Merry Christmas!

Chris gifted me this pen advent "calendar" for my birthday. It's from one of my favorite IG lettering accounts. It was exciting to open one with her each day and letter the number together. Now I have 24 fun new pens!

This was our 2nd year having this ice cream advent calendar. It was super yummy and is a good way to force us to try new flavors. None of us like pistachio ice cream despite loving pistachios!They had a nice hot chocolate event where Gramps lives!

The final pen chart!

I've enjoyed getting the kids matching pajamas to open on Christmas Eve the past few years. I had a lady at school personalize their shirts for me this year :)

We had a nice Christmas morning at home. Gramps and Gramma came over to watch the kids open gifts and join us for breakfast - one of the butter braids that Willow sold for dance along with some fried ham left over from Christmas Eve dinner with them. 

A beautiful mess!

We made another beautiful mess at Nana and Grandpa's, where we headed for lunch and a few games. 

Nana spent HOURS making these beautiful throws for the grandkids!

The kids did great on their gingerbread houses, though we didn't get a final product picture. Willow always enjoys telling a story with hers, including a gummy bear doing a roof repair thanks to a ladder made of Kit Kats. 

Owen got a digital drum set that he asked for. He's been playing it a lot! 

The Caldwells got us this game, Hand to Hand Wombat, which is so funny!!

The kids also tried Word on Beat:

Elf on the Shelf

Our elf on the shelf, Belle, didn't do too much moving this year but I was happy that the kids moved her a couple times. 

We are currently still missing 3 of these candy canes:

Willow's Dance Extravaganza

Willow's competitive dance teams didn't perform in the Christmas extravaganza, but she's still part of one recreational class that performed and she was on stage for 3 of her 4 student teaching classes. 

Mele Kalikimaka

Grinch

In the Mood

Peppermint Twist

Willow with her Little, Emerson:

 Our always-supportive family!

New Car!

We've tried for over 4 months to be a two-car family with three drivers. With Willow dancing most days of the week, Owen's activities, 3 of us working, multiple appointments, and Kristen trying to have a social life ;) it made for quite a lot of coordinating. We'd looked at Subaru CrossTreks a couple years ago when we were looking at a car. We felt it was a good car option that could hold the kayaks at a lower height. We drove one again this time, preferring blue, but then saw they had a Sport Hybrid option that got 33 mpg! We ended up opting for the hybrid, which was just available in black. We hadn't intended on being a two black car family, but we love it! We also know Willow will love not having to ride the bus anymore!

Band Concert

Owen continues to love being part of the 8th grade concert band and jazz band. They had a great concert in December! It's always a bit hard to SEE the kids from the seats, but they sounded great!Been There, Done ThatBlues MachineJingle All the Way

Ash Lawn EchoesMetalheadsAll I Want for Christmas is You

Snow days!

We got a couple of inches of snow in December that melted but was followed by a couple more inches of snow. It was enough to get us 3 snow days! We hope for more snow days in January...but not enough to take away spring break or other days off!

 A fun message we left for our neighbor :)