Misc December

This will be a slightly shorter miscellaneous post since all the extra stuff we did fell in different categories :) Tanner got into the puzzle spirit and did a few. I helped with one of them. 

Heather helped us out one evening and watched the kids. She took some fun videos and pictures of the kids playing Austin's drums - but I think most of them are videos. Greta is very intense!

The kids got to go play in the raquetball courts for a bit while we were at the gym. They were right next to me and I thought it was so cute watching them run around and crawl and jump and weave. This pictures kind of sucks, but it was a smiley memory so I will refresh my memory with it down the road.

Harvey had a little Christmas program at his school. He sang so good. The gym was PACKED and it was hard to see him. I had to strain through the crowd to keep my focus on him and it felt like I was looking at those magic 3D books where your eyes have to go blurry ish to see the picture come alive. But it was cute. Tanner got to come to that too. 

A few pictures from Greta's little Christmas program. Something has changed with YouTube or phones or something because I can't download my stuff to it via my phone anymore, which is a tragedy. They sang some cute songs and she was a pretty good participator! It was fun to watch her!

And per tradition - a little pinata afterwards.

Sunday before Christmas. Gosh they are cute!

After Christmas shopping for pillows. We got some new memory foam ones and we are both REALLY happy with them!

Also while at Bed Bath and Beyond, they had clearance for the comfy's that Tanner had been eyeing since the Niederhauser party. So he got himself the last one and the kids each got one too. A winner shopping trip for sure!

Leftover Christmas art decorations :) I basically ruined Harvey's life by putting all his creations in the garbage after I took a picture. He wanted them saved in the decoration box to be used for years to come. Oopsies.

Lucy and Crew's new dog Millie. So tiny and fluffy and cute!

Christmas Day

I had to work all day Christmas Eve, so that was kind of a bummer. Tanner sent me a picture of the oatmeal and carrots the kids left out for Santa. He had told them that his reindeer liked oatmeal, so that's what we did :)

I had stayed up late a couple nights previously wrapping and so when I got home, Tanner and I just put it all under the tree.

This is how they slept that night. Holy precious.

I wasn't sure if this was the year Harvey was going to be waking up a lot to see if it was time for presents yet. Nope. I LITERALLY woke up every hour, on the hour, from 2am on. SO annoying. I was obviously excited. Clare and Berrie came over and the kids weren't awake at 7 when they came. So we actually ended up waking them up.

I didn't get great pictures. I was trying to watch and be present and not miss stuff and document and it was just a little crazy.

Greta was adorable with these things. She kept saying so excitedly how it was "JUST what she wanted!"

Lottie was pretty cute about everything.

This TMNT tank thing was kind of a bust. He was really excited about it but then it didn't come with any figures, which wasn't very clear from the box, and it didn't work great and felt very easily breakable. We decided to send it back to exchange for something else (he thought he wanted the same thing, but settled on Bakugan's, which he has been LOVING).

There was a time when presents were winding down when Harvey looked under the tree and didn't think any of his boxes matched what he thought his rescue force helicopter would be in. He literally almost cried thinking he hadn't got the thing he asked Santa for. Crisis averted :)

Tanner and I got each other the EXACT same toiletry bag. Well, he got him one and me one. I got him one. It's funny because we really didn't even talk about them and just randomly both bought them from the same place. One of them got regifted to my dad :) They are sweet!

I made bacon and abelskivers and we had some fruit as well for breakfast. It turned out good and was fun having Clare and Berrie with us. They took off soon after to go make the rest of the rounds. We kind of just hung out. I had a weird momentary melancholy wave of emotion come over me. Which was so bizarre and out of the blue. Not sure if it was the mess or the disappointment that Harvey's toy wasn't perfect or Tanner and I got the same gift for each other or the quickness in which it was all over or if just the hype of all the Christmas build up culminated into something less than I was expecting. It was so strange. Luckily a prayer and some Christmas piano music and happy, playing children helped me snap out of it.

And then my parents came over about noon and that helped a lot too. It turned out to be a wonderful Christmas! They gave the kids and us presents and they were a huge hit. Harvey got laser tag.

Lottie got this big princess little doll set. It's adorable and she loves it.

They shouldn't have given me anything because I already got my chair - but they gave me this AWESOME wallet that I am in love with and was in much need/desire of.

Air compressor for Tanner, which he was super excited about!

And a Peppa Pig playhouse for Greta.

I'm bad and didn't get any pictures of my parents. They really were there. We hung out, did a puzzle, ate dinner (we made salmon and I tried scallops -which didn't turn out as great as I wanted, and the salad I got had a SUPER garlicky dressing which was disappointing and I roasted the broccolini and it turned out burnt but not cooked all the way through - so I have to say I was quite sad about all of that. Oh well - the roasted potatoes were good and Tanner killed it on the salmon). We played some games for a bit too. Oh, and we did watch the new Christmas nativity movie the church made this year. It was a good day. And I feel incredibly blessed. Just have such a wonderful family and husband and kids and house and jobs and life, etc. etc. It has been a very wonderful Christmas season!