December 2022

 And just like that... it is December... WOW. Thankfully it is our favorite time of the year!!! 

Christmas Magic is in full fore at our house as we are prepping for the Holidays. The trees are up - we have one in the living room, one in the bonus room, and little mini trees in the kids room. One of our favorite traditions is looking at all the ornaments and remembering things from childhood and places we have traveled. I love it! 

Our elves have also arrived! Rudy and Elfsa came flying in on a red eye just in time! Blake and Kinsley are so excited to see what all the elves do this year... I am a little nervous to see what all they do! Haha. 

This year we went to the WF Tree lighting and we saw Santa on the same night. The tree was beautiful!!!! And Santa was awesome. Blake LOVES seeing Santa - that is his favorite. He gets so excited to tell Santa all about what the wants and likes. I am pretty sure he would talk to Santa all day/night if we let him! Haha. Kinsley on the other hand didn't want to have anything to do with Santa! She didn't cry - but she held on to Blake so tightly and wouldn't even look at Santa! Hopefully he didn't take it too personally. HAHA! 

One of my favorite things is the Rolesville Christmas Parade. We have the BEST seats in the house as ew sit in Memommy's front yard. Memommy even had a little silly fun watching it with us this year! It is the perfect kick off for the holiday season! 

Not really Christmas related, but Blake had a field trip this month, too! This was his first field trip since COVID and we were so excited. I say WE because of course I tagged along as a chaperone. We went to Tryon Palace to learn all about the first capitol of North Carolina - in Beaufort, NC. It was actually really interesting and it was beautiful! 

It has been a busy month, but of course we made time for our traditional Grinch Day with the Jarrell boys! They came over one afternoon for playing around and also the Jeep Christmas Parade. We got to go see all of the jeeps lit up for the holiday season. It was awesome! And yes, Joyner made an appearance in his Grinch Costume. I am pretty sure our new neighbor thinks we are nuts! Haha. 

Blake had his Christmas piano concert this month. I was so stinking proud of him!!! He has only been playing 6 months and he did this huge thing. He was so nervous but he played without a single mistake. His song was Jolly Old Saint Nicholas. It was a gorgeous night and it was amazing to hear all the talent from these kids! 

We went to Hillridge to see the Christmas lights. I just LOVE it. It is so vast and everything is covered in lights. It is amazing. Kinsley loved seeing it really for the first time too. The kids even found some soapy snow! HAHA! 

Funny moment... Kinsley is in a phase where she hides her paci's and some of her toys. We caught her today in the gifts. Originally I thought she was unwrapping them - nope she was just stashing her paci in a gift. Hopefully nobody gets a paci for Christmas! Oops. HAHA. 

We always try to catch a Christmas show of some type. This year we decided to take Blake to Hip Hop Nutcracker. It was not at all what we thought it would be. We thought it would be like a modern hip hop version of the classic Nutcracker. Instead it was the Classic Nutcracker music... but the people we dancing hip hop moves. They didn't match up at all. Oh well, it was still a fun night out with my guys! Kinsley stayed warm at home with Granny. :)  

We packed in the Christmas traditions and we couldn't forget the Gingerbread houses and reindeer. I swear it gets messier every year. This year candy was everywhere... Kinsley might be to blame for that one. :) 

Nothing beats the faces of Christmas morning! And oh boy was it an adventure!!! Blake got a hoverboard, a mini fridge for his room, legos, and lots of 49ers stuff! Kinsley got a slide, fun toys, and a few clothes! Joyner got a blackstone grill, and I got new running shoes! We all were on the nice list this year! 

2022 did not follow the original plans. It was the theme of "Well, that didn't work out as planned..." BUT the back up plans were all perfect. The important part is that we were all together and THAT is what made it perfect. I am especially grateful for our trips with Memommy to the beach and mountains, bc those a memories that we will treasure forever. On to 2023!!!!