New Year's Eve

This is where I am in life:

It's New Year's Eve.  I spent the entire evening in my pajamas.  I snuggled on the couch to watch an animated film with my family.  We played a rousing game of Apples to Apples Disney.  We let the kids stay up all the way until 9:00 to ring in the new year.  Both girls giggled as I was kissing them goodnight and told them that I'd see them next year.

Yes, this is where I am in life right now...and I'm loving it.

Hope you are loving where you are in life right now too.

Happy New Year!!

Christmas (in photos)

A quick photo recap of our Christmas celebrations:

We started off Christmas fun with Zach's family the week-end before Christmas.

The kids had the best time playing with cousins while the adults had the best time visiting around a counter full of delicious snacks and appetizers.

There were lots and lots of presents to open.  From American Girl clothes to diaries to mermaid costumes to tow trucks to new clothes, everyone was so excited about their gifts.

One of my favorite traditions is that all the cousins give each other gifts, and they get so excited about it.  Staley designed and worked hard to build and decorate this book shelf for Olivia.  It has an upper shelf to slide a book in while Olivia can keep her glasses on the lower shelf.

They all pick out such thoughtful gifts for each other and get so excited about watching their cousins open the gifts they picked out.  Olivia and Lila gave Adelie this cute mermaid doll.

One of the most thoughtful gifts was from Cade to Briggs.  Cade gave Briggs his old hot wheels ramp, which was one of his favorite childhood toys.  

And , of course, no Christmas celebration is complete without a fashion show.

From beginning to end, it was such a fun day with family.

Christmas morning always brings such excitement.  When the kids wake up, we read the Christmas story together from the Bible and then head downstairs for presents.

Stocking surprises like ear muffs, socks, and toothbrushes always seem to hit the mark.

Briggs asked for a water tower for his train table.  Score!   He also got some Troublesome Trucks and some glow in the dark Magna Tiles.  #winning

Adelie asked for a locket while Staley wanted a watch.  They also both got a doll that they wanted.

The kids made each of their siblings gifts.  Staley worked with Zach to make this necklace holder for Adelie.  Adelie made Staley a necklace with a matching one for Staley's doll and she painted a little wooden train for Briggs.  Briggs colored his sisters each a picture.  I also took him to the dollar store where he bought Adelie a mermaid memory game and Staley some squishy dinosaurs.

Staley wrote and illustrated a book for Briggs.  She worked very hard to type it herself.

We finished off our gift time with a Disney reveal.  32 days and counting!!  We then spent the rest of the morning eating cinnamon rolls, hanging out in our pajamas, and playing with new toys.

After nap time, we rounded out our Christmas with my side of the family.

There was more play time with cousins.

There were more gifts to open.

There was more quality time spent with family.

There was thankfulness for the many blessings in our lives.

What a wonderful Christmas season!!

Mom Truth

Someday my children will no longer ask for multiple one-mores at bedtime.  They will no longer insist on one more story, one more song, one more drink, one more hug, one more kiss, one more tuck, one more question.  And I honestly don't know whether to look forward to that day or dread it.

Merry Christmas!

"I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.  A Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord."  Luke 2:10-11

Merry Christmas!!

Question of the Day

It's Christmas Eve.  We had nothing on our schedule for today.  I was looking forward to a nice, quiet, stay-at-home day with the kids.  I thought we'd play.  Maybe get our Christmas cards ready to send out.  Perhaps even sneak in a little nap.  Snuggle on the couch to watch a Christmas movie.  It was not my intention to be overly productive or ambitious today.

When Staley woke up this morning, she exclaimed, "It's Christmas Eve and we haven't decorated Christmas cookies yet!"  I pointed out that we had made other Christmas treats.  That we've gotten Christmas cookies from other people.  That we have more than enough Christmas sweets in the house to last us long past the new year.

So the question of the day:  Was I able to convince my daughter that we didn't really need to bake and frost and bust out the sprinkles today??

The answer...

of course...

is no.

On the plus side, the sprinkles all over the dining room floor make the house look a little more festive.

Santa Claus is Coming...

You better not pout...

You better not cry...

Guess we didn't get the memo at our house.

