Christmas-ing

So much Christmas fun happening lately! Our ward Christmas party was pajama attire, so I took advantage of that and took pictures of the kids in their cute jammies from Gigi and Poppy.

The party was fun. It was a Polar Express party, so the boys loved playing at the train table while Millie and I made some crafts. We enjoyed pancakes and hot chocolate and hearing our bishop read The Polar Express. Santa also came, but the kids weren't interested in sitting on another Santa's lap so we left. A fun morning.

Botz called and told us about a cool train display they have at the school district's stadium. He knew Max would love it so we made sure to check it out! It was so cool. They had a little platform where you could get a better view. 

The place was pretty much empty so we took the kids upstairs and showed them the basketball court.

Maybe Max was having daydreams of scoring the winning basket?

Tyler got to go to Millie's holiday party at school. The kids wore their pajamas all day. She loved having Dad there!

They made ornaments and Millie got wrapped up like a candy cane.

Max's cute nursery teachers noticed that he loves to play with the dinosaurs on Sundays at church, so they brought him a dinosaur as a Christmas gift. So thoughtful and sweet.

Checking out the cool tree at the boardwalk.

Little things

Laundry fun with the boys. Gotta make it a game or we'll never get it done!

The kids were so excited to do the Light the World challenge this year. One night we took cookies to our neighbors. 

Max was okay with this mostly because he knew we had more at home. Funny boy.

Millie's version of the nativity this year. Notice the bearded Joseph.

Naughty Harvey! He is such a climber!

Max sat down and asked me to read him a book and about two pages in he was asleep on my shoulder!

We were walking in to Target one Saturday and passed by this little girl's boutique. They were having a grand re-opening and had princesses there doing makeup and nails for free. Millie got a little pampering from Belle herself! 

The kids bought presents for each other and had fun wrapping them. They need to work on their secret keeping after the fact, but I guess it's the thought that counts!

Wanted to remember this adorable boy wrapped up after a bath. He's just so yummy.

Millie was so excited to buy a toy for a toy drive at her school. When she told me about it she said, "Please, Mom? Even though it's not one of the things for light the world I really think it would light someone's world!" She's so sweet. 

A fun picnic at the park with the boys.

Millie read to us from the roof. 

I dragged the kids to the church so I could have a temple recommend interview and they begged to run in the gym afterwards. 

Tyler and I went to his team's Christmas dinner. It was a fun and yummy night out and we didn't take any pictures until this terribly lit picture (with someone's brake lights on in front of us haha).

Harvey learned to climb on the couch. Took him a week or two to learn to safely get down, so I just basically sat by him lots during that time.

Our backyard trees don't drop their leaves until early/mid-December and the kids always have fun raking them and playing in them.

10 on 10: December 2017

1-3. Attempting a picture of my cute boys in their matching Christmas ties. Can't seem to get a normal one but I kind of love them all anyway.

4. Super dad.

5. A life-changing contraption to cut pineapple. I randomly found it the night before next to the pineapple and thought I'd try it. It was awesome! 

6. Had some friends over for dinner. Their kids had never played the kids version of Ticket to Ride and Tyler showed it to them.

7. Decorating gingerbread houses!

8. Max was more concerned with eating his than actually building it. We did attempt it but he didn't care that we never got it to stand. 

9. Millie preferred hers with half a roof. Good thing neither of these kids are in charge of building actual homes!

10. Our friends brought over eggnog and couldn't believe it when we admitted that neither of us had ever tried it. They were happy to witness and document our first taste. Not too bad!

Snow in Houston!

We got snow in Houston!! It was very exciting. It started while I was at a Relief Society Christmas party. I texted Tyler and told him to show the kids if they were still awake. It was hard to tell at first if it really was snowing, especially for us as we never see the stuff! But as the night went on it was sticking and I just couldn't sleep. I'd go look out the window every hour or so and just watch it pile up. It was magical!

The kids were SO excited to go out and play in it in the morning. I actually woke Millie up early because I knew she'd want to play before school. Luckily, Max was already awake. We bundled up and headed out to our temporary winter wonderland!

Tyler and the kids got right to work building a snowman.

Harvey touched the snow once and did not like it, so he was happy to sit on my hip as I took pictures and videos. Maybe a little too many pictures and videos to someone who sees this all the time, but it was a big deal for us!

Millie decided the snowman was actually a snowgirl and her name was Zoe. The buttons we had for the mouth weren't sticking, so a mr. potato head mouth came to the rescue.

As the day wore on, Zoe melted. It kind of looked like she was sunbathing for a while as her head rolled back.

All the snow fun wore Max out and he fell asleep in the car around 11am!

 It was a morning to remember for sure! Now we're back to our regularly scheduled warmth. I have to say, part of what made it so fun and happy for me was knowing that it wasn't going to stick around! I definitely prefer not having to deal with snow all the time!