Christmas

 We've been busy the last couple of weeks. Lots of Christmas things going on. 

Saturday, we went shopping as a family, getting each other last minute gifts. The kids bought gifts for each other. And we stopped at university mall to do the light the world giving machine. Each of us picked something to buy for someone else, and we had to explain to our kids what we were doing. Jack was not pleased. He thought the 3 chickens he wanted to buy were for us. He was very mad (still is) about the whole thing. It's hard when you're 4 to understand that it's better to give. 

We had our Ugly Sweater Christmas Murder Mystery Dinner that same night. We'd invited all our family, and some of them wanted to come. It was office ugly sweater party themed. We put up a few tacky decorations, ordered in Mo' Bettahs for dinner, set up a drink bar, and did a little clean up before everyone started coming.

It was fun! The game is designed to be used over and over, and the murderer is chosen at random, so it was hard for most of us to figure out who it was. We loved having our family come do it with us. They were all so into it and fun in their characters. Brian, Stephanie, and Emily in particular did such a good job.

The kids and I did the last of our Christmas activities this last week: making and decorating cookies, Christmas movie night, acting out the nativity, make snowflakes and cover the window with them. Daniel took the girls skiing on Tuesday, and they mostly had a good time. Daniel said they were really frustrated at the beginning when they weren't getting it, and they fell a lot. Bowman joined up with them later in the day, and he took some time to teach the girls some skiing skills. I took the kids to the Dino museum with my friend Sarah and her kids. Then we traded kids, and they played together for the rest of the day. On Thursday, Camille had a birthday party, and Swayze came to play with Brooke, which they both loved so so much.

We spent Christmas Eve dinner with Daniel's family, which was wonderful. And Daniel and I stayed up late, watching It's a Wonderful Life and me working on Sawyer's baby book (which is all done! Hallelujah! I put it under the tree for him, but we didn't really touch it on Christmas day).

Our Christmas was so good. Grampa Holbrook came to spend Christmas morning with us. Brooke woke up around 5 or 530 in the morning! And then she came in to wake us up almost 2 hours later. The kids went through their stockings and opened a couple of presents, and then we paused for a good Christmas breakfast: bacon and eggs, berry oatmeal bake with whipped cream, and berry salad. Then we went back to opening presents. Jack was so into his lego set that we gave him, that he was completely uninterested in opening his other presents. The kids mostly loved the things they received from each other, which Daniel and I both found adorable. Daniel bought everyone in the family a matching BYU t-shirt for Christmas. 

Daniel and I snuggled on the couch and dozed off for an hour after we finished opening presents. Divvy sent us a beautiful fuzzy, weighted blanket, and we cuddled under it and it was heavenly. Daniel said it was possibly his favorite part of his Christmas Day. ❤❤❤ We watched a Christmas movie after Sawyer went down, Klaus. It was cute! But the girls and I were really the only ones that watched it. We chatted with my parents in the afternoon, started making Christmas dinner, and then Brian, Sammy and Scott and Melanie came over to spend time with us. We hung out, sang Christmas songs around the piano and had dinner together. It was a wonderful Christmas day. And it completely wiped me out! I was exhausted after putting the kids to bed. 

Camille fashioned a Christmas dress out of the garlands we decorated with for the party. 😂

A couple of things to remember from this month:

• Camille has started singing at the top of her lungs every time she goes to the bathroom. Even if it's at night when her siblings are trying to sleep.
• For our candy cane hunt, I let Jack and Sawyer go first for a minute before letting the girls join. Jack ended up getting WAY more candy canes than anyone else. (Next year, we won't be staggering their go time!) And Sawyer just walked around enjoying what the siblings were doing. He didn't understand what was going on, but he loved it anyway.
• I've been enjoying playing the guitar more this month. I picked it up sometime at the end of November and have been practicing a little bit this month, building up my calluses and remembering how to play. I'm hoping to do more next year. 
• We spent some time being sick this month. Daniel got a cold, then the kids and I got it. We missed out on some fun things because of it. And then Daniel got sick again last week. And now Camille's throwing up today. It's sick season.
  
