The Holidays Are Near...

...and what have we been up to, you might say?  A lot of everything.

We took some time off right after Halloween.  It seems we may have forgotten how to bring our homework home upon returning from fall break.  Sigh.  I guess the trip to Disney just had us all excited still.  Whatever the cause, going from an A to a D within 2 weeks time does not make for a happy moma.  So, we spent some time trying to bring up our rapidly declining grades.  We quickly remembered how we are supposed to behave as successful students (2 weeks without any electronic stimulation can work wonders on getting things back on track). 


Once we got back on track, things have been super busy.  As an early Christmas gift, Aunt Evon and Uncle Jim bought the kids tickets to the children's theater to see "Annie".  Such a cute surprise!

 

Then came Aizley's 6th round of strep throat!  We caught this one before her temp reached 100 and within a day she was back at it.

 Next came Thanksgiving and it was our year to host.  Grilled turkey!  Is there a better way of doing a turkey?  If you haven't tried grilling a turkey, you truly are missing out!  This was 1 of the 3 turkeys and a ham that was served.  When you have 22 people coming, you need lots of meat!

 Of course, we tackled the Christmas tree.  Colton showed more interest in decorating this year.  Aizley chose not to really participate or put any decorations in her room.  So is the life of a pre teen!

 Still, each kid hang their own ornaments as tradition.

These are my newest favorite ornaments.

And we have spent several nights watching the classics like Rudolph, Snoopy and White Christmas. 

Over the weekend, Aizley celebrated her 12th birthday!  Seriously, 12!  This was our 4th birthday together.  She is less than an inch from being as tall as me, we wear the same shoe size (bonus!), and she can be a lively and ornery as I can!  She is sooooo into reading and loves trying new things.  Such as her chocolate peppermint  cupcakes she requested for her birthday. Aizley, you truly are an amazing kid!

 As part of her gift, I took her and a friend (and Colt of course) to The Art Mill.  The kids were instructed on how to create a painting of a reindeer.  The teacher, Mrs. Kathy, was excellent.

Step by step they worked ...

...trying to be perfect...

 and the finished results were amazing! 

 Now, a week out from Christmas, we have turned in our "Angels" at church (kids that Aizley and Colton bought for this Christmas), baked peppermint cookies for some of the older patrons at church and delivered those unannounced to many warm hugs and are set to finish up school this Tuesday. 

Praying all remain healthy for the upcoming holidays.  Merry Christmas!