grand finale

The kids had a Christmas sing-a-long at school. A friend of mine, who is a good mommy, went to sing-a-long with her kids and got some pics of mine for me. 

Winter turned 9! She looks 12. She requested that she make her own pancakes for her birthday. 

Wendy came into town the day before so Winter loved having her there to help celebrate.

In true Auntie Wendy fashion she took her to the Habit for lunch, shopping at Target, and then took all 3 girls to see Frozen 2. 

Winter also wanted to bake her own cake and decorate it. 

She emptied the entire container of sprinkles out onto the cake.

My mom and Aunt Debie stayed with us for a while too. I had to take a pic of my cutie pie mom looking so fabulous on her way to church.

For the Christmas service Sunday, all 3 girls got to go up on stage and help with the service a little bit.

Angus couldn't hang.

Later that day we had 30 some people over for our family Christmas party. Here are some ugly sweaters that arrived first. After everyone arrived, I was too busy to take pics.

Our annual family pic. Finally, the babies in the bunch are not mine. 😊

And it's funny that every year, each of us are always standing in the same place for the most part.

Anual PJ pic. Malory and Madison were cropped in from Florida.

We've loved having Mom and Deb here with us. 

Debie loves games so the kids took full advantage.

Here's mom getting a lost toy under the couch with tongs.

Angus won’t fit into these Christmas PJs next year so good thing I took 1000 pics of him in them.
And he may have worn them for two days. And nights.

Sparkle and Bob made it safely back to the north pole Christmas Eve. My biggest piece of advice to young married couples, especially those with babies is to NEVER get an elf on the shelf. I know people who love it and get really into it. I think those people are also the people who are born with twice as much energy and creativity as the rest of us. 

We love driving around to look at Christmas lights. Flamingo Street in Glendora is the best. It's timed to Christmas music you turn your radio station to in the car.

I've tried to get a pic of the kids in front of the tree each Christmas. This year I added the dogs for an extra challenge.

The lights weren't working at the top of the tree and that part didn't really get decorated so it didn't make it in the pic. There is something magical about sitting on the couch at night looking at the Christmas tree lights.

This is my new favorite ornament Winter made at school this year.

I'm not really sure what my kids believe about Santa. They know this is our wrapping paper. They know I bought them presents from Target. I don't mention Santa because I hate sharing the credit with that guy. Mya knows because she's the one who wrapped all the presents except hers. I'm guessing the other three haven't figured the whole thing out yet.

Christmas morning was actually pretty awesome. Everyone got what they wanted I think, which may be a first. There were lots of squeals and screams. And Mom and Aunt Debie got to experience the magic with us. 

The two trash bags behind Addie are filled with wrapping paper.

Once a year, for Christmas, I buy the kids the sugary cereal they beg me for all year. This year it was fruit loops and lucky charms. It's already all gone.

We used to buy the dogs bones and treats for their stocking but this year they just got hugs from Angus, Winter and Dan. The rest of us aren't really dog people.

Addie lost a tooth on Christmas. Dan pulled it out. That makes 4 teeth lost so far between the 3 girls in ONE WEEK. A record. And Addie has another one that will come out pretty soon.

I got Angus a new toolbox with actual tools in it so he can help Dan. It said ages 8+ on it but I think he's ready. 

Tonight at the dinner table:

Angus: Mom how old I am right now?

Addie: Angus you're fooouuur!

Angus: Ugh still?!

Perks of living in SoCal in the Winter. It's always warm enough to get them out of the house. And perks of $1 store painting projects, keeps them busy for an hour for $3 total. Mya took a nap instead. December exhausts all of us.

Anytime anything happens that adds to the craziness that is our daily life, the laundry gets backed up. All our hampers were full plus an extra one I brought out to hold the overflow. Dan took pity on me and suggested we go to a laundromat and knock it out all at once. Isn't he the sweetest. Romance is your hubby folding princess sheets with you at Launderland so you don't have to spend the whole next week chained to the bed watching cheesy Christmas movies while you fold. Forty bucks and two hours later, all 10+ loads were clean and dry and folded. 

It's actually kind of nice that we have two weeks off of school and schedules. We get a chance to catch our breath and just be lazy for a few days. We have zero plans for the next week and I'm loving it. 

I said I wouldn't post before the new year but sometimes I surprise myself. My recommendation this week is The Crown on Netflix. It's 3 seasons of great acting, great writing and a very interesting story. It has some language and one episode with sexual content FYI. I learned so much about Britain watching it. I think it is renewed for another season so that's good. 

Have a Happy New Year friends!