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| Ethan is so tall! He was so excited to do the program. He loved his "feliz navidad" shirt |
First, Ethan had a winter program at school. Dominic wanted to attend and I figured he should so he could see his old teachers, and may be the last xmas program for us, in this school. So, that day I volunteered at Dom's school library for the morning, then checked him out, then headed to see Ethan. The program was about 20 min long and then there were snacks. Then Santa showed up, and we got in line for that. Since Spencer is working so much this month, we figured we probably would not have time to go see Santa at the mall or wherever he is these days. We haven't had a Santa in our ward Christmas party for years, probably even before Dom was born. Spencer says that's the way it is because we're suppose to think of the Savior, not worry about Santa . I just wish the kids had something a little more childish to look forward too you know? Nativities were not even set up. All we did was eat and then people with talents shared them in the form of Christmas songs. At one point, there was a 12 yr old playing her violin rendition of "we wish you a merry Christmas" and Dom (being the loud one of the group) said "what song is that? That sounds bad".....I'm pretty sure I turned bright red from embarrassment. But it was nice to sit with friends, and enjoy the show along with some good fried chicken. You heard right....it was all catered and we got chicken with mashed potatoes. All the ladies (myself included) were so grateful that nothing was asked of us...not even dessert. The local grocery store provided everything and it was great to not worry about what to bring....just show up.
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| that hat was so big on him |
I attended a RS activity where the ladies did baggies for the homeless. We all pitched in and bought stuff- hand warmers, toothbrushes, toothpaste, Kleenex, protein bars, gloves, water, juice....whatever we thought was appropriate and made a kit in a lunch bag (along with the light of Christ card) to hand out during the season to homeless people. I thought it was a neat idea. We may actually do it as a family next year. Then I attended a mini Christmas party with some ladies from the ward. The bishop's wife provided dinner and we played Dirty Santa. I dont' like that game haha. I am not aggressive at all. I ended up with a cool wood frame to hang pictures in. But some ladies were vicious....especially with the jewelry and handbags. But it was fun to hang out with other ladies in the ward outside of our church clothes.
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| Sis O has the most amazing decorated house. #lifegoals |
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| What a fun bunch |
I was able to do most of Dom's class party preparation in November because I knew of how busy the holiday season would be for me. The goody bags were made in the first week of December and another mom was kind enough to bring more goodies to add. Another mom volunteer to bring plates and napkins, and also the cookies. It was such a relief to have all this help. The party was a blast and the kiddos had so much fun. They made a foam gingerbread man and glued his accessories, and then a magnet in the back. After that, Ms H made up a game of exchanging gifts (and yes! she bought all 24 gifts out of her own pocket). They were holiday books, which was awesome. And then they got to eat a cookie and get a goodie bag and that was it. The party was only 35 min long, but it seemed like it took me like 2 months to plan.
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| who doesn't love cookies and a goodie bag? |
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| Everyone got a gift from Ms H. |
The weekend before, at the 11th hour, Dominic wanted a birthday party. Since we had not planned to do such thing ( I had planned to invite a couple of buddies to chick fil a) I had to hurry and make up a plan at home which included, party games, party prizes, crafts, goodie bags, and cake and food. I got pizza delivered and just picked up whatever cupcakes the store had that day. Since the theme was legos, I put a little candy lego on each cupcake to make it cute. The games included pinning the head on the lego man, punching to get a prize, making your own lego man and gluing him to your goody bag and letting them play outside. It also became Ethan's party and he got to invite a couple of buddies over. They had a lot of fun. It was so much work, but I"m glad I got to do something for them. This year has just been so nuts, there were no plans to rent anything this year for a party. But it may be the last birthday in this house, in this state, with these friends....so I had to do it.
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| punching the box (shaped like a lego) to get a prize |
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| Making our own lego minifigures (everything was cut out ahead of time) |
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| Opening presents |
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| Opening presents |
All week after that, it was all about wrapping and taking sticker prices of all the Christmas presents. Since, I dind't want any of the kids or hubby to see what I was doing....I was wrapping presents in my locked bathroom from 10pm to about 1am every other day.....while trying to be super quiet. Not so easy, when you're trying to cut tape and paper. And then I had to organize them in such a way that I would remember which ones came from Santa and which ones came from us. I have the attention span of a pigeon these days....so I had no choice but to just put labels on them (so Santa apparently has the same labels as us....otherwise it would have been a disaster). But, we had a good Christmas with my parents and then it was fun to watch the kiddos open presents on the 25th.
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| I hadn't realized that most of these still had the sticker prize on them so....guess what i was doing from 10 pm to 1am.... |
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| Spencer had forgotten that he had bought some stuff and hid it in the trunk of his car |
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| our kid corner....christmas books to pick from and little people toys to play with. |
Once Christmas was over, I felt so TIRED. I think my body finally gave out. I was so stressed to get everything done, that once it was done...I just gave out. I don't plan to take decorations down until Jan 6 (wise men day) which gives me time to rest a bit. For now, the hubs has found house projects inside to do. This month, he was putting up and painting bifold doors and fixing the carpet in our room.
Now...onto the big BIG BIG news....well, besides having a baby haha. Spencer is taking a job in St Louis and will start early January. We will join him in late May when school lets out. It would be less stressful if I wasn't 8 months pregnant and Dominic finished the school year here. We hope to find a new home by spring break so we can start moving things, and hopefully sell this house right after that. So, 2018 will be full of adventures for sure. We'll see Dada half the time, I will be outnumbered by three little boys, and in the meantime, hope to get rid of stuff so we don't move junk....you know how that goes.
HAPPY 2018 EVERYONE!
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| The future is looking bright |
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