December Happenings

I was getting a little overwhelmed because I haven't posted a lot recently.  Then I looked through these pictures tonight and realized it's because we've had non-stop fun.  So here's for another photo dump, but this time with some explanation:

Seeing Santa and his elf and a night at Christmas Towne (Busch Gardens):

Roy took both Abby and Sam on a go-kart.  Abby was happy to race her cousins and cheer on the sidelines, but Sam was beyond thrilled to ride in Lightening McQueen with Daddy.  He just wanted to go faster the whole time.

It took a few days to decorate our Christmas tree, but that just gave the kids time to get creative with decorations.  Sam is displaying his cars and Angry Birds as ornaments:

We do a family movie night on Fridays with our dinner.  For the month of December, the kids got to open a new movie each Friday (thanks to $4 movies on Black Friday).  It was fun to watch them anticipating the whole day what movie we would open and watch.  I love Sam's squinty-eyed smile.

We went to a concert at the high school where they had high schoolers walking around in Disney costumes while the band played Disney music.  It was awesome!  They even let the kids go up before and explore the instruments.  The kids all loved it!  It was a highlight for Abby to meet Belle and Ariel.

 One of the churches nearby does a Bethlehem Walk every December.  The kids enjoyed the whole thing, but the petting zoo of stable animals was a highlight.

We made gingerbread houses and, for the first time, it was more fun than frustrating. :)  It probably helps that I made the house ahead of time so the frosting was all hard and the houses didn't collapse.  The kids were especially proud of their snowmen made from marshmallows.  They got huge creative points for that one because they worked together to come up with a plan for not just putting it together, but being sure they had all the face and buttons...even a carrot nose made from a sprinkle.  Love these kids!

Just regular old moments of down time:

Christmas Eve and Christmas morning:

Abby was super thoughtful and got Sam an eagle to match the one she had.  He wanted one for himself for a long time and Abby really impressed me with knowing that was just what she would get for him for Christmas. 

Abby's birthday celebration:

And thus the Lego obsession began...more on that love later.