December 31

Here's what we'll be doing to bring in the New Year:

1pm –Board games

2pm – Snack

3pm – Pie Face game

4pm –  Minute to Win It games

5pm - Eat Like a Dog

6pm -The Flour Power game

7pm - Movie

8pm - Ice cream sundaes

9pm - Minute to Win It Round 2

10pm - streamers, poppers, etc
11pm - Toast with sparkling grape juice/donuts with sparkler candles

Midnight - go to bed! 

My New Years Resolution? To slow down and not do so much. I bet it lasts about a week. What do you think? I really am kind of burnt out. This year has been particularly hectic and stressful. Adding Hulk has been fun, difficult, stressful, and rewarding. I think I have overdone our activities trying to show him family fun. Well, it's not fun when the Mom is tired and snippy, which is me lately.

December 30

Okay, so I lied about no posts until 2016.

 

 

 

 After a couple of days of being cooped up inside because of bad weather, I took the kids roller skating today. They were bouncing off the walls last night. Tonight they are worn out - yay! Lucy and Hulk had never been skating before, so we got skate trainers (kind of like walkers on wheels). They did great once they got the hang of it. Hulk nearly wimped out after a few feet on the floor, but I made him keep going and he had a great time. Lucy did MUCH better than I expected. None of them wanted to leave after 2 1/2 hours.

December 27

No new posts until 2016.

December 26

 Santa brought Lucy paint.

 Elliott got a skateboard.

 Kat got Easy Bake oven kits

 Hulk got an art kit.

 Julia got a dollhouse kit.

 After opening our stockings, we ate breakfast and sang Happy Birthday to Jesus.

We opened some more presents and then we let the kids play with their toys while I got everything put away/organized. Then we waited for Mamaw and Bapaw, Mamaw and Papaw C, and Joe and Nikole to come over. We opened a new game that the kids got "Pie Face". It was a hit!

 

 

 

 

 

After everyone left, we had a couple more hours to relax at home and let the kids enjoy their new toys. Then we headed to Mamaw and Bapaws to eat dinner and hang out.

 

 I may or may not have peed my pants while taking these pictures recreating old family photos. Trying to fit the three boys on the top of the stairs was hilarious.

 The kids sure have missed Uncle Joe!

 Merry Christmas!

December 25

Merry Christmas!

So yesterday didn't turn out to be the relaxing day I was planning, but we had a fun surprise. Joe and Nikole are in town for Christmas! Joe and Bapaw helped Clay work on both the big van and the mini van while we girls played games. The little boys spent hours outside climbing trees, etc in short sleeve shirts! It was nearly 70 degrees outside. We attended church later in the evening and then grabbed Chinese food for dinner before coming home to get the kids off to bed.

 

 

 

December 24

Christmas Eve is one of my favorite days of the year. Other than Clay planning to run out and get a part for the van, and Christmas Eve service at church tonight, we intend to stay home, relax, and spend time with our rugrats. It's been a long time since we've had a relaxing day. I REALLY need a relaxing day. I am worn out... and cranky.

December 23

Today was a day of good and bad. 

Bad first: 

1- Lucy wet the bed and was not wearing a Pull-Up because Mom and Dad were tired and not paying attention to that important detail. 

2- On my way to taking Julia to gymnastics in the big red van (I am not driving the mini van because something is wrong with it), the "Service Engine" light came on and the thermostat needle was pointing to hot. So we pulled over and called Clay to come bail us out off the side of the road. This is the third time since this summer that I have been in a car that has decided it didn't want to work... and for the record, each time it was a different car. I think I need to start riding my bike instead! Clay and Bapaw bailed us out and Bapaw let us use his car to drive Julia to gymnastics. 

3- Because it's 65 degrees in December, we got some nasty storms last night. I got to load the groceries into the car in the lovely storm. 

4 - Clay and Bapaw spent the remainder of their evening working on the van instead of relaxing with the family.

The Good: 

We spent four hours volunteering as bell ringers for the Salvation Army yesterday. Jonathan spent the day with us ringing bells too. Lucy did much better than I expected. She last 2 hours, minus about 20-30 minutes for a lunch break. Hulk also did great. How can you resist a small child who makes eye contact with you and says, "Merry Christmas"? The little ones also kept busy by handing out candy canes to kids. Mamaw Pat helped for awhile and then took Hulk, Lucy, and Elliott home with her. Later in our shift, Jonathan, and Matthew came and helped out. I don't know how much money the regular bell ringers get in their kettle, but I am pretty sure that having a group of cute children helped us get some extra money for the Salvation Army.

 

 

 

December 22

 My kindness team giving out "pops" (soda) to the houses with decorations that pop. 

As you can see by the picture, we had less than desirable weather, so we headed to the mall to spread our kindness inside. We gave 2 different people gift cards to Chick-Fil-A, passed out candy canes to kids, loaded up gumball machines with quarters, and posted homemade signs up in the bathrooms that said "Merry Christmas", etc.

We also gave treats to the mailman and the pediatrician's office, donated toys, and we bought someone gas. The lady's face was priceless when I approached her to buy her gas. I wish I had enough money to do that more often. 

The day started out with me in a grumpy mood and some of the kids with whiny, bad attitudes. At one point after we had just set out on our kindness mission, I very nearly turned the van around to come home. But after doing our kindness acts, we all agreed that it put us all in better moods. Hulk asked if we could do it again. He was particularly happy to give out candy canes. I am glad he got to join our kindness team this year.

December 21

 We went to church with Papaw G on his 90th birthday. Then we went to his house for a fish fry...

 ...and Crazy Christmas.

 We finished our day at Mamaw and Bapaw's house decorating cookies.

December 20

Happy 90th Birthday Papaw G!

 

 

 

 

 Shannon and Peter came over with their 5 kiddos last night to make Christmas cookies. We also had Elijah here, for a total of 11 kids. It was a little nuts (thus the reason the two dads hung out in the other room), but the kids had fun.

December 19

Julia had a Christmas party last night after practice with her fellow gymnasts. 

We are now officially on Christmas break! If only I could convince Lucy to sleep past 7am...

December 18

Clay had to work late last night (he's worked alot of overtime these last 2 weeks). The kids and I went to a local church's Christmas program. We stayed in our car and listened to the audio recordings about the life of Jesus while seeing different times from his life. It was pretty cool. I think it's good for the kids to have a visual learning experience.