December Recap

 As it is for most people, December flew by! We had so many things to do to prepare for the holidays and end of school for the semester activities. In the midst of all the activities, Riley and I did sneak out for some 1 on 1 time together. Nothing beats a Chinese food date night with one of my favorite people in all the world: 

I threw together a quick gift for a friend:

And made one craft by myself, for myself:

We worked on making some ornaments together:

We also did some bell ringing as a family for a first time. We had a blast, but it was a tad cold:

Payton and I worked on reading some books before bed time, the spurts of getting her away from games seems to be smaller and smaller so I soak up all I can get with her:

I successfully made a pumpkin pie, this year with no emergency room visits:

We've finished up school for the semester. Our last week was focused on farm life and "painting a pig:"

We also worked on separating into categories and counting:

And Jayden drew a picture of himself with me:

Someone turned 5! 5! I couldn't believe it but I did snap this one last picture the night before his big day. Just me with a 4 year old, on the eve before he turns 5:

You can read more about Jayden's birthday here. 

We headed to the Christmas music concert for these two:

                                                         

The concert was great! Riley really got into the music and danced a ton. Payton also had a lot of fun. Both kids were excited about the treats afterwards!

AND THEN, we got break together! A glorious few weeks of no school, no set schedule, and so much life happening within the four walls of our home.

We baked:

Our surrounding towns have tons of events and we went to one that include painting ceramics, making ornaments, an interactive performing storyteller, cookie decorating, and a bake sale:

The ceramics they made:

We made cocoa bombs for the first time ever. Mostly Payton and I made them but the boys helped with decorating:

They turned out so beautiful:

Grandma and Grandpa came to visit us. It was a fantastic time. We did so much but I have only a few pictures from the highlights. But we did attend school music programs, have a coffee date, I snuck out with several dates with my husband (thanks for watching the kids, mom), and just lived so much life in general. Here, we made cookies for Santa:

One day, I found a picture Jayden took on my phone. It totally encompasses a large piece of the holiday season. Messy house, trying to drink enough water, and a child always right there within reach (the child who took this picture in this case):

We made a few stops at the y to get some exercise in:

Riley got a stem book and we found some projects to do, mostly led by my husband, who is much better at science stuff than I am:

Monte also made homemade corn dogs, dairy free so Jayden could eat. They were fantastic:

We took the kids bowling:

And also got a photo of them around the tree:

We saw Santa:

We hit past the 20 week mark in the month of December. Payton and Riley helped to take a few pictures:

Oh, sweet, sweet child, if you ever read this I want you to know how very excited the 5 of us are to meet you. We can't wait to add you to our story. 

Each year, we try to "adopt" children that are about the same age and gender as our own. We got them gifts and returned them to the tree before Christmas:

                                                           

We made more ornaments, this time little snowmen kits given to us by our local 4h group:

We took the kids to make gingerbread houses:

They also met the Grinch, Jayden was not interested in this and was a little scared to be near him:

And we got another opportunity to see Santa:

We tried several new games over break including ticket to ride and clue. The kids also learned Yahtzee. 

Payton read to the boys several nights over break. These are the moments I always try to capture and really, really soak up:

We dropped off our letters to Santa at our local chamber office:

Payton had been begging and begging for elf on a shelf. Since years have passed and she didn't get... she took matters into her own hands. She made an elf on the shelf: 

Molly (our elf on a shelf) made it through the whole break and is tucked away for next year!

Our town does a night time parade, called the parade of lights. We haven't made it to in the past but went this year! It was fun and such a unique idea:

We decorated houses one day at home. We found some clearanced out Halloween ones so we had a few of those:

I snuck out with my girl for a date night to our beloved coffee shop together:

We completed one last craft for the year:

And just like that, Christmas came. It also went just as quickly as it came. 

I love these three so much and am so very grateful for them:

As we prepared for New Years, we went out with friends bowling:

On New Years Eve day, we headed for a hike to find a friend's deer stand:

The hike was gorgeous and the fresh air was much needed for our family as we finished out 2022. We also found the tree stand and brought that home, which my husband was thankful for. 

We returned home for a fun New Years Eve dinner at home! 

 

We rang in the new year with our little family and it was just as we wanted it to be. We talked about 2022 and our favorite moments. We also created goals for the new year. It was so fun to hear the thoughts of my children as they are more focused on creating better versions of themselves, mostly including being a better friend, reading more, and getting to the gym more. 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I hope you had a great 2022. Cheers to 2023.