December 31

Our tree makes such a mess! Christmas decorations are put away. It’s a mixture of sadness that the season is over, combined with relief that I survived! 

PS- Wal-Mart had Valentine’s stuff out yesterday. That is crazy! It isn’t even January!!! 

We are ready for New Year’s Eve festivities! We’ve got some old traditions (Eat Like Dogs) mixed with some new activities. Should be fun!

Elliott and Eli were the only two kids at jiu jitsu last night. So Clay rolled with Elliott and Matt rolled with Eli. After that Elliott went to wrestling practice. The boy has endless energy!

December 30

Elliott had a wrestling meet yesterday. He won the first match by points, and he was pinned in the second and third matches. He was more aggressive in the third match, but had a much tougher competitor. 

December 29

 Happy Birthday, Nonna!!!

December 28

Nonna and Grandpa Carroll arrived last night. We exchanged Christmas gifts. Today we celebrated Nonna’s birthday with pizza and geocaching.

December 27

We decided to take advantage of the 60 degree weather by getting yard work done and outside Christmas lights taken down. 

Elliott had a wrestle-off last night to determine who would represent his team in his weight class at their meet on Sunday. He beat Bryce, which was a surprise to the coach and to Bryce. Bryce has been wrestling for a few years. 

Julia had a doctor appointment yesterday morning and had to get blood drawn. It was fairly traumatic for her, so she and I went out for lunch afterwards and then did some shopping for her 15th birthday party. 15! How is that even possible!?!

December 26

Elliott enjoying MY new back massager. 

Lucy enjoyed her cotton candy machine. It took awhile, but I think she has the hang of it.

It was a pretty low-key Christmas, which is exactly what we needed after a busy month. We stayed home most of the day and played with the kids new toys. Mamaw and Bapaw came over for lunch and hung out for awhile. I stayed in my pajamas until we left for a movie. 

December 25

Merry Christmas!

‘Twas the Night Before Christmas 

December 24

We made some changes this year and celebrated with Clay’s side of the family on Christmas Eve because Bob had Abbie today. Nora stole the show (as she should) with her cuteness. We went to the Christmas Eve candlelight service and then picked up some Chinese food and came home to watch Charlie Brown Christmas. 

December 23

Back to Mamaw and Bapaw’s for more cookie making-this time with Joe, Nikole, Nora, and Abbie. I finally won Nora over and got a hug. Merry Christmas to me! Lucy takes her job as big cousin very seriously.