December is so full of Christmas planning and build-up. It's just such a happy month! I try not to play favorite, but I think it is my favorite month of all of them. :)
Henry didn't look super happy in this photo, but I promise he was having a great time. He was just a little bummed that Santa was handing out real candy canes instead of the plastic ones filled with Hershey Kisses. I was just happy that Santa Claus came to work again this year! Some of Matt's coworkers were helping take the photos and they were insistent that the baby be in the photo, so I made Matt join in as well. I think it's a cute family photo!
Matt went to Lowe's to get something for the house and returned with this completely over the top snowman. I thought he was going to put him in the yard, but no - he wanted to put him above the fireplace. Getting him up there was a bit sketchy, but I honestly think he looks awesome up there.
Also, we named him Frank.
(He might stay up there all year.)
Target had set up this cool photo booth and the boys wanted to check it out. For the life of us, we could not figure out why the santa and dog were upside down. As we were walking away from the display we heard someone else talking about how you had to take the photo and then flip it upside down so it looked like you were coming out of the chimney.
*duh*
So we went back and took more photos. And flipped them! Makes so much sense! Especially if I had just read the sign next to it... ;)
Last year, I took the boys to a Pinkalicious play that was in town since we all love the book so very much. This year they had a play based on the Fancy Nancy books. We've never read those, but I figured the boys would probably enjoy it either way. It wasn't quite as fun to them since they aren't "fancy" by nature, but they didn't complain. Unlike their dad in the background who was constantly giving me "why did you talk me into this" looks...
Thomas did see a classmate or two though and he thought that was pretty exciting!
Henry had a Christmas party at school and I got to go over and hang out with him for it. These parties are still a bit chaotic, he colored for about 10 seconds before going over to the snow sensory table, then cookie decorating a few seconds later, etc. It's tiring just trying to keep up!
Natalie is having bladder problems still. It started when Matt and Henry went to Texas back in October. We've gone through several rounds of antibiotics to clear up the UTI she had. That still didn't resolve the leaking, so she's wearing her fancy pants until the new meds kick in. Luckily she's pretty tolerant of them and being confined to the tile part of the house... "/
Kathryn & Ben invited us over to their house for Christmas dinner. And Ben even made the boys some awesome balloon hats. Also, all of my cooking show watching paid off when I was able to rescue the gravy. That and an ice cream pie from Wild Scoops were about my only contributions to the meal. ;)
I had enough vacation unused that I was able to take off between Christmas and the New Year. So the boys and I got plenty of time to hang out together. The one day I was googling kid activities around the city and found a new one. Kinder Gym! It's a time set aside at one of the recreation centers for little kids to play with all of the kid gym equipment. Seemed like a bargain at $2 a kid. The boys had a total blast and we went back again the next day it was open for more play time. (I sat on the side and watched them have fun while drinking coffee - it was definitely more fun for them... Though I do like coffee drinking time!)
Henry was extra worn out from Kinder Gym and took a pretty epic nap that afternoon. So Thomas and I got some game playing time in while Henry snoozed. He picked Connect 4 first and lost soooo many times. I tried to teach him to pay attention to the moves he was making, but it was just not sinking in.
So we swtiched to their new Sequence for Kids game. After losing that one a few times, he went and got Monopoly out. Judging by that smile, I am pretty sure he beat me big time on this one.
These two are so silly. I was in the kitchen and these two run up and tell me that their bellies are bigger than mine! Haha - proportionally yes, but I think I am still the biggest at the moment. :(
Only one more month...! :)
Henry fell in love with sticky buns a few months ago and I had every intention of making them for Christmas morning. But by the time I had finished cleaning up the house it was too late to start making them. So he got them for New Year's Eve instead!
I don't think I've ever made them before, but they were amazing! Cook's Illustrated didn't let me down, though it may contribute to another lecture on weight gain at my next check-up... ;)
Well, that's a wrap on 2017. Hope everyone had a great year and looking forward to an exciting 2018! :)