Christmas Eve and Day

William worked Christmas Eve, so that sucked, but we actually had a really fun day! I wanted it to be special, even if William wasn't there with us. We went to church, solo, and dressed up x100, which meant glitter makeup for ALL the girls. We also went on a bike ride in our neighborhood at sunset, and it was beautiful! Then we played some Minute-to-Win-it games and had a blast! I only got one picture because the rest were videos, but everything was sooooo funny! I love their competitiveness! They went with it and were great winners and losers because everybody won some and lost some. It was great! But we sure missed daddy! And here we thought he had scored by working Christmas Eve because only emergencies would come in (no scheduled surgeries) and what could possibly happen on Christmas Eve, especially when there is no snow involved? Well, it was a night from Hell! He stayed in the hospital until 7 am. From ruptures of all sorts to shootings, he saw it all that night. William basically came him to open up presents with us then went to sleep. And I spent a great part of the day putting batteries into toys and putting them together. We mostly stayed home enjoying the new gifts, but we did go out into the neighborhood to try out the new Razor scooters. And then, since we live in AZ, we got to have dinner outside; a yummy filet mignon with mashed potatoes and asparagus. And for the best surprise ever, we told the kids to open up their last gift, a box filled with 2 Disney shirts, Mickey (and Minnie) Mouse ears, and Princess dresses (for the girls). Then we asked the kids to guess where our next trip would be. Disneyland! And we would leave the very next day! Ta-da! Another great Christmas in the books!

Christmas at Haley

The week before Christmas is pretty chill at school. Lots of fun and little work, basically. On the first day of Christmas... Just kidding. The first day of the week of Christmas was pajama day. The second day was candy cane day. See what I did there? Well, those didn't last long. They were all gone before lunch and their sweaters looked pretty ugly when I picked them up from school. The third day was ugly sweater day. They probably could have work the same sweater, but being the overachiever that I am, I wanted to make them cute but ugly and homemade as to not spend $40 on an UGLY sweater that they'll grow out of. I figured super glue would hold just about anything on their sweaters and would be way easier than stitching everything on. WRONG! All that crap had fallen off way before I picked them up from school. Then I guess their sweaters were really ugly because no one could tell what was going on with them. Two things surprised me about that. The first is the fact that the kids even wore those to school. And the second is that hey didn't care how UGLY their sweaters looked at the end of the day. I mean Taylor's shirt even had holes in it! Big ones! I mean, it's not like they could do anything about it... But still... 

The nice thing about William having a week off is that he watched Alexis so that I could hit up class parties. Again, I sucked and didn't get any pictures of Logan's party, but I did surprise him the most. I sneaked up behind him and kissed him on the cheek. He turned so fast and so shocked, with his face like "Who the heck just kissed me?!?!" Then came the relief, like "Oh, it's just you, mom." I was just happy he didn't seem embarrassed. He still has a few years of childhood in him, I guess.

That day, the last day, the day of the parties, there was a run, and it was chilly, but the kids did great. And it was fun to see them around their friends, and actually meet their friends.

SANTA!

The kids got multiple chances to visit Santa this year. The first time was when we went to the North Pole, of course. And it was definitely the most magical experience, with a lot building up to the meeting. 

Then there was the ward party. A little less excitement there, and the boys didn't even come to the party (they were having a boys' night with a co-worker of William's and his twin boys.)

The third time, which was in our neighborhood, they followed Santa around on their bikes and scooters, but they were most excited about the candy canes that he was throwing at them.

And by the fourth time, they couldn't have cared less. That was the time snow was brought into our community, and snow was more fun than Santa. I can't blame them. Santa was a picture-fanatic and a little too into being Santa. It was weird.

Ugly sweater party

I HAVE to document this because... Look at those sweaters! They are so ugly! It was a great night, with great friends and great games. We did score an awkward family photos calendar, in exchange for the fat belly couples fanny packs that we brought.

12 days of service... not quite

This is my favorite Christmas tradition, and one that I want the kids to remember always, one that I hope they will carry on into their own families, and one that I sucked at this year. I had it all planned out... but time slipped away, as did my reading of Jesus stories every night before bed. I blame William for this. He got a lot of time off this month, and when William is home, the schedule gets messed up. The kids didn't even get their reading minutes for the month. They should be reading 300 minutes a months. I don't even think they got 100. Between the late night walks in the neighborhood and the hot tub, it was usually way past 9 and sometimes even 10 when the kids finally made it to bed. And as a result it was usually past midnight for me because William being home creates a mess of its own. 

Anyway... We did make some goody bags for homeless people. It included snacks, gum, deodorant, chapstick, a toothbrush and toothpaste. We did struggle to actually find homeless people most of the month, so we kept the bags in the van. It was just a few days before Christmas when we finally got rid of the last 3 bags. 

We also made cookies for the Chandler policemen and firefighters. They were very grateful for the thought and the treats.

We painted and wrote inspirational words on stones, which we left around our neighborhood. I hope they cheered up people.

And lastly (sad, I know), I'll count our family "Feed My Starving Children" as part of our service projects because as a ward, we did pack up 106 boxes, which is 22,896 meals, and should feed 62 kids for a whole year. This one is definitely an activity that I want to do again, and not just around Christmas. I actually do think it will help many children to be fed, and I love that they pray over the meals before they send them out. It really is a great program.