Kiddos' Showoffs

We are so busy.  It's probably irritating how much I say that, but I've seriously never felt so busy IN MY LIFE.  I never sleep and am habitually exhausted.  So why I am writing this blog post at 11:30 pm?!?!?  Because my personality is so rigid that once I get it in my head that I'm going to do something, I feel a compulsion to check it off the list. 

I'm not sure if it's having 3 kids or 3 jobs or too many activities in our life, but last week I definitely had an anxiety attack about how crazy things are right now.  The good news is most of the things that keep us busy, I really love!  Here's proof of the fun...

Last Tuesday (the 10th) we went to Charlotte's Christmas program at preschool...

As usual, she was a star up there;)  Her teacher said she was the best singer in their class!

Saturday, Hunter had his first ever basketball game.  His team is the Dartmouth (and Yale) Blue Devils.  He has 4 other boys from his school on the team, and James is the coach.  I don't know which of those he's more excited about!  It was so fun(ny) to watch them!  Basketball is my favorite sport and they are still learning the rules, so that made for an entertaining combination...

The other team scored first.  As soon as they did, I heard Hunter yell, "NOOOOOOO!!!!" so loud.  It cracked me up.  This is his face right afterward...

So funny!!

Here are 4 of the 5 boys from Dartmouth...

Such sweet friends!  They tied 2-2, not that we were keeping track;)

Sunday, Hunter sang Go Tell it on the Mountain and Silent Night with the children's choir during our Christmas service...

I love watching both of them perform.  Hunter always knows all the words!  (It helped this time that she had written them out for the kids!)  If he makes eye contact with someone he knows in the audience, he sticks his tongue over into his cheek to stop from smiling or laughing.  It's the cutest thing.

 

The next day, Charlotte had her ballet show off during her ballet class.  I came straight from work and forgot my camera, so had to use my phone to get pictures...

She was so tiny when she started ballet, she and looks like such a big, tall girl now!  I can't believe how fast she is growing. 

 

I am thankful to have these little blessings to keep me busy!  Watching them grow is such a joy...

Advent - Week Two

Our second week of Advent was just as crazy - maybe even crazier with Grey getting another ear infection 3 days after finishing antibiotics and Charlotte getting a fat lip AND ruptured ear drum.  But we still managed to have fun amidst all of that! 

 

Church was canceled on December 8th because of Icemageddon 2013, but we ventured out around lunch time to North Park to see the scrooge theater and whatever other festive things we could find.  Hunter was giddy to get out because he hadn't left the house since Thursday!  Grey was pretty excited, too...

 

Scrooge wasn't as funny this year, but the kids still had fun watching his little show.  We also watched some dancers that were performing, but they got a little provocative, so we quickly walked away to see this gingerbread town...

It was so cute, and the kids kept commenting on how yummy it smelled!

School was cancelled again on December 9th, so all 5 of us were home together again.  James worked from home and I had the day off, so I took the big kids to Target (separately) so they could buy gifts for each other.

Charlotte bought Hunter (drumroll)....

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles blow up "training" toys...

And Hunter bought Charlotte...

Some Frozen figurines...

 We heart Frozen!!

They immediately went to their rooms to play with their new toys...

After that first picture, Charlotte got annoyed with me watching her and asked me to leave;)...

December 10th, we made donut treats...
Snowmen and Reindeer!

Even Grey got a little taste and loved it!

 

That night, Charlotte was playing around with James and fell into the coffee table...

Poor girl:(  It looked even worse the next day, but finally started looking better on Friday.

 



On December 11th, we made lots of cookies together.  I didn't get any pictures because Wednesdays are already really busy, even without all the cookie making:)

 

The next day, we wrote a letter to Celeste, the child we sponsor through Compassion.  I pray that my children can see how blessed they are to live in this country of abundance, in a home where both parents are there to love them and teach them about Jesus and how much He loves them.  It is a blessing to be able to sponsor Celeste and pray for her to come to know Jesus as her Savior.

 

Last night we had some friends over for s'mores and hot chocolate and then headed over to our neighborhood train...

Because of Grey's ear infection, James stayed home with him while I took the big kids to ride the train with our friends.  They had a blast!  And this is the conversation in our car on the way home...

 

Hunter - "On the train, Ronnie and I were talking about what if the train exploded!  And we had to jump off!  And we'd yell really loud for our parents, and we might die if we didn't get away fast! 

 

Me - "Wow, I'm glad that didn't happen!  Charlotte, what did you and Amelia talk about?"

 

Charlotte - "We talked about what if we were princesses."

 

Love that!  The train man announced that this is his last year to do the train.  We are disappointed, but realize what a huge sacrifice it is for him to have done this the past 13 years!  We are so thankful for his generosity, and will be going back one more time before New Year's:)

 

Tonight, the plan was to go see Missle Toes at the Galleria.  The kids, especially Hunter, loved it last year...James and I did, too!  But by the time we got to the Galleria, the traffic was INSANE.  I was expecting it to be crowded, but it was the worst I've ever seen.  And the parking garage was completely full.  So, we went with plan B (which we had actually been talking about working in as an activity tomorrow, anyway)...going to Christmas Journey at First Baptist McKinney.  The entire thing took about an hour and a half (we waited for 45 minutes in line to get through the gates...in the car, though;)).  It was really well done, and I highly recommend it...but maybe not if you have an infant in the car.  I had to take him out of his carseat and hold him while we were waiting, and then again all through the Journey.  I'm definitely glad we went, though.  Char asked lots of great questions, and it was good for them to see the things we talk about so much acted out in real life.

 

I wasn't able to take any pictures of the actors, because I was holding Grey the entire time...so you'll have to go check it out yourself tomorrow!  Much better than Missle Toes, in my opinion!  It was a welcome reminder to me of how precious Jesus is.  I am so blessed to know His love.

 

 

 

Advent - Week One

This year's Advent celebration has been sort of crazy and sadly, a little stressful, because of how busy we are.  Each day, we put an ornament on the kids small tree that has a different name of Jesus on it.  We also do a little Advent devotional and pray for the Christmas cards we've received that day.  And we have our fun activity that's not really related to the expectancy of Jesus, but we do it to have fun celebrating together.  There have been few days where I've remembered to do all 4 of those things, but we always catch up the next day! 

 

December 1st we went to see Frozen...

Vanesa watched Grey for us because we knew he wouldn't sit through the movie.  I LOVED the movie...maybe even more than H and C did.  It was so cute, and I can't wait to buy it so I can watch it whenever I want:)

 

December 2nd we went to Target to buy candy canes and ornaments for our tree.  Hunter chose Turbo...

 

And Char chose this ballerina monkey...

 

December 3rd we did popsicle Christmas crafts...

Charlotte really loved making them!  And she had fun dressing up Grey, too...

 

December 4th we baked reindeer cupcakes and marshmallow pops for our family...

And delivered them on the 5th, but it was too freezing and busy that day to take any pictures:)

 

December 6th we drank hot chocolate and watched a Christmas movie...

We were stuck in the house all day because of the ice storm that canceled school for the kids and work for James!

 

December 7th, we were supposed to go to the COR Christmas parade (Hunter was going to walk with the cub scouts), but it was canceled because of the ice:(.  Charlotte and I went to see the Nutcracker with Amelia and Kim while the boys stayed home and played games and ate ice cream.

 

 

 

I found a free Advent app that we've been doing with the kids.  This past week has been verses from the Old Testament prophesying about the coming of the Chosen One.  We've enjoyed reading and talking through it all.  It's a great way to slow down and focus on our beloved Jesus.

 

Excited for another fun-filled week!