Cayleigh's Kinder Performance

The Kindergarten class had a very quick performance on the last day of school before Christmas break, which also was each grade levels party day. They made reindeer shirts a few days before and sang two songs, one included using plates as instruments. It was cute and we loved watching Cayleigh on stage for the first time!

Cutest Rudolph I ever did see!

Kayleigh is right in the middle, second row

Cayleigh, Morgan and Cayleigh's best friend, Layla

Party time crafting and playing games

It is always sweet that each sister includes the others with their stuff

Cayleigh's party began earlier in the morning than Brooklyn's, so it allowed all of us to make it to each one. I helped set-up and run the ornament station for B's party, so I didn't get a chance to take many pictures. And luckily Aaron took the day off, so he held Zach during each of the parties.

Brooklyn making her ornament

Baking and Decorating

Nana came up for our annual Christmas cookie baking this past weekend. I love this tradition and so do the girls! They, honestly, could spend hours "being creative." Cinnamon chocolate fudge, crinkle cookies, peanut butter cookies, sugar pinwheels, mint chocolate brownie squares and shortbread cookies. And lets not forget gingerbread house decorating. Such a good time and joyful experience delivering our baked love to friends and neighbors. We will be baking Jesus' birthday cake this weekend to sing to him on Christmas Day.

My amazing mom, Nana, and I

The girls creations; they spent forever on these cookies and loved every minute of it!

Time to start bagging our goodies

The following day, the kids went to Gamma's workshop to help decorate their house for Christmas. They had a wonderful time crafting, decorating and indulging!

Watching Frosty, the Snowman

Brooklyn and Aunt Marissa

Morgan and Granma Kathy

Hein Cosuins

The finished tree with all homemade ornaments and decorations by the kids

This gave Aaron and I a few hours together, kidless. No good movies, so game time instead.

Yep! (insert eye-rolling here)

He makes me laugh and I couldn't imagine doing life with any one else. Love, love, love this man!

School Field Trips

One of the many privileges of staying at home is the ability to attend all of the kids school functions. Assemblies, field trips, parties, random lunches and volunteer work in between; I truly love being a part of everything for them! I am also thankful for a retired Nana who can watch the littles when they aren't allowed to be in tow for certain functions.

Kindergarten went to Main Stay Farms, a tree farm, just a few weeks ago. However, our poor sweet Cayleigh girl ran a horrible fever for two days straight, causing her to miss her first field trip. Oh, the tears of devastation from her (and me). It was so tough seeing her so disappointed. I texted a friend (Cayleigh's best friend, Layla's mom) to send me a few pictures so I could show C what the place was like. Whitney went above and beyond and "took" Cayleigh on the field trip! Sweetest thing ever! It was so incredibly thoughtful and Cayleigh loved the pictures!

Layla (C's bf) laughing with her

Cayleigh with Mrs. Bunch

The second grade was only allowed 2 chaperon parents per class to go with them to the Outdoor Learning Center for the district. I was excited to get chosen and get to ride on the bus with Brooklyn and her classmates.... well, kinda! Ha!  We did have a great time exploring the outdoors. Lots of walking, but the weather was beautiful so it made it very enjoyable. There were several stations where the kids got to stop and do learning activities and journaling. They had an explorers pack between partners that had magnifying glass, sketch pad, ruler and so forth as useful tools. It was a really fun trip!

On the bus with Brooklyn and her good friend, Chloe

Brooklyn was the first kid to spot deer tracks, such a hillbilly!

Examining some fossils

We saw lots of armadillos and this one actually ran right over a classmates foot, scaring half the kids!

Morgan's 4th Birthday

Happy 4th Birthday to our third princess, Morgan Alese! There is no bigger momma nor advocate of your brother Zach than you. You are goofy and extremely loving and God gave you just the right amount of spunk for our family! We love your independence and big heart!

Happy Birthday Morgan!!

We celebrated a day early with a few close friends and grandparents. She requested an Elsa birthday party, so she wore her new Elsa dress. We had lots of fun crafts, playtime, and homemade cake made by mommy. It was a great time!

Cayleigh reading her card to Morgan

Goofy girl acting like she's going to bite into her cake!

The following day, we stopped for donuts in the morning for her actual birthday before school. Then, we had dinner at Chili's with the 6 of us! They sang to her and she got a free dessert. Such a fun day again celebrating Morgan!

Candy cane shaped donut for the birthday girl

Never a dull moment with these crazies!

Survival of the fittest when it comes to sharing a dessert!

Cinnamon Carmel Molten