December 2020

December 1, 2020

We have a hooded towel that looks like a puppy. It is Caleb and Emma's favorite towel because when they get out of the bath, we sing this song. We did the video before he got in the bathtub so that he'd have clothes on.

Today I heard Caleb say to Emma, "I love your new Minnie bed. I wish I could sleep with you!"

 

December 5, 2020

I helped the boys make gingerbread houses like I used to when I was a kid, you know, before they sold ginger bread house kits! Note to self: It takes longer than you think to "glue" the graham crackers onto the milk cartons, so do this before the kids come to the table!

 Emma has started taking off her own diaper. I have a picture, but I won't share. I'm torn between trying to find a way to keep it on her, and seeing if she is ready to potty train. With more and more frequency, I'm finding her naked from the waist down.

December 5, 2020

Our church had an outside Christmas Brunch. They brought in animals that could have been present at Jesus' birth. The kids loved it!

December 9, 2020

Today was Isaac's Christmas Program at school. Normally they invite all the parents to come and watch. This year they recorded it and sent all the parents the video. It's 10 minutes long, so don't feel like you have to watch the whole thing. But if you're going to watch some of it, definitely choose to fast forward to 5:30 where they sing Jingle Bells.  And then, there are some out-takes of Jingle Bells at the end (7:50) that are pretty funny too!

At Jiu Jitsu, if the kids do a really good job learning that day, the receive a star. Once they earn 6 stars, they get a stripe on their belt. 4 stripes = a new belt color. Today Conner got his first stripe! Wahoo! Way to work hard, Conner!

December 10, 2020

On our way to school today, Isaac said he wants us to buy a snow mobile. I asked, "Why would we do that? We don't have snow here." Isaac said, "We should buy it for when we go to the cabin." I told him we might be able to rent one and I'd talk to Daddy to see if we have enough money to rent one (what I really meant, was I'd talk to Daddy to see if that is how we want to spend our money). 

Isaac replied, "If you don't have enough money, and Dad doesn't have enough money, then we could put both your moneys together so we would have enough money!" 

Hey! What a great idea! Except, our money is already together. Lol.

 

That past few years I've wanted to host a Christmas Cookie Exchange. Everyone brings homemade Christmas cookies and we exchange cookies, so that everyone goes home with some of all the different types of cookies. I was super excited! Although we didn't have very many people come, we had a great time! I provided drinks and savory appetizers.

Here is the tray of cookies everyone got to take home.

December 11, 2020

I've known for years that someday, when we are done having kids, I want to have some kind of stocking ornament for each member of the family. I wanted the ornament to have each person's initial so that we knew whose stocking was whose. Last year I started the hunt for the perfect stocking ornaments. The two problems I had was that both Conner and Caleb were the letter 'C'. The other, bigger problem was that when I found them in the store, they never had the letter 'I'. There were always 8ish letters they didn't have because they were "less popular" letters. 'I' being one of those letters. I found some online that were super expensive, broach style. But I wasn't interested in spending $20+ per person.

This year I revisited the idea. Again, I couldn't find the letter 'I', so I decided I was going to have to make some. Enter Pinterest. The idea started with circles of wood, but slowly the idea morphed in my mind. This is what I ended up making and I LOVE them!

December 13, 2020

Today I walked out in the backyard to find the boys doing this...

Based on this, I think that it's almost guaranteed that if we bought a full size trampoline, the Conner and Isaac would find a way onto the roof to jump off onto the trampoline. We'll be sticking to this trampoline (it's about 2 feet off of the ground) for a while!

 

Pictures of Emma today....

December 14, 2020

Grandma Dietz came over to make more cookies with the kids! This time they were candy cane cookies!

 December 15, 2020

This evening Emma and Caleb went in the front to help me take out the trash. While we were out there, I mentioned that Daddy would be home soon. Emma would NOT go back inside, she wanted to wait for Daddy. It was so cute!

December 16, 2020

Today Aria came over to play with the kids. We pulled out the pop up tents!

Aria also taught Emma some tricks on the swing!

December 19, 2020

At the end of November, I took all of our kids Christmas books and wrapped each one up individually. Each night in the month of December leading up to Christmas, we pick one "book present" each night to open and read. Here we are reading one of our books!

 

December 20, 2020

At my baby shower for Emma, my mom gave me an adorable Christmas dress for this year. With staying home so much, we haven't had much of a chance to wear it. But here she is in her adorable dress!

For the past few years, Ammon and I have talked about having Christmas at a cabin so we can have a white Christmas. We kept putting it off...we just had a baby...our kids are too young to remember...etc.

What Ammon and I had envisioned was playing in the snow, warming up in the cabin with hot cocoa, making home made Christmas tree decorations, baking cookies for Santa and watching Christmas movies.

This year we decided to go for it. We can do it again in a few years for the kiddos who don't remember it this year. 

I made a separate post all about our Christmas, so go look for it!