We went to a Grinch Party last night at our good friends the Grisel's house. It was so much for to sing Christmas songs, be with good friends from the ward, and have a special visitor come a read "The Grinch who Stole Christmas".
We love Sable! We are impressed with how much she loves our kids!
She bought each of the girls a special gift
Cindy is a special lady in our Ward. I was in Relief Society a couple months ago and I had this prompting to introduce my kids to her and since then they love seeing her in the hall and giving her hugs! Last week it was fun to catch my kids giving Cindy a hug without being told to do it. I told Brinley that I was so impressed that she just went up to Cindy to give her a hug after sacrament and Brinley said, "Mom, Cindy loves hugs!" with a huge smile on her face. It was a sweet mama moment.
Before church each girl made a Christmas card for their teachers and we made a special one for Cindy. Cindy gave the girls extra hugs and was so so excited to get this special gift. We love Cindy!
Ashlyn learned to blow dry her own hair last week and yesterday I taught her to straighten her hair. She has been begging to learn for a few weeks. I have loved getting ready with her. I can't believe how grown up she is getting. Time is flying by!
My babysitter Helen would slice oranges in thin slices and so I did it with my kids and they think it is the best thing ever- even better than an average orange ;)
Santa came to our house!
Disney Candyland- Thank you Grandma Martinson!
This kid has an ARM! He is definitely boy! He got a hoop (Derek is reliving his childhood) and was playing pass with Daddy. He really was tossing the ball to Derek. It was so cute.
Ashlyn's artwork- great Santa
I am also reliving my childhood. Santa got these kids BIG waffle blocks and I would love to play with these at my babysitter's house Helen. Minnie, Skyler, Lissy, and I have so many fond memories with these! I was so excited that I couldn't wait to open and box and start building. It has been a great hit. They made Queen chairs, puppy/kitty bin, and more. I love watching the kids use their imagination and build.
Ashlyn got a magic kit and she has been learning a lot of new tricks.
I made each girl a Google Photobook. During the summer Ashlyn did a "summer project" where she took all her artbook from her art class and art camp and took pictures of it with our nice camera. Then it was so long ago she forgot about it and I made it into a book for her. She was so excited!
Stockings!
Christmas Eve PJs!
We went to the girl's dance studio concert The Nutcracker! The girls loved watching girls their age dance. It was a lot of fun!
I got these cute, so comfortable shoes!
I did the 12 days of Christmas and on the 12th day I wrote 12 +1 reasons why I love Derek! It made an acronym of EXTRAORDINARY! He really is EXTRAORDINARY and I feel so blessed to have him as my best friend and hubby! He really is the best!
I was going to do a scavenger hunt in the house, but he has been so sick with low energy and I figured the last thing he would want to do on his lunch break is find notes around the house... Plan B.
(HE WAS SO APPRECIATIVE to not have to walk around).
Dr. Bates and his wife (the dentist who we bought the dental practice from) came and dropped off these delicious cookies! So cute!
This little guy LOVES the bath! He is always splashing, kicking, and moving.
I can tell he is going to exhaust me when he starts moving around.
Watching "The Snowman" from Nana and Grandpa. Thank you so much for the nice surprise movie in the mail.
His new favorite position
(Mom do you remember this.... you had this when Minnie was a baby- we still use it!)
Christmas cards and stickers
Mommy School- Letter I
Ashlyn finished reading and marking the Book of Mormon with the President Nelson's challenge! Way to go Ashlyn! She has been such a great example to follow the prophet!
Science experiment with ice for letter I- They dressed up like Elsa and Anna to build Ice Castles (bouillon) for Sven and then we watched ice turn to water then evaporate in the air.
Water in a bowl and put Donald inside to see if he would freeze in the freezer.
The destroyer....
Baby present from the Bates
Can never get a clear picture with Emmett in the jumper. He loves this thing!!!!!
Ashlyn's elves picture she painted
We went to look for Christmas lights and this is the top house. They go above and beyond. We played I spy and it was fun!
We drove through a live nativity and Dr. Bates was Santa.
We went to Old Bethlehem with our favorite Grisel family! It has become a tradition!
