December Catchup

I finally have my laptop back so I can blog again! Let's play a little December catchup, shall we?

Isn't this just the cutest picture that Jenna brought home from school!?

This little loudmouth has us simultaneously laughing and yawning. Andrew literally says everything but he is a busy demanding boy! His latest thing is to wake up early and start yelling at us. MOMMY! I GO UPSTAIRS! DADDY! JENNA! I GO UPSTAIRS! MOMMY UP!! HEY! RY-RY! GOOGY! I READ BOOK! I GO CAR! I actually really want to get up at 5:30am, just not with him. 

I don't appreciate being yelled at first thing in the morning.

Now that cousin Lyla is in Jenna's preschool class, these girls get to see each other at least twice a week. 

Fraternal twins! One curly and one straight.

 They got to meet Santa at school recently.

I found these all-natural candy canes at Target and they are really good! Every year I have a hard time finding candy canes without artificial dyes and other junky ingredients. These are the best I have found.

We're in that phase of December where I am trying to soak up all the Christmas excitement, while at the same time already being tired of sugar and ready for the newness of January. All the kids have been sick, including Adam, so we've really been housebound this last week. It wears on me when I'm sleep-deprived and stuck inside, cleaning up the same toys over and over. Thankfully Jenna and Adam are feeling better. Andrew is getting better but still has an awful gross cough. And Lucas is heading to the doctor this morning to check his ears for a possible infection. Is it hard for anyone else to get their kids out to do fun Christmas events because of sickness? I feel like this happens every year.

Poor Lucas. He started coughing Friday and literally by Saturday morning his ear was hurting. At least he will be better for Christmas! He has been so excited about reading our advent every night, pulling rings off his paper chain countdown, and telling Alexa to play Christmas music. I love seeing Christmas through the eyes of my kids. The other night our advent asked us to share one thing that scared or worried us. Ryan and Jenna both said they were afraid of the dark. Lucas said he wasn't worried about anything, but instead he loves this time of year because of all the time he gets to spend with his family. Awwww!

And then there is my teenager. He is in that phase where he is still an immature little kid but he totally thinks and acts like a teenager. The other night Santa drove by on a Rocklin firetruck. We ran outside to wave to him and get candy canes, but Ryan hung back in the driveway. I called to him, but I could tell he was trying not to act interested. Then last week I asked him if he had a Christmas performance at school. Lucas had the most adorable Polar Express performance, and I was hoping Ryan would be doing something similar. He said now that he's in third grade, they're too old to do stuff like that. Waaah! But then last night he made up for his teenage attitude. He asked if he could read a book with me, and he chose one of our Christmas song books. He proceeded to lay on the couch with me and sing every Christmas hymn with me. So sweet (And perfectly in tune! I think we have a singer on our hands.)

The good news is that nobody has pulled down our crispy Christmas tree! Just kidding. The good news is that we are about to celebrate the birth of our Savior!