December 2018

December started out with a lot of sprinkler and yard work.  We noticed we had a leak going around our house.  It was a broken sprinkler line that Dave and my dad fixed on a Saturday morning--all the boys were out there checking out, even Randy!

Dave and Isaac raked leaves in our front yard for the rest of the day.  We had 24 bags by the end of the day just for the front yard!  

Move to Trophy Club, they said.  
You’ll love all the trees, they said.  
And we do!!  🍁🍂,❤️

I read a picture book aloud to my kids each morning during "Symposium."  For the month of December, I wrapped them up and the kids rotated unwrapping one book each morning.  This was one of our favorites, and even though I've read it multiple times, I'm still unable to get through it without crying when the skinny, starving DeLand children get coats from America!  It's beautiful. 

We had a very fun date night out with our friends, the Eskams and the Freels, on December 9.

Emma and I had a special day out the next morning, December 10!  We met our friends, the Sawyers and the Longs, for breakfast and "Fancy Nancy" at the Artisan.   After the show, we sat in the parking lot and stamped and stuffed piles of Christmas cards.  Emma was such a big help to me!  After finishing the Christmas cards, we went Christmas shopping together for her gift to give to Isaac.  This year, we drew names, and Emma drew Isaac! 

Lunch out at Dickey's after church on Sunday - our favorite!

Isaac and Emma decorated the Christmas tree on Sunday afternoon after Dickey's.  This is our tree that we bought when we first moved to Texas, and the lights (finally) went out a few years ago.  Dave went to buy new lights for it to string ourselves, but they only had lights on white wires left.  Somehow, this combination just didn't look right!  I went back and bought lights on green wires this year, and my friend Brittany came over one evening to help me revive our tree!  And, I just loved it!

Pictures around home:

Emma is always cleaning--on this particular morning, she decided to clean under Randy's highchair (much needed!).

Papa and Nana bought Farkle when they visited us at Thanksgiving, and Dave and Isaac have enjoyed playing it.  

Isaac and Emma love to help in the kitchen, and Isaac is capable of making some recipes on his own now.  

Hilarious! Dave was studying for his Sunday School lesson one Saturday evening, and this is how I found him.  :)

Isaac spent a day at work with Dave--Rinn Homes shirt and Whataburger cup are part of the outfit! :)

We attended the Countryside Christmas Concert, and my parents joined us.  I missed playing this year!  

We decorated gingerbread houses with our friends!  Emma was so precise in her decorating.  Isaac loaded his up!  And, Josiah wanted nothing to with decorating at all, because he didn't want his hands to get dirty!  Ha--so typical of each of them!  :)

The same night was Countryside's Women's Christmas Dinner.  I had just gotten all dressed and my hair done when Emma and Isaac came tearing into my room screaming, "Josiah is bleeding!"  Dave already had Josiah in the family room and was examining the cut on his chin.  Right away, Dave said that Josiah needed stitches--and if Dave immediately thought Josiah needed stitches, I knew it must be bad!  Somehow, Josiah fell off his bike in our driveway and must have landed just so to cause the cut.  

Dave said, "You can still go to the women's dinner!  I'll take all the kids to the emergency room!"  Ha!  This was so sweet of him to even say!  5 kids in an ER waiting room sounds like a sheer disaster!  Then Dave said, "I think if you leave now you can still get back in time to go to the women's dinner!"  But, it was starting in under an hour--this just wasn't my year to go!  Josiah and I headed downtown to the Cook's emergency room--I knew any urgent care would send us downtown, anyway, for the best stitch team.  This was our 5th visit to the Cook's ER in 5 weeks!  

Josiah did such a great job!  The wait was very long for stitches, but my mom was already in Arlington at a CPR class and joined us when she was done.  It was so nice having my mom there, because I was able to get some food.  Josiah ate so much macaroni and cheese while we waited!  The stitch tech told us that Josiah was the 5th 3 year old he stitched that evening in a row--and he said Josiah was "a breath of fresh air!"  He also thanked me for having such a well-behaved child.  Josiah laid so still and watched Paw Patrols on an iPad that another employee held over his head.  I was holding his hands, but I started to get very light-headed.  (Of course, this was after I told them how Dave started to get light-headed after Josiah was born, and then I ended up in the same predicament!) We didn't get home until after 11:00 that night!  

baking sugar cookie bars with Emma

Emma and Josiah played a game where they ran to the kitchen for different letters and then raced back to me!  They both loved it!

Emma's choir sang at church on December 16.  My parents came to hear her, and Papa and Nana watched the live stream, too!  In the bottom picture, you can see Emma on the screen.  We were up so early that morning for both of us to get to rehearsal (I played in the orchestra that morning).  I did her hot rollers at the kitchen counter while she ate breakfast and the sun was just coming up--a sweet memory to me. 

We went to see the "12 Days of Christmas" display at the Dallas Arboretum with my mom.  I had never been to the Dallas Arboretum before, and we had such a wonderful day!  It was so quiet!  The kids loved looking at all the details and moving parts of each display.  They also loved the entire children's area!  We walked nearly 6 miles and were so tired when we got home.  It was a wonderful Christmas memory! 

We hosted our second annual Christmas Book Party with friends on Friday, December 21. 

We hosted a Santa Lucia breakfast. The kids performed their Christmas finger play, sang carols, and then Isaac and Emma both played their Christmas piano pieces.  Isaac also played "Silent Night" on this tin whistle.  