We were putting the girls down on Christmas and Claire talked about how she saw the real baby Jesus. Derek had to explain to her that Old Bethlehem isn't real and Jesus lived and died for us. It was so sweet to hear her say that she saw the real Jesus!
We did Christmas Karaoke which turned into Christmas dancing
Brinley went to her first Birthday party and they did it at the skating rink. She has never done it before, but didn't give up. She tried and tried and eventually did it on her own. She was so proud of herself!
I was getting down and feeling like I didn't have people that really listened to me and cared about me. Then I felt prompted to write letters to people in Lufkin that have touched my life since living here. It was amazing how much I could see that so many people have touched my life and to think of specific examples of what others have done for me. It was a cool experience to have that shift in my perspective. I wrote 25 letters to 25 people in 2 days.
My friends Joanna and Alicia sent me a special package in the mail when I needed it most! They sent me all of my current favorite things! So thoughtful! I am so blessed to have great friends!
We had to take Emmett to the Dr again because he had another ear infection. The girls love to play Dr.
Love our Jesus Tree
The whole family was sick and Brinley wanted to stay home because everyone else was home, but I took her to school and she was so sad. I went to have lunch with her and she was so happy.
I needed a mommy break (Derek was sick and this experience made me appreciate Derek and how much she helps out with the kids) and so we went to the Mall Playarea. Why don't I utilize this more often. They were so happy to be there for 2 hours!
I love how much kids love to have a lunch date with me!
My favorite is when I surprise them!
Waiting for Ashlyn to get checked out.
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Secret sister gifts- same present and swap.- WIN- WIN!
Frosting cookies
Downtown
Zoo Walk
My gift to Derek- 12 Days of Christmas- coupons.
He says he remembers giving coupons to his mom on Christmas, but she never used them. So I am making sure he uses these ones!
He had to go through all the bags to get to his present... ha ha.
I made this at our ward Super Saturday!
We made a family Gingerbread village!
We never buy doughnuts and the girls saw them when we went to buy frosting for the gingerbread houses.
I was seeing all these great beautiful pictures on Facebook with all the color changes and fall beauty and so after school we did a spur of the moment trip to Nac at the college gardens. We were racing with time because the sun sets 5:15 and the girls get down about 4 from school and it's a 30 minute drive. Oh but it was so so worth it! The beauty is indescribable and the pictures don't give it justice. Nature is so beautiful this time of year.
Turkey pillows with our leftover thanksgiving dinner!
Thanks Grandma Martinson for the Advent calendars!
Claire wrote her name all by herself!
I have been reading that parenting book called The Child Whisperer and I'm now learning about Brinley's personality. I have learned that she loves to play pretend and FUN is her word. So when I picked up the girls from dance, instead of just waiting in the waiting room seating on my duff, I told the girls that the white is the alligators swimming in the water and the colored tile is the stepping rocks. We had a fun time. Now every time we go, we have to play the Alligator game. ha ha.
Our love how our town does a Christmas Light parade!
These dude is in this book that was written by his partner. They interviewed 20-24 dentists that are successful in the dental profession and Derek is very honored to be part of this group! Truly Derek is amazing and continue to reach higher goals and success. He is a great example of hard work and making things happen. Proud wifey!
The Derek I know....
The Dr. Williams that "his people" know... haha
We pulled out the nativity and this is one of the best things I bought for the kids many years ago!
Our Thanksgiving pumpkin!
We got up really early and were reading/marking our scriptures for the Book of Mormon challenge.
This is the girls new favorite hiding place.
On the cruise I had creme brulee every night for dessert and so we ordered some on our date night. Then I recently was watching Studio 5 and they had a clip where they showed how I can make it in the instapot that I just got for Christmas! I am really excited!
Poor Derek has been sick all week. He had to miss work and sick in bed all week long.
We have lights that we shine on the ceiling and the kids love it.
Ashlyn is already for bed!
Zoo park
Our friends' from the ward The Grisels had an adult dance party! We had a blast!!!
I was so impressed with Derek showing off his dance moves. It was so fun to go back to our "party selves" and just have fun! They are planning on doing it again soon! There were about 15 couples there!
Emmett never falls asleep anywhere but his bed so I soaked up this moment when he was sleeping in my arms! I love my baby!
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