Tickin' along in December

You gotta love Chick-Fil-A on family night!!

Unfortunately we missed the play time period at Christ Church, but we did get out of the house which was much needed!

The kids played at Chick Fil A for a long time before we actually ordered any food. And on Tuesdays they always have fun activities!

One lady was there painting tattoos on the kids.

Ashley got this unicorn. And she got this cool looking octopus balloon.
Aussie got a black cat (of course).

Mason got this cool octopus balloon.

And he got a really cool dragon tattoo.

Wednesday- we stayed at home and watched the movie "Elf" for the first time. During the commercial breaks my kids attempted jumping over cushy blocks and pretended to jump on furniture to put the star on top of the Christmas tree. (Part of the movie that left a big impression on my kiddos.)

And Wednesday of course waiting to the last minute I made aprons for Ashley's girl scout friend's dolls or special stuffed animal. You'll get to see those pictures in the next post.

It's A Snow Day!

Monday, Monday! Turned out to be a snow day.

Greg worked from home.

I thought my computer was broken again, but turns out the battery was about to fall out.

So the first part of the day we backed up my computer.

The second part of the day Greg used my computer for work.

I was trapped at home. Not allowed to go out. No computer. It basically sucked.

I did get to get out to the grocery store. I was not prepared with coupons and the sticker shock was killer! I know I could have save so much money had I been prepared, but I needed groceries and I had a small window of time to go get them.

Anyway, the kiddos had a bit of fun in the snow.

Ashley lasted the longest outside.

Aussie lasted about 10 seconds.

I didn't want to get out in the snow. I was too cold! So I attempted to take a few pictures from the window. After taking 15 or so I realized I was getting nothing but white pictures.

Tuesday proved to be a better day.

Oh Shoot!

I needed to go to the grocery store. So you up north are saying, "So What! Go get some food." Yes, I agree with you! However, it doesn't work that way here. You see there is probably no food left in the grocery store. I would have needed to know it was going to snow today a week ago, because at the first hint of snow the people here flock the stores and buy up all the milk, eggs and bread.

Christmas Brunch

Today we had a Christmas party brunch at church. There were lots of crafts and activities. Ashley made this pretty snowflake ornament.But our favorite thing to do was making (ahem eating) the gingerbread houses.

I had to get in on this one! I had fun decorating a house too.

And after taking this picture, 2 of them dropped theirs.

It's snowing and it is so pretty, nice big flakes.

And immediately upon getting into the car from our brunch Ashley asked, "So where are we going for lunch?"

Ummmm...that was it babe!

Cookie Exchange and Tower of Goodness

Today Aussie took his final exam in Chinese. He told me he aced it! We will find out for sure next week, but he is quite confident!

His teacher sent home this big thing of chocolate. Mason took off with it claiming it all for himself. He said it was a tower of chocolate goodness.Today I made 11 dozen cookies for a cookie exchange tonight. Ashley and Mason helped me put the Hershey kisses on each cookie. I enjoyed being with my friends. I love the games we played. I'm typically pretty good at these games and quite competitive, but I wasn't very good tonight. But everyone went home with a prize anyway.

I had a great time, but when I came home I have no idea what happened but I have been pretty grumpy. I think it was probably having to drive home in the rain and having a hard time seeing the roads. It was pretty tense. And I had to get out in the rain to run into the grocery store. Then I tried to carry all these heavy bags in huffing and puffing and no one came to my aid. So I just dropped everything on the floor and have been in a bad mood since.

I don't know why I can't shake it off, it's pretty petty.

I probably am overtired as well. So I think I'll go to bed. That will give me a good start to tomorrow.

(Today's advent box said Bake Cookies.)

Christmas Program and Comcast

Well today there were 2 things in the advent box. 1 said go to kid's Christmas program and the other said there would be a gift here after co-op. So when they got home today I said you have 5 minutes to find your gift. They asked for clues and I said it is for the whole family and it's in the family room.

Well they found the Comcast box right away, but they didn't know what it meant.
I told them to turn on the TV.

They were so excited! Ashley kept saying over and over again, "Is this a dream?" In the attempt to find something cheaper I found a deal where we get a lot more channels, faster internet and home phones that can call long distance. For the first 2 years it is actually cheaper then the 3rd year it is about the same as we have been paying.
I'm tickled about how fast these pictures loaded on here.
I knew the kids would be excited so I told them it was an early Christmas present.

Then the kids had their Christmas ballet program tonight. It was so cute!

And here you can watch their little program:

Build a Bear and Zhu Zhu pets

December daily 7,8 &9

Tuesday- Rent a Redbox movie.

Wednesday- Early Christmas present go to Build A Bear. They were beyond thrilled- we had to get dressed and get out the door before I'm usually up in the morning.

Ashley got a tiger and named her Sarah. Then she got Safari clothes for her.
Mason actually bought this moose when it was $5 on black Friday. But since they didn't have it at the store I got it online and that day I bought him a horse. His horse's name is cupcake (not pictured) and his Moose is named Hal.

Aussie got this fennic fox and named him Keaton.

Yesterday was also an awesome deal day. At CVS Zhu Zhu pets are on sale buy one get one free. And I had a coupon buy 2 get one free. So I got 4 Zhu Zhu pets for the price of one. But even better than that, I went to pay, I gave him my coupons and my extra care bucks and brought the total down to $5. I handed him my credit card and then he pulls out his wallet and puts $5 in the drawer. I asked him if something was wrong and he said he pushed the wrong button and there was no charge for me. Thank you CVS manager for buying our Zhu Zhu pets. :)

*

Today Thursday- Go to Christ Church and play at the indoor playground. During the morning we worked on cleaning the family room and trying to declutter some of their toys. They don't like to get rid of anything.
Then when we got home and the above mentioned Zhu Zhu pet...
Where it is clearly marked AND I mentioned to the kids 2 or 3 times...

got stuck in Ashley's hair. I tried to get it out without cutting. a big wad of hair just came out.

I've got lots of cleaning to do for tomorrow's early present. I better get off of here.

December Daily-Day 6 Panera

Today's activity in the Advent boxes said, "Go to Panera and get a treat."

So that's just what we did today.

Mason and I like the chocolate pastryAnd Ashley and Aussie like to get the big cinnamon roll.

The next few pictures are still in Panera, but first I want to tell you what one of the clerks in JoAnn's said to me. She was telling me about her children that are 14 and 16. And she said and they are just now getting to where they are not fighting all the time.

In which Mason excitedly said...

"Ahhhh we got 8 more years!"