Twas The Week Before Christmas

Christmas break came a day early for Luke...I got the dreaded call from the school's nurse that he was running a fever and complaining of a sore throat. Thankfully, I got him a quick appointment with his doctor and he was got started on antibiotics for strep that evening. By the next morning he was back to his normal self!

Caleb had his recital on 16th and played Christmas Canon. (The video was interrupted when I got a text message so I had to record it in two parts.) We are so proud of his piano accomplishments!

Betty the Elf apparently played Pie Face while we slept.

Baking sugar cookies was a big hit this year!

 

Luke was my official Reese Cup unwrapper and organized them into pyramids of 12. 

The boys spent most nights camping out in the playroom. Movies and popcorn nights are their favorite!

On Thursday afternoon we took the boys to sit on Santa's lap

and then spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening at Main Event.

Decorating ginger bread houses was on the boys' pre-Christmas to-do list. 

And then this happened... 

More specifically, the 24 hour stomach bug hit Caleb late Friday night. Luke spent Saturday at a birthday party and then the day with Grandmom and Grandpa. I spent the day spraying Lysol, doing laundry, and wiping everything with Clorox wipes.

By noon he was feeling fine so he got to open an early gift from Grandma and Grandaddy since he had to miss Christmas at their house. He LOVES Cozmo.

Meanwhile...Luke and Caroline had Christmas Eve Eve at Grandma and Grandaddy's. 

Recently...

A few things from the past few months (since I am really behind!)...

Since we had such bad experiences at Huber's the past two years, we decided to just get together with the Dursts at our house this year. The Huber's tradition lasted nine years...but just hanging around our house for the evening was much more relaxing and hopefully a fall tradition that will continue!

Caleb and Madalyn are two peas in a pod when it comes to putting on productions. They plan out these "shows," which include lots of singing and dancing. Caleb is always the DJ behind the scenes. ;)

Caleb pranked Luke and covered him with stuffed animals one night. So, when Caleb slept with Luke the next night, Creed and I got him back. Can you spot Caleb?

This boy loves his Beanie Boos!

The tree and train went up the Sunday before Thanksgiving!

This boy also loves his Legos!

Our friends Jon and Lucy, and their sweet girls Mary and Margaret, we in town for Thanksgiving so we got together one evening with them and the Dursts. 

And, the kids planned another show!

Our elf Betty showed up on December 1st and brought Lego advent calendars and donuts for breakfast! Each morning since, Luke has been an especially early riser to find where Betty is perched. 

Last Saturday Caleb and I spent ALL DAY in a gymnasium for his robotics competition. WA had 2 fourth grade teams this year. 

Team HydroPilots

They had four, two minute rounds...

and spent the rest of the day huddled under the table playing games. We were there from 8:30am until 5:20pm...It was a looonnng day.

The first Sunday of December we got together with the Dursts and Whitworths for our 10th annual Christmas with friends!

Christmas '08 looked this this:

Caleb & Madalyn

and ten years later...

Madalyn & Caleb

Jackson, Luke, Kathryn, Hayden, & Harper

Pie Face Showdown was a big hit with the kids

and grownups too!

12 Years

For our 12th anniversary, Creed and I spent 5 days in Gatlinburg, and like always, had the best time. This year we were prepared to summit Mt. LeConte and set out early one morning. It was a clear day, so the views were beautiful.

We thought we were prepared for how hard it would be, yet both of us were still surprised at the difficulty of the trail. It is a total of 11 miles round trip, and somehow we were able to get to the top in 2 hours, 5 minutes. 

Some parts of the trail, like the next picture shows, were on the slide of cliff!

When we got near the top, the temperature dropped noticeably. The trees and vegetation also changed...I felt like I was in the Pacific Northwest.

We made it!

Breathtaking, gorgeous views

The rest of our trip we spent eating, walking around Gatlinburg, and simply relaxing! It was perfect! 

Halloween Fun

This year, I FINALLY had help carving the pumpkin! 

This was the first Halloween that the boys did not have coordinating costumes. Caleb decided he wanted to be an old man and ran with it. He went into full "old man" character, even walking hunched over, at a snail's pace up to each house. While everyone thought it was hilarious, it did take us longer to make the rounds this year!

Little brother was a red Ninja Power Ranger, very different than the Red Ranger he was a few years back. ;) 

Organizing his loot