It's Saturday night, and since I'm super awesome, I'm spending the evening alone sipping a coke zero and blogging. Yeah. I know. I'm cool. I feel like it's been a couple of weeks since I've had 2 seconds to sit down and do whatever I want. So I'm actually quite enjoying it. I already caught up on Downton Abbey. Blogging and Downton Abbey?! Sounds like a good night to me!
December is a crazy month. This a fact that I realized many years ago. My goal this year was to just roll with it. I usually put myself in a position where I am trying too hard to do too many meaningful activities with the kids and make too many gifts and I end up worn out and feeling less than festive. This year I tried really hard to pace myself. And so many times I had to tell myself "It's okay. You don't have to do that." It worked pretty well actually. Not that we didn't do a ridiculous number of things, we totally did. But we didn't more than was necessary. I think that made a big difference.
We started elf on the shelf this year. Madison found out the truth about Santa last spring, which was actually a relief to me because she is way too alert and up in my business all the time. It was getting too hard to hide it from her. I put her in charge of moving the elf. Best idea ever. I gave her my iPad and had her make an elf on the shelf board on pinterest and let her do her thing. It was great for everyone!
I got to go to Jaxon's field trip at safety town. I didn't get to go on any field trips with him last year because I had a tiny baby. So I was really happy I could go with him this time.
Hudson turned 1. He had a ridiculous amount of help opening his presents. He wasn't very interested in them. Pretty typical. That's all we really did on his birthday. We celebrated with my family a few days earlier over Thanksgiving.
One of our favorite traditions is our annual Christmas light walk around the neighborhood. The kids love it. They insist on posing in people's yards and making me take pictures, which is incredibly awkward. Thankfully we have never been "caught". This year they rode scooters so I had them wear headlamps. Jaxon's was a red head lamp, so in all the pictures he put it over his nose like Rudolph and got down on his hands and knees. It's times like these I don't know whether to laugh or keep walking and pretend I'm not these kids' mother.
Hudson and Madison on our walk. Obviously he wasn't posing with the kids.
The first weekend of December was party weekend. Starting Thursday with a work party. Chris's old company had their Christmas party at the Dallas Aquarium this year. It was a pretty cool venue. The manatee was my favorite. It's just so funny and fat floating around with its teeny tiny fins. I was surprised that Chris wanted to go to this party since he had already given his 2 weeks notice. It actually turned out to be a great experience. He was able to say goodbye to a lot of the people he had been working with for 7.5 years. He received a lot of great compliments and I know he appreciated the warm wishes and support.
On Fridays Madison and Jaxon have piano after school. On nice days I take the little boys to the park. They are such cute little park boys. Hudson has learned to go down the slide and he is so thrilled with himself.
Colton is in the "hey mom watch" phase. Where he does something he probably think looks way cooler than it actually does. But I take pictures anyway. Because he's so cute!
So, Friday of the first week in December we had our ward party. I was on the party committee. I wasn't as helpful with the set-up as I would have liked to have been, mainly due to schedule conflicts, but I did make 25 boxes of Jell-o, and the kids and I helped with the set-up. Jaxon is incredibly helpful when he wants to be. He was super excited to help set the table. He took his job very seriously. Madison and Colton were off running round, but Jaxon stuck with it. (I got a sitter for Hudson that night. The party didn't start until 7. It would have been a disaster to have him there.)
The entire Junior Primary dressed as sheep for the nativity play. It was beyond adorable.
Madison played one of angels. She had a speaking part that she did wonderfully at. She's annoyed with me in this picture because I was in the kitchen the whole time serving dinner so I couldn't take a picture beforehand. I saw her perform, but by the time I got back to her, she didn't have her costume on. I made her put it back on again. Hence the annoyance.
Jaxon started playing basketball. He had his first game the first Saturday in December. He is slightly less terrible at basketball than the other sports he has played. I'm not being mean, just honest. The kid doesn't have an ounce of aggression in him. But he has fun. So it's okay.
We spent Saturday doing yard work. The kids earned money doing extra chores so that they could buy each other gifts for Christmas. And no, Madison doesn't wear glasses, she just thinks it's cool to wear these 3-d glasses that don't have lenses.
Colton worked really hard doing yard work. Or hiding from it.
Then Saturday night Madison had a choir performance in downtown Frisco. Chris and I had a white elephant party afterward, so we got a sitter beforehand so we could just take Madison. She did great. Her choir teacher is phenomenal!
