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!
Abigail with Santa at her school event.
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!!

A pop of red is always fun!
Going to the Veterans Day celebration is always fun…especially finding my sweetheart on the Wall of Honor.
They even used his paper from last year. 🙂
A professional photographer got this great picture of Paul. I love it!
Showing Dad (Paul went with her) a rock on the field trip.
Checking out the livestock.
Probably one of her highlights of the trip.
Photo op!
She loves climbing up onto things like this!
She also loves taking pictures in cut outs.
Christmas shoes!
An awesome co-worker got me these cute earrings.
She also gave me these light covers since she didn’t need them any more. I love them!
Pictures from Christmases past.
I love hanging them up so all can enjoy.
Gnomes, birds, and a Grinch to boot!
My favorite Christmas sign, a count down and a Santa I made when I was a teenager!
A little taste of California in that palm frond Rudolph.
A nutcracker I’ve had since I was little.
And another one we got last year.
Decorating her tree.
Decorating his tree. When did he get so big?!
The big tree.
One of my favorite corners.
I love lights!
l also really love black and white!
Showing off her tree.
My piano decorations.
Gotta love funny teacher t-shirts!
Outside decorations.
This is new this year. Paul built the stable for them.
We decided to get a cover for the door this year. It was a good idea!
My happy place!
The Pearl (an old brewery turned shopping area) has the Giving Machines this year, so we went down to check them out. I love downtown at Christmas. The buildings look even cooler!
The lights in the trees were magical.
Had to get the iconic tower!
Abigail loved it!
We decided to purchase a…
…baby goat! Somewhere in the world, a family will now be able to get milk without needing to worry about how to pay for it.
It was nice seeing them so busy. It was a good experience for the kids, as well…to see the types of things we take for granted but others need.
I love this family!!
 

Bring On The Holidays

Well, we’ve had a busy few weeks. We’ve done all the fun October-y things (Halloween, Trunk-or-Treat, etc.), some fun family things (Six Flags), and all the busy things (work, school, etc.). It’s hard to believe that we’ve only got a couple more weeks before Thanksgiving Break…and then Christmas will be here before we know it!

We had an author visit the school, so I thought it was the perfect day for my Halloween book shirt.
A student brought this in for me. His mom made it!
I love that there are rides that are good for her at Six Flags.
Getting ready to go on the swings. It looks pretty tame, but it actually goes ridiculously high up in the air.
I think this is one of her favorite rides.
I came across this cute mummy bowl. It was perfect to house treats both at school and at home for Halloween.
Joseph’s fall concert. They could wear costumes if they wanted. It’s hard getting good shots of our percussionist way in the back, but Paul got some good shots!
“Hi, Dad!”
Ward Trunk-or-Treat. Abigail was Leonardo from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Joseph was a knight.
This has Princess Bride vibes…”Drop…your…sword.” Also, his sword (which was described as “dull” in the description online) was totally sharp. He’s luckily our really careful kid.
Getting ready to go on the costume parade.
Leading the parade.
She saw my steam punk goggles and hat (for my costume) and wanted a pair of her own (she already has a top hat).
She was also more than willing to take the extras of my fun trinkets for my students.
Trick-or-Treating. No big brother this year. He went to a friend’s house and they trick-or-treated in his neighborhood. It’s weird having a teenager.
She was brave enough to get near the arch.
The spread at our house.
Long story short: Abigail was chewing on a Milk Dud and didn’t realize it pulled a tooth out until she had swallowed both the Milk Dud AND the tooth (“Mom, have I always had a hole here? Why is there blood in my mouth?”). Luckily the Tooth Fairy left a note to explain that she understood, along with some quarters. Also, the next day (or maybe the day after), she lost ANOTHER tooth. She had been wiggling it with her tongue and it came out. She was showing me with it still on her tongue and the first thing I yelled out was “Spit it OUT!” 😀
At the author’s visit, she mentioned a book that was one of her favorites growing up. It was so intriguing that I ordered a copy.
First you read the book all the way through in one direction…
…and then you flip it upside down and finish the story by reading it the other way.
I love that my countdown does both Halloween and Christmas.
This guy has been busy with two Texas trips in one week. One to Dallas and the other to Houston.
She wanted a steam-punk photo shoot, so I obliged.
I love this goofball.
It’s fun having a mini-me (most of the time, haha).
One with goggles on hats. These are the best moments.