. . .what we've been up to. . .

It's December alright, and we've been busy! I feel like I have so many things to blog about, and every night I say, "I'll do it tomorrow." If I didn't have so many pictures to deal with I would have done it by now. We have had lots of things going on and I've decided to just do them in one major post. Prepare yourself. Get a drink. Use the bathroom. Whatever you need to do. Okay, here we go!

Festival of Trees Substitute

Every year we go to the Festival of Trees. We usually try to go during the afternoon when it's not so busy. This year, we couldn't go until Friday evening and as we were driving up we decided to stop for dinner. It was on the drive that we noticed Ellery coughing/breathing kind of weird. My kids both have asthma so we're kind of paranoid when it comes to their breathing. Going to the crowded expo center, parking far away and fighting our way down each isle didn't sound like the environment for a quick escape if Elle got really bad, so we decided to forgo our plans. We stopped at the South Towne mall to ride the carousel instead. McKay kept asking if that was where all the Christmas trees were and we told him it was. He wasn't very impressed, but he did love riding the carousel.

Elf on the Shelf Party

A newer tradition that my mom started was her Elf on the Shelf party for all the grandkids.

She read the book and then talked about the elfs. Is it elfs or elves? Elfs looks better so I'll go with that.

McKay, of course, was completely enthralled. My mom gave each family the job of naming the elfs she had given them. Later, McKay chose "Grover" and "Olive" for our elfs.

Ellery was also very curious.




Afterwards Grammy handed out treats to all the kids. I don't know if you all know, but Brian is a pretty strict parent. While all these kids were eating all the candy they wanted, Brian allowed McKay only three pieces. My poor child.


Thanks Grammy, for such a fun party.

Baking Day

We did it again! We had our second annual Christmas Baking Day! It was so fun and I've eaten about six cookies today. And four yesterday. And tomorrow I'm sure I'll eat at least three. Shoot. I love Baking Day, but it's not easy on the waistline.

This year we did sugar cookies, oreos, cornflake wreaths, date balls, mint cookies, candied pecans, and toffee. We are still learning the ins and outs of our baking day and maybe we'll have to practice making toffee because while one batch turned out great, two did not. (Becky- we used your recipe!)

Christmas Light Drive

Another tradition we have is driving around looking at Christmas lights. Before we had kids Brian and I would rate houses based on their outside holiday lights decor. Now, we just look for the most brightly lit homes and are intensely looking for blow-up Santas and snowmen. I would never put a blow up item in my yard, but I sure do appreciate those who do, on account of my children thoroughly enjoying them. Thank you blow up decorators.

When we saw anything neat Ellery would say, "Woa" over and over and point. It was pretty much precious.

We had the kids already in their jammies for the drive since it would be past bedtime when we were done. Here's Brian wrestling them to bed.

It Snowed!

It was ten-thirty yesterday morning before I even looked outside. We had no idea it had snowed overnight. As soon as I showed McKay he was pulling on his snow pants and heading for the door.

McKay was the first one to walk through the snow on the grass and he had so much fun making tracks and going down the snowy slide.

Ellery doesn't really have proper snow attire. We did the best we could with what she has, but it didn't really matter too much since all she wanted to do was eat the snow off her mittens.

Brian and McKay stayed outside for over an hour playing in the snow and even making snowmen- one for Elle and one for McKay. I didn't get a picture because by then Ellery and I had gone inside.

But not before she ate some more snow. She even picked it off the ground once the boys came in.

So there it is! Those are some of the things we've been up to, along with the busy hustle bustle that is December. But I'm happy to report that all my shopping is done. Okay. . .not all. . .but almost all. Any ideas for my parents? Those parents are always the hardest to shop for. But after that I'll be done!

*update- spellcheck tells me it's elves, but I'm not buying it.