It took us two tries, but we found an exercise bike that extends high enough for Dave's height!  Josiah was so proud to help Dave assemble it with his tools.  The little yellow tape measure in his hand is his favorite.  Dave gave it to him last year, and he still thanks Dave for it.  "Thank you, Daddy, for giving this tape measure to me."  

Emily had Isaac, Emma, and Josiah over on Christmas Eve morning to make sugar cookies!  Josiah wanted no part, because he didn't want to get his hands dirty.  Emma and Isaac loved rolling, cutting, and decorating!  Making sugar cookies is something that is way out of my capacity right now--so I was especially glad that Emily made this memory with the kids! 

Emma and Isaac helped me make pies on Christmas Eve Day right before we headed to church.  

I texted this picture to a few of my friends on Christmas Eve Day and said, "This is what my wrapping has come to."  Ha!  

The Christmas Eve service at our church was so beautiful!  My parents met us, and it was such a special time.  I loved holding Emma and singing the Christmas hymns.  

Seth, Kirsten, and Heidi sang a beautiful new song (new to me!) at the Christmas Eve service, 

"He Who is Mighty."  

Oh, the mercy our God has shown
To those who sit in death's shadow
The sun on high pierced the night
Born was the Cornerstone
Unto us a Son is given, unto us a Child is born
He Who is mighty has done a great thing
Taken on flesh, conquered death's sting
Shattered the darkness and lifted our shame
Holy is His name

Oh, the freedom our Savior won
The yoke of sin has been broken
Once a slave, now by grace
No more condemnation
Unto us a Son is given, unto us a Child is born
He Who is mighty has done a great thing
Taken on flesh, conquered death's sting
Shattered the darkness and lifted our shame
Holy is His name
Holy is His name

Now my soul magnifies the Lord
I rejoice in the God Who saves
I will trust His unfailing love
I will sing His praises all my days

He Who is mighty has done a great thing
Taken on flesh, conquered death's sting
Shattered the darkness and lifted our shame
Holy is His name
Holy is His name

After the service, we attempted to get a Christmas picture!  This picture where I am buttoning Josiah's pants, tucking shirts in, and trying to convince everyone that a picture is worth it makes me laugh!  :)

After church, we went to my parent's house for Christmas Eve dinner.  My mom made her famous (and our favorite) Swedish meatballs and I brought Rinn 7 layer jello.  Everyone was so hungry when we got there that dinner ended up being VERY fast.  My parents laughed that all the food disappeared in about 13 minutes! 

We had such a wonderful and full Christmas Eve with my parents, Emily, and Uncle Jon!

  

reminiscing how we were engaged 16 years ago on this night!

We had such a special Christmas morning at our house!  This is our second year to wake up at our house on Christmas morning, and we love it!  I woke up early and went running and then came home to a quiet house!  

The kids opened their stockings.  

This year, we drew names for exchanging gifts.  Emma drew Isaac's name, and she knew right away she wanted to buy him a fish!  Emma and I went to the pet store on the Saturday before Christmas and--after much deliberation--she chose a Dragon Beta.  We hid it in my closet, and she was always sneaking in there to feed it and check on it.  Amazingly, Isaac didn't find out!  He was SO surprised on Christmas morning!

Grandma Debbie sent our family a huge package of gifts.  She included this beautifully matted and framed picture from when we got Isaac back and wrote a note, "When I saw this picture, I knew you were meant to be his mom."  

Grandma Debbie sent Isaac this HUGE shark book, which he loves!  

Emma received a new Bitty Baby, a diaper bag for the baby and matching clothes for her doll and herself. 

We bought Isaac this HUGE lion.  After I bought it, I t stuffed in the back of the Suburban several weeks before Christmas.  One evening, Isaac was going out to the Suburban to find a DVD from the library for family night.  All of a sudden, he screamed and ran inside, "There's a hairy paw in the back seat!"  Dave didn't know this was still in the back of the Suburban and assured him there wasn't!  Ha!  He named him Leo.   

~Christmas dinner at my parents with Amanda, Kym, Bernie, Dale, and Jon~

Dave went back to work on the 26th, and we had a bit of a slow day at home playing with all the new presents.  Emma came down dressed in this.  :)

Emma named her new baby "Rose" and has such a fun time dressing and redressing her.  She even went to the doctor with us!

Isaac lost another tooth!

This is another book Isaac received for Christmas, "Where in the World," and all the kids pour over it!  

I love "Call the Midwife" and sometimes Dave watches with me.  The Christmas special was so wonderful--it even touched on a new fostering storyline!  Dr. and Mrs. Turner are my favorite, and this part of this show was so poignant to me.  "Our life just keeps expanding--there's room in it for everything that matters."  I think Dave cried more than me in this episode!  

And this was the beautiful scene in my family room at the end of "Call the Midwife."  

I played in the orchestra on the Sunday after Christmas.  When I came to sit down with my family before the sermon, I glanced at Emma and saw her wearing just this tunic with a pair of tights.  My eyes were so big!  My friend, Brittany, was sitting at the end of the row, and she saw Emma's outfit at the same time as I did.  We both looked at each other and could barely keep from laughing!  Dave leaned over and said, "Emma cannot wear that dress after today!  It's too short!"  We laughed about the fact that Emma came to church without pants, leggings, or a skirt on for so long!  

The following Sunday, my friend Christy was teaching Emma's Sunday School class.  She said to Dave, "I really like Emma's dress today.  It's so....long!"  Haha!  

We had the Jennings over on New Year's Eve!  We ate pizza and ice cream sundaes and played "Charades" with animals, activities, and actions that the kids wrote down on slips of paper.  And we got to see their awesome new huge van!  It was such a fun night!  

Happy New Year!