Early December

Thankfully, everyone is healthy and ready to resume our December fun. I always try to fill our calendar with fun activities and in December that is incredibly easy.

We did not do our annual Norfolk trip this year. We are looking for ways to save money and that was an easy expense to cut. There are always so many fun things happening here that I was happy to forgo the trip and try something new. Specifically, I wanted to go to the Festival of Trees, which always takes place on the Saturday we are out of town. This year I was excited to finally go. Then, it happened on the day when Kara was sick and Anna was complaining about her throat. I missed it again! But, it would have been so much worse if we had been away. We also missed the Victorian Christmas at the Mudd House thanks to illness, something else we have been talking about for awhile. Maybe next year.

But, we have still done some fun stuff. We went to a craft show at the Hollywood Fire Department and Cookies with the Clauses at Solomon's.  The kids "babysat" some of the preschoolers in our neighborhood to earn money for their gifts to each other (we drew names). We had peppermint blizzards at Dairy Queen and Peppermint Shakes at Chick-Fil-A. We did a nighttime neighborhood walk to see lights.  So, while not as busy (or fun-filled) as usual, we have still kept them, and us, entertained.

I thought it was so cute how Anna was sitting with Luke.

The obligatory pictures with Santa.  As usual, I forgot a real camera, so just some blurry phone shots.

Luke did good! He wasn't thrilled, but he didn't get upset either.

Jack was happy to show him how it was done.

Last, but not least was sweet Anna.

We made Gingerbread Houses at home and of course we decorated the tree. For their teacher gifts the kids wanted to make something. We decided to go to All About Beads. They got to choose beads and make the necklaces themselves. I think they turned out really nice. Hopefully, the teachers will appreciate the effort (it took us 2 hours!). Just in case they don't, we got some Target gift cards too.

From left: Anna's, Jack's and Kara's creations.

Thomas and I were fortunate enough to be on the guest list for the Darrow's Christmas party, which is another of our favorite December traditions. We won the award for best Christmas jammies (sort of by default, I think we were the only couple who both had on Christmas-themed pajamas--thanks to the Pajama Grams Thomas' grandmother sent our family a few years ago) and we won the "Name that Christmas Movie" quiz. We did not win the lip-sync battle, despite going full-out to Pentatonix's "Joy to the World" with the Ainas.  But, it was a blast to see everyone acting goofy and having fun. And, I got a Simon during the gift exchange! I have wanted one ever since I saw them making a comeback. Unfortunately, I can't get past 10. Thomas currently holds the record at 13 and he's only played once. The kids can also do 10 in a row. I am sure we will all get better with time and practice.

I really don't know how we didn't win.  I thought about demanding a recount, but the Winning Weists were pretty awesome (they had a rap).  Regardless, we had fun and I was glad we were paired with the Ainas.

Still on the agenda are a trip to Mount Vernon and hopefully the zoo. We will definitely do Ann Marie Gardens (the kids did Flat Iron on the night Thomas and I did our painting). It has nothing to do with Christmas, but Thomas, Jack and I are going to see the new Star Wars tonight. I don't think I've ever been to a popular movie on opening night, so it should be interesting.

Completely unrelated, but something I want to mention is that Luke has a strange inability to say thank you. Instead, he responds with you're welcome to mean both thank you and you're welcome and who knows what else. It cracks me up! If you sneeze, he says "you're welcome". If you hand him something, he says "you're welcome". If you say good job, he responds "you're welcome".  I was trying to teach him to say thank you yesterday and every time I asked him to say thank you, he said you're welcome instead. You're welcome sounds like yurwawa, but we all know what it means. He's a funny kid. He loves all the Christmas lights and activities. He is even a bit into our Elf on the Shelf. He is always surprised to see him hanging out in the morning in a new spot and points him out with a bewildered look.

I took Luke to have lunch with the other kids. I brought him food, but he really wanted a lunch of his own. Kara was happy to buy it for him!

Jack asked me to take his picture and "put it online" this morning.He had on 2 Christmas hats and the reindeer headband. I told him I would add it to the blog :)