Joy in December

I did something fun and painted our Christmas card this year. I am loving my new adventures in watercolor painting.

 Grandpa built this fabulous baby gate to keep Chris out of the fireplace at his house. Chris did not appreciate being foiled.

 We dressed up warm and went to the Christmas parade in Caldwell. It was cold, but we had lots of fun. Chris looked like a little marshmallow boy.

 It was a great parade with tons of lights and music on the floats. The kids loved it.

 Chris is a bit of a Christmas tree menace. We moved most of the ornaments up high on our trees, and the ones that have been in his reach are constantly getting pulled off. 

 Mom and I made gingerbread houses with all of the kids one day. It was a rather terrifying experience. We may need more adults for this activity in the future.

 The kids had fun, though. That mischievous grin on Will's face is because he had already started eating his house.

The same day as the gingerbread madness, we made our annual batch of my Grandma's raisin bread. It is a major project. Mom was a bit busy while I was baking, and I was also distracted by two squirrelly children. We came out with 13 beautiful loaves, and I was feeling pretty proud of myself until I tasted the bread and realized I had left out the salt. Epic holiday tradition fail. It was edible, but just not what Grandma's raisin bread should be. It was a very sad moment.

 When Mommy & Sarah accidentally dress in matching shirts, we must take selfies. 

 My kids love Christmas lights. Sarah stretched her Little People city across the entire room and draped "Christmas lights" across the whole thing.

 Sarah has suddenly decided she is afraid of the dark and won't go to sleep without a lamp on. However, she usually piles animals on top of her to block the light so she can sleep. Silly girl.

Sarah is apparently the most enthusiastic singer in primary on Sunday. You wouldn't know it by her performance with the children at the church Christmas party. She stood in the front row with a scowl on her face and refused to crack a smile or sing a word in spite of much encouragement. She wouldn't even shake her jingle bell. She just stood there and held it. It was actually fairly hilarious to watch. Afterwards, I asked her what was wrong, and she said she was mad because she wanted a cookie.

 Photos with Santa were less than successful this year. Chris was not a fan. Sarah has finally decided that Santa is a good guy. Her request from Santa was a mommy for her stuffed seahorse, Sweetie. 

 We visited the Idaho Botanical Garden to see the lights. We all enjoyed it a lot in spite of the cold.

 One of Sarah's friends moved right before Christmas, so we had a gift exchange party with all of the sunbeams. It was a little crazy, but they loved it.

 I cheated this year and bought a roll of refrigerated dough to make sugar cookies. Sarah didn't know the difference and still thought it was a great activity.

 We went to the pet store and finally picked out Sarah's birthday fish. She is the proud owner of 3 lyretail mollies, named Mommy fish, Daddy fish, and Baby fish. By the way, taking 2 small children to a pet store and actually trying to accomplish something is the worst activity ever.

 Sarah was having a really hard time going to sleep one night. Kelson took her out of her room and snuggled with her on the couch by the Christmas tree and chatted with her about the meaning of Christmas and then read the Nutcracker with her. He told her she could sleep there for the night and she settled right down. Happy Christmas moment.

 I wrapped most of our packages in plain paper this year so Sarah could get involved by decorating them. It was a really fun way for her to join in the gift wrapping.

 So far this winter has been the complete opposite of last year. We finally got one snow storm in December. Just enough snow for the kids to have fun in. Chris enjoyed it until he fell and got snow in his face. After that he decided snow was not fun.

 Sarah loves the snow. She can't wait for more to come.

 One Saturday, Sarah and I left Kelson and Daddy at home and went to a musical production with Grandma, Grandpa and Anne. It was a great Mommy-daughter date.

 Anne was a little bit excited.

 Daddy and Chris came to join us for dinner and then we all went to see the Christmas lights in Caldwell. They do an amazing job.

Sarah all snuggled up with Sweetie for bedtime. She could hardly wait for Santa to come so Sweetie could have a mommy. Waiting for Christmas is so hard when you are 4!