Last weekend, we finally go to see some SNOW!!! And what's even better?? We got a half-day off from work and school last Friday. They sent everyone home early in anticipation of the flurries. When we went to bed on Friday night, it was snowing just a bit, but we were VERY excited and surprised that snowflakes were still coming down when we awoke Saturday morning!! Not a ton of flakes, but enough to get out and frolic a bit. We decided to journey through the woods a bit and pretend that we were in a "Winter Wonderland." :)
All bundled up:
Through the woods we go!!
Before long, we headed back to our fire and hot chocolate and watched the snow melt by noon :)
Still, I'm glad we got to play in the white stuff for a while, and even gladder we got a little extra time off to enjoy it!!
Well, since it's the last week of January, I need to do a "wrap-up"of the holidays. This year, we decided to make a new tradition with the girls: We had a date-night with each daughter in December, and took them shopping to pick out a Christmas gift for each sister. The girls could pick wherever they wanted to have dinner, and do you know where Nora chose? Out of ANY restaurant in the metro area? She chose Kentucky Fried Chicken. No joke.
That girl loves her fried chicken!!
After eating our weight in KFC, we headed to Toys-R-Us and the mall to do some shopping for the sissies. We frequently got distracted.....
Nora bought an art kit for Ella, and a set of high-heeled shoes for Claira.....she knows her sisters well!!
Next up, it was Ella's turn. She is her Mama's child, and picked Japanese for her dinner choice. So, off to Tokyo we went!! No complaints here!!
After shopping for her sisters (she bought Nora a mermaid kit, and Claira a play-doh set), she asked if we could go into the Christian bookstore to get her a Bible. She's been wanting her own Bible for a while, so we picked out a beautiful little pink one with her name engraved on it. She's been so proud to take it to church with her, and I often find her highlighted some of her favorite verses. This girl.....she makes my heart melt daily.
Next up was Claira's turn!! What did she choose?? Stevie B's, of course!! Pizza all the way!!!
Of course, we had to partake in all the games before he went shopping:
We headed over to Wally World where Claira picked out a sewing kit for Nora, and a pottery wheel for Ella (she initially wanted to buy them play-doh that resembled poop....it was called Poopie Playdoh. Um, no, child).
The girls were very anxious and excited to open their presents from each other on Christmas Eve morning (before our basement had flooded.....ugh).
This dog....always in the middle of everything. He's thinking, "Where's my present?!?!"
Digging into their new gifts from each other:
Somebody loved her new high heels!!
***Side note - you may have noticed that the girls are sporting their Star Wars shirts....that's because we had a Nesbitt-family-outing the night before to watch the new Star Wars movie!!
A family affair:
As a matter of fact, we have been to the movies more times within these last 2 months than we have in a lifetime!! Many of my precious students and family members gave us movie giftcards for Christmas, and we've been putting them to great use!! Along with Star Wars, we've seen the Chipmunk movie, Peanuts movie, The Revenant, Daddy's Home, and a few others. Thanks students and fam!! Nothing like free entertainment!! Here's me and my boy, Marky:
Finally, we rang in the New Year here at home with the girls. We played games and, believe it or not, we all were able to stay up until midnight to see the start of 2016!! Nothing short of a miracle for these early birds!!
The favorite game of the night was PIE FACE!!! Soooo much fun!!
We also played Monopoly, Checkers, Battleship, and Connect 4 .....all in our mermaid fins, of course.
Counting down.....3, 2, 1....HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
We spent the next day grubbing with the grandfolks!!
I'll leave you with this gem. Josh and I had a "Helium Booth Battle" with Matt and Anna for DAYS (if you don't have the Helium Booth app, download it now). While they all made us laugh out loud, I think my version of "Let it Snow" was the winner:
Christmas Break is officially over (I mean...is it, really?!?! REALLY? That went by fast.), I need to post some of the fun things that have taken place at "the hive" before we get into even more winter shenanigans!!
The holiday fun-ness started the day before Thanksgiving Break....this is always Pajama Day, and the teachers have a contest to see who can have the best pajamas. The winners get a $50 giftcard to their favorite restaurant. Who do you think won for a second year in a row?? US....we were the scarecrows this year!!!! BAM!!! We don't play when food is involved!!
During Thanksgiving Break, we had many playdates and birthday parties at our friends' houses. Thanks to all my "mommy friends" for sharing some pictures with me!!
After Thanksgiving Break, we had a lot of Christmas fun at school!! Of course, as you may have seen in thispost, the kids recently had their Christmas performances at Beulah Baptist Church. Here they are goofing off after the show:
Many days were "dress up days" (my favorite)! We got all festive and merry by dressing up like SNOWMEN:
REINDEER:
WHOVILLE DAY:
ELF DAY (which was also the day of our Santa Dash - a race for charity. We were ready to RUN!)
AND SANTA DAY!!
But amidst all the Christmas fun, we still had to work very hard. Nora made an A+ one of her first science projects:
And both girls simultaneously won the first round of Character Awards for their classes. So proud!!
They also made lovely Christmas masterpieces during Art Camp with Mrs. Fulton!!
Practicing multiplication with "Holly the Elf:"
But of course, we put all schoolwork aside so we could PARTY with our friends for a while and celebrate our break and each other!!
Hanging our stockings by the "chimney" with care:
Making gingerbread houses:
Nora's gingerbread house didn't last too long once she brought it home:
So, we used the leftover ingredients to make some yummy Christmas trees!!
Last but not least, we had a "teacher party" over at Mrs. Moore's house. Always a fun time, but this one was unforgettable.....I'm still hurting from laughing so hard. Thankfully, no one took pictures because what happens at the Moore Fun Lounge STAYS at the Moore Fun Lounge. But let's just say, a lot of this happened....literally:
