Christmas is Almost Here

When my kids are dressed cute and we're somewhere special, I beg and bribe for a picture together.  At home, they follow me around with my phone and ask to have their picture taken with random toys. Weirdos.

I like to chase my kids.  I growl and they think I'm a monster.  It's hilarious and cheap entertainment.

Finley's 4K class had a Family Fun Night, there were a variety of activities to participate in together.  He was excited to have us there.

Hadley stuck to the cookie decorating station.

I attended Hadley's parent-teacher conference this week, she's been a Guppy for about three weeks. She's transitioned very well and the teachers enjoy having her in class.  She talks a lot, they can understand her needs and she's very willing to participate.  They have noticed her deep voice and silly-side, I questioned if that's good or bad, they say good.  She loves art projects and story time, she's trying new foods and is even going potty.  The teacher said she'll try for quite a while and likes the teacher to sit and talk with her.  The only milestone they haven't witnessed is pedaling a trike - it's December, there's snow and the opportunity hasn't been there, I assured them sister can ride a bike.

Finley's class is studying buildings in our community, so I volunteered a special guest.  A complete expert in all-things construction and buildings - GRANDPA! Grandpa accepted and visited class.  He showed a blueprint and they identified various parts of a building - Finley said the funniest was toilets.  

Finley & I had a lunch date, he was in charge of choosing our restaurant.  After much debate, McDonald's won.  The kid loves chicken mcnuggets.

Finley made a special present at school and insisted Patrick open it before I was home from work.  A special ornament hangs on our tree.

Each kid collects ornaments for their personal trees - we opened the ornament-gifts from Carol & Bill.  For the life of me I couldn't get the kids to look 'normal' nor could I get Finley's pictures to flip up.

I unexpectedly found myself at work on Friday, so Grandma stepped in to take the kids to visit Santa at M&J.  Finley was very willing to sit with Santa, Hadley not as much.

Our family-friends hosted their annual holiday gathering.  After a long week, Hadley & I hit happy hour right away.

Her cocktail had lots of 'happy' in it.

With our intermittent snowfalls of 1-3" the last few weeks, Finley & Patrick brushed off the snowmobiles and tore up our yard. Finley jumped right on and did his thing.  

We are so neighborly, we bought the lot behind us so no one could build a house. Patrick & Finley like the extra space to sled.

As much as I hate the danger of snowmobiles, he's awfully cute cruising around the yard.

Finley has been begging to decorate a gingerbread house since Thanksgiving. Thanks to Target, they come assembled.  Chippy brought one and the kids went to work, no finished project yet, it's still in-progress.

Saturday night we went to Irvine Park to view their Christmas Light display - wow, there's a lot of lights! You can drive through or walk. We weren't prepared - boots, yes, snowpants and sled, no. We opted to drive, next year we'll take the walk.

Chippy's been busy, as much fun as he is, I'm kind of ready for him to leave ;)  We started a countdown, each morning Finley races to remove a link.

Game night!

I collected garbage for a week - "Oreo Dippers" are Finley's favorite treat, Chippy likes them too.

I stole this idea from Melissa, I wasn't convinced the balloon would stay all night, nor through the next day.  Melissa was right, it did.

My favorite from the week - Chippy took a picture of himself in Finley's bed, printed it and hung it up.

The anticipation is in full-force, my kids are r-e-a-d-y to open presents.  I'm looking forward to their excitement and spending time with our family and friends. I can't believe Christmas is almost here, just a few more days!  

Merry Christmas!