Darr Family Blog – Page 2 – The place to follow the Darr Family

A Concert, A Birthday, and Christmas…Oh My!

I’m finally getting caught up on my pictures! As soon as we went on break, we had a few chill days at home, then it was Abigail’s birthday, then Christmas, and then we left for California (which will be a separate post). We’re back home, so it’s time to play catch-up!

Joseph had his holiday concert (the same night as Abigail’s winter fun event). I went with Abigail and Paul went with Joseph. Here’s a great shot that Paul got of our percussionist in action.

I like that the directors give parents a chance to get good end-of-concert pictures, too. It’s hard when he’s all the way in the back!

One of my coworkers put this together, framed it, and gave it to me for Christmas. It just about made me ugly cry, y’all.

We decided to have Abigail’s friend party at Peter Piper Pizza. It was easy to plan, the kids were entertained, and Abigail (as you can see) loved it!

I love how genuinely happy she was with each present.

When we got home, we let her unwrap presents from us and Jason, Saira, and Luna.

Did I mention this cat (which we’re pretty sure is feral) has decided our yard is a good place to live? At first, Paul was kinda chasing it off…because there was evidence that it had probably caught some birds (we have bird feeders in the back yard because we like seeing all the birds).

Pretty soon, though, we found out that it had kittens. Three, to be exact. Well, Paul said he didn’t want to see kittens starving, so we are now feeding four cats. Hopefully once they get bigger, they will all head off. We’re not playing with them or anything, just setting out food. We’ll see what happens.

Abigail’s interests are always so fun to see. Things that are the typical things girls like right next to things that are more typically reserved for boys. I love that she doesn’t care and just…likes what she likes.

She’s into making excited faces for pictures, as of late, so…there’s that, haha.

On Christmas Eve, we decided to go see Sonic 3 in the theaters. It was a fun family outing!

Two of my favorite things about Christmas are all the lights and the nativity. I got this ornament this year and couldn’t help but get this shot with the lights in the background.

Stocking fun (Santa got her Rescue Bots).

Playing with her new Care Bear doll (it’s a Barbie that is dressed up like a Care Bear that has its own Care Bear).

Showing me a fun book from one of our good friends.

Abigail got a Switch for Christmas, so it was fun seeing the two of them playing together.

Kinda in Survival Mode

Okay, so the time between Thanksgiving Break and Christmas Break is a bit…dicey. It’s a busy time at school with dress-up days, concerts, grading, tests, and tying up loose ends before Christmas. Abigail had her school’s Winter Wonderland event, I went to a fun Relief Society book exchange, Paul got covid (luckily the rest of us did not and he has made a full recovery), and Joseph has been practicing for his winter concert which is this week. It’s been a busy time for sure! We’ve got one more week before having two blissful weeks off. Hooray!

Showing off her interchangeable Minnie Mouse sweatshirt (the sequins flip back and forth so Minnie is either black, white, and red or black, white, and silver).

The book exchange was white elephant-style, so people could steal books. Luckily, nobody stole mine. It’s really intriguing and I actually want to sit down and read it, even though non-fiction is not usually what I reach for first.

We’ve had dress up days all of December (and still have one more week to go). Recently, my phone added a feature for the camera where if you put it in front-facing, you can back up, hold up your palm, wait for the camera to recognize it, and then it will set a three second timer so you can take a selfie without having to hold the phone. This was my test shot (sporting my Grinch sweater and earrings for red and green day). Pretty cool!

Throwing “snowballs” (they were plush). I like her strategy: gather up as many as you can so you have a full arsenal and the enemy…doesn’t.

So…the fake snow machine. There was actually quite a breeze blowing, so it ended up more like a blizzard, but Abigail actually loved it.

We went to Bass Pros to take a picture with Santa and Paul was helping Abigail practice shooting.

I’m pretty sure I have at least one picture (if not more) of him doing this same thing with Joseph.

Speed Run from Halloween to Christmas!

I feel like I blinked and November flew by. November brought Veterans’ Day, Abigail’s field trip to Devine Acres, an ADHD diagnosis and treatment for her, Thanksgiving, and the kick-off to Christmas! As usual, there are a ton of pictures, so strap in!!