Hudson got a new (to him) carseat and turned around to face forward.
We had another fun park day. All the boys were loving sliding together.
Hudson and I spend a ridiculous amount of time in the car waiting. Every Monday and Wednesday Colton has speech therapy for 30 minutes, which isn't really enough time to get somewhere and then get back to pick him up. So we just wait in the car. He usually isn't in his P.J.'s. This must have been a really hectic morning. And he pretty much spends the whole time crawling over the car getting into everything.
This is too common a scene in our family. Yes Jaxon is doing what you think he's doing. Yes it's weird that I took a picture, but I just need to record this so that some day I can laugh about it. He is terrible at always needing to go to the bathroom when we are nowhere near a bathroom. And when he has to go he means NOW. This was in downtown Dallas right before a choir concert. Another moment when I can't decide whether to laugh or to just keep on walking and pretend like he isn't mine.
We got to take the kids to a Christmas concert downtown for the choir that Madison performed with last spring. It was a great concert. We only took Madison and Jaxon, for obvious reasons. Its times like these that make me realize how much easier the kids will be when they are all a little older.
Family selfie.
Colton had a nativity performance at school. He was a wiseman. His crown was hilariously small on his head, but he was so adorable.
I was probably a little overly excited that Colton and Hudson got to wear these shirts. They were my favorite shirts when Jaxon and Colton wore them a couple years ago. And I was so excited when they could both wear them!
And here's Jaxon and Colton in the same shirts. Colton's cheeks were so amazing. Still are. Poor Colton is doomed to wear the same thing for years on end as he grows into the bigger size of the matching clothes.
We didn't get to do as many service projects as I would have liked, but again, I just had to tell myself to not try to do too much and get stressed out. We did do a fun, easy one that I think we will definitely repeat. I printed off little strips of paper that said "Happy Holidays" on them and then we taped them to candy canes and left them on the teachers' cars after school. The kids thought it was fun and I hope it brightened a few days.
Madison had a choir performance at a school assembly on the same day that Jaxon had a performance with his class, which was also the same day that Chris finished his job at Highland. So he was able to be there to support them.
We went out to celebrate Chris's new job and ended up at Dick's doing some Christmas shopping. I should probably talk about Chris's new job for a bit. Chris has been working at the same company since he graduated from college. At the beginning of October he was contacted by a new company called TPG about possibly interviewing for a position managing a new hedge fund they were starting. He did an in-office interview in the middle of October. On Halloween he was in San Francisco interviewing with the higher ups. Then we didn't hear anything for about 3 weeks. Right before Thanksgiving Chris got a call that they wanted to give him an offer. The offer was good, so we accepted. We don't have to move. The company is right across the street from his old company, which kind of stinks because he has to commute downtown every day. He's been happy there so far, though. He's less stressed and I know he's enjoying a change of pace.
Madison had another choir performance at the mall. I love watching her sing. I can tell that she loves it!
After the choir performance I took the kids to see Big Hero 6. I never get to be the one to take the kids on dates. Usually I stay home with Hudson and Chris goes, so it was fun to be able to take them. They had been begging to go for a few weeks, but it took us forever to find the time.
Hudson is in the stage where he really likes me holding him. Which makes everything I do twice as difficult.
This was Jaxon's Christmas lunch.
Madison had a talent show for activity days. She accompanied her two friends while they sang "Joy to the World". I have to say I was so proud of her. Accompanying someone is a whole other level of piano playing and she did wonderfully. She is becoming quite the pianist.
Madison and Jaxon had their Christmas piano recital. Their teacher always does it at a nursing home. They did great.
We made snowflakes one day after school, another tradition. This year I used coffee filters, which worked wonderfully.
Jaxon was extra cuddly one day after school. I should have known that was a bad sign.
Hudson was extra needy and snotty. Again. Bad sign.
Colton's Christmas lunch. He's my only kid that will eat green grapes.
Colton got very decked out for his Christmas party at school. It was a P.J. party. I love that he worse his batman boots and snowman hat, too, though.
Here is what those bad signs in the pictures above pointed too. Both these boys to influenza. It was sad. Jaxon was so worn out. He took a nap every day for 4-5 days. Hudson was a cranky, needy mess for about a week, but thankfully we were all healthy for Christmas!
I am Madison's room mom this year, so I got to help plan the party for all the 3rd graders. It was the day after the boys were diagnosed with flu, so Chris had to miss work to stay home with them. We had a fun photo booth, snowman donut craft, and a couple of games.
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