• Jack draws a picture on the dry erase board every school day while he girls do school, and it's my favorite thing ever. It's so hard for me to erase them.
• I ended school early on the Thursday before Christmas week. We did science, and I told the girls, "okay, one you are done with your science worksheets, you're done and you can go play." They were so confused. "You mean, we're not going to do the rest of school? But how can we do that?" "Well, I'm the boss, so I get to decide these things. And I decided, we're ending school until after Christmas." The day after that, on Friday, we busted out our kiwi Co boxes (which I bought on sale a 3 month subscription for school), and the kids loved working on their little projects. Brooke put together a spinning art box, Camille made yarn puff ball animals, and Jack had a number of cute little rainbow themed art projects. They keep asking when he next kiwi Co is coming. 

We did a science project demonstrating the ocean and tides and tide pools. Sawyer got into it and loved playing in it and making a mess with it. We might have to bust out some sensory bins for this baby. 

Jack's picture of delivering presents. 😍

• Sawyer has been so cute, learning all kinds of words. He doesn't say the exact words yet, but he makes little sounds for things. He does say cheese really well all of a sudden, which I find random and hilarious. He also will pat his diaper in the front whenever we talk about his diaper or changing his diaper. And the other day he made the "chee" sound when I asked if he needed me to change his diaper. Everything he does is basically adorable. 
• Also, starting earlier this week, like on Sunday or something, he's started needing privacy when he's pooping. The first time we noticed, he went and hid around the side of the Christmas tree. Then a couple days ago, we were downstairs reading together for school, and he climbed into the truck basket and covered his face with his hands while he was doing his business. It was so funny. The kids and I really get a kick out of him. 
• I was laying on the floor in the basement while the kids were playing around me. I said, "Sawyer, come give me a baby squeeze before I go upstairs to make dinner." He toddled over and laid down on me and gave me a little squeeze. It was so sweet. He melts my heart daily. 
• I love how much he loves his bedtime stuff. He's become really attached to all his blankets and stuffed animals, and I'll catch him snuggling them at random times throughout the day. ❤❤❤

These boys love playing in the bath together these days. 

 Sawyer was so cute just now when I was finishing up my workout. I had a couple of 3 pound weights on the couch to use for my workout, and he tried picking them up, but could only manage one of them with both tiny hands. Then he started mimicking my squats with the weight and moving around with them, trying to do a workout with me. It was absolutely adorable; I wish I'd gotten a picture or video of him. 

The kids often come down to the basement to play while I'm working out, especially if it's later in the morning like today (I stayed up way too late last night hosting bunco. It was so fun and I laughed so hard, but now I'm a bit of a zombie today, and I slept later than usual, missing my temple appointment and my alone time before kids wake up). Sometimes, they get in the way and I get annoyed, being interrupted in the middle of my workout. But usually I like that they gather around me all the time and that they just play together and wander around me while I'm doing my thing. ❤ Sweet little people. 

Bunco ladies. Lindsey Holman, Laura Miller, Gina Smith, Brittani Jacobs, Elise Pearson, Alexis, Annette Perkins, Sarah Frei, me, Kimberly Davis, Charlee Ruben. We were missing a few regulars, but added a couple of our subs. ❤ We also didn't play bunco, but did left-right-center with cash. It was very fun. 

 Today, Jack added a birdhouse and a bird, grass and a playhouse to the Thanksgiving tree before we took it down. Look how cute: 

The bird is the "king bird" and has a crown on his head. 😍 Also, my favorite leaf this year, I think Brooke's: 

 We went to the farms this afternoon spontaneously, and it was so fun. The girls got to milk a cow and Sawyer rode a pony for the first time. He loved it! I put him on the saddle, and he grabbed the saddle horn right away and held onto it. He was so stable up there, I don't even think he needed me to walk by him and keep my hand on his leg, but I did anyway, to help him feel more secure. He did so well, and he loved it. He kept leaning forward to pet the pony. It was adorable. 

We stopped to see Brooke's favorite horses, the percheron draft horses, and Sawyer loved going up to them to pet them. I had to keep my eye on him and those huge horses, to make sure they didn't bite his fingers off on accident. 

Brooke asked one of the workers what the horses names were. Previously, she had named them herself: Smoky and Creamy, for the white and gray horses; Coco and Brownie, for the brown horses. But we learned their name are actually Dock and Daisy (white horses), and Captain and King (brown horses). We left shortly after, it being a very successful visit. 😊