My Girls

I always talk about how different Staley and Adelie are from one another.  My sister-in-law shared a conversation that really exemplifies those differences.  Zach's sister is close friends with someone who helps out with Stage Kids and after the show, they had this conversation:

Helper:  "Your nieces are so serious about this!"
Aunt Jill:  "Adelie is serious?"
Helper:  "Well, Staley is serious.  She likes to tell the other kids what they are supposed to be doing. Adelie just sings and dances and runs around."

Yep.  Sounds about right.

Annie, Jr.

Adelie and Staley finished their fall semester of Stage Kids with a fabulous production of 'Annie, Jr.'  Both girls had a wonderful time being orphans.  Although Staley was initially a little disappointed in not getting a speaking role, her love and enthusiasm for acting quickly took over and she had nothing but excitement for this show.

I love the family atmosphere and true friendships that are formed through Stage Kids between kids of all ages.  It has been such a good experience for my girls.

My little orphans had tons of support from family and friends coming to see them perform.

Grandparents,...

great-aunts,...

and aunts and cousins...

from both sides of the family.

Adelie's Kindergarten teacher (previously Staley's) has come to almost all of the shows with her daughter.  My girls were so excited that Mrs. Doty and Kylee brought them roses.

And our neighbors never miss a show.

One of Staley's friends from church came with her mom and sister on a whim, not even realizing that Staley was going to be in it.  They were both excited to see each other.

Stage Kids has been a great way for my girls to make new friends, as well as spend time with school friends in a different environment.

Theater friends make the best friends.

We are so thankful for Ms. Kelleen, one of the directors of this program, for starting this program and continually building it.

I always love the joy my girls get from being on stage.  They both have nothing but smiles and excitement while performing.  It makes my heart happy to see them doing something they obviously enjoy.

Christmas Festivities

With less than 2 weeks until Christmas, we have kicked off our holiday season with lots of family fun and Christmas festivities.

We enjoyed Briggs's pre-school pajama party fundraiser (in cute, match-y Christmas pajamas from Uma.)

The kids met Santa, where Adelie told him she wanted a locket and Staley told him she wanted a wallet.  Briggs wouldn't tell me what he was going to ask Santa for.  He said it was a surprise.  Since the kids all know that Santa is not real and "just a man in a costume" (as Briggs puts it), they don't get too hung up on what they are going to ask him for.

The kids then enjoyed cookie decorating, putting their raffle tickets into baskets, and listening to Christmas stories.  There were plenty of friends to spend time with.

There was also face painting, and I was pleased that my kids saw the incredibly long, slow line and decided that it wasn't worth the wait.  #gooddecision

The kids and Zach picked out a tree, and the kids all helped decorate the tree and put up the Christmas decorations.  This is the first year where all 3 of them were truly helpful and they did a great job with getting the house ready for the Christmas season.  And so far, Adelie is the only one who has pulled her stocking off the mantle and she's only done it once.  #progress

The Christmas train has again been a seasonal highlight for Briggs.  He has spent hours playing Christmas train.

The girls both sang in their school Christmas concert.  As always, the gym was hot and packed full of people, but both girls still enjoyed singing their songs with their school friends.

And this year we were able to see both girls from where we were sitting.  #winning

All 3 kids performed in the church Christmas program.  Briggs and Adelie both sang and danced and said a poem with the pre-school and Kindergarten classes.  This was Briggs's first experience performing on stage.  I wasn't sure how he'd do, but he knew all his songs and did great!

Staley performed some songs and narration with the grade school group.  She had a short solo in one of the songs and was also a narrator.  Although the kids were able to just read their lines, Staley insisted on memorizing hers.  Of course, she had no nerves or hesitation about singing or speaking in front of the church.  She loved it and was especially excited about her solo!

The kids all enjoyed performing with their friends, and were pleased that both sets of grandparents came to see them.

And, of course, having treats after the program made it even better.

In between the performances and programs, we have been busy making Christmas gifts for people, listening to Christmas music, reading Christmas books, drawing Christmas pictures, opening the nightly advent calendar, driving around to look at Christmas lights, and we've even made our first trip over to see the Festival of Lights.  (The kids all love doing that, so we generally go at least twice.)  Staley has also been busy writing a Christmas play.

It has been a great start to our Christmas season.