n-cheese when we go to that type of restaurant, so I just fixed it for them at home while Chris was gone to get the food. It's much cheaper that way! Chris and the kids had made me my favorite kind of cake (funfetti), so we enjoyed that after dinner. 

Then, I opened a few gifts, and Russ, Lisa, and Chloe Jo came over to eat cake and visit for a while.  I was thankful for a peaceful day full of love.

At the end of November, the twins had a big 'first' . . . their first ever haircuts! Brecklyn, especially, has needed a trim for a while, so I finally scheduled an appointment for them with my hair lady, Stephanie. I talked about it with them for a few weeks, and neither one of them were too on-board with the idea. However, when we got to Stephanie's, they were both brave and did a great job!

Brooke went first. She sat so still and followed directions like a champ!

It's hard to tell that Brooke even had a trim with all her curls, but I'm glad we did it!

It took a little more bribing to get Brecklyn to sit in the chair, but she finally did it.

She also did great, and her hair looks SO much better!

Of course, when we got home, the girls immediately started playing 'beauty shop'. We've had lots of talks about how only Ms. Stephanie cuts our hair . . . never ourselves or our sister! Hopefully, they won't try it :-).

I just love the age the girls are right now. They are just so cute and precious!