Holiday Wrap-Up :)

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:

YOU       ARE       WELCOME.

Cheers to another holiday season!!!