Christmas 2018

It's hard to believe another Christmas season has come and gone. We had a busy, but memorable month that was filled with lots of fun. It is so wonderful to see traditions that continue year after year. As the kids are getting older, they are recognizing the value of those traditions and it adds to the excitement and anticipation of this season.

The kids always look forward to the return of our elf, Sturmie, at the beginning of December. They also love that he brings new PJs for them each year.

Shopping for 25 cent gifts at Nana Pam's church continues to be a favorite Christmas tradition. Each year, the kids get some really great (and, often hilarious) gifts!

We try to squeeze in some fun with friends and neighbors. This year, we traded out gingerbread house making for a night of fun minute-to-win-it type games with friends. We started with a sock exchange for the kids and ended with some serious competition among the kids and adults! We also hosted our annual neighbor scavenger hunt and had a blast with that.

The kids were excited to know that Santa was visiting Grandpa and Grandma's neighborhood with the fire department. We waited for quite awhile in the cold, but it was worth it to see Santa!

Caleb's 4-H group participated in Wreaths Across America. It was a gorgeous day and the cemetery was jam packed with volunteers, but we enjoyed getting to be a part of the experience.

I hosted our coffee group's ornament exchange. We ate tons of yummy treats and had a lot of fun. Several of us got together a couple weeks later for our annual cookie baking day, which was also a blast! 

I got to enjoy my last first grade gingerbread house event. Joel was definitely the most meticulous and creative of the three. This boy loves to build and create!

Lamont cookie day was a ton of fun, as always!

Christmas with the Blooms (where we open those 25 cent gifts) was a blast!

We had a delicious brunch with Santa :)

The moment these kiddos wait all month for....Christmas morning! Caleb got a snowboard, gravitrax, and a game. Leah got rollerblades, a REAL cash register, and craft supplies. Joel got a marble tower kit, balloon animal kit, and a circuit building set.

  

Christmas with the Lamonts was hosted at my cousin's house this year and it was wonderful. The kids played for hours and we loved getting to hang out, eat yummy food, do our gift exchange, and play games.

5th Grade Geography Bee

At conferences, Caleb's teacher informed us that her nickname for Caleb is Calebopedia! I guess it shouldn't surprise us, then, that he got to represent his class at the geography bee this year. The funny thing is that he didn't even tell us. His teacher emailed me a couple days after he was selected (the class takes a written test and the student with the highest score gets to represent his/her class). We were excited for him, and he claimed that he was shocked that he beat a few of his "really smart" classmates....it's great that he's humble, but this kiddo just doesn't realize that he's got one heck of a brain!

The morning of the bee, he looked at us and said, "Well, this is just another chance for Micah (one of his best friends) to show off how smart he is". We assured him that he would do well and we were just proud of him for making it into the bee. It was so encouraging to watch as his entire class cheered him on the whole time (his teacher even had them make posters). Caleb and Micah were neck and neck the entire time, and he ended up only losing by ONE QUESTION! Caleb was devastated, but eventually calmed down and realized that he should be quite proud of himself.

Caleb's First Band Concert

When you hear the phrase "first band concert", there is usually a bit of a preconceived notion that it will be a total disaster. We were pleasantly surprised that after only a few months of band, Caleb and his fellow musician friends did a great job! It's hard to accept the fact that our little boy looks and acts way too grown up, but it really is a joy to watch him take on new adventures like this one. While I like to refer to him as "our little drummer boy", nothing about him is little and being a percussion player doesn't mean he only plays the drums. In fact, he impressed us with his knowledge of quite a few different percussion instruments.

Goodbye

Goodbyes are never easy, but some of the hardest ones are the ones we have to say to our beloved pets. For quite a long time, people kept saying that Chesney was getting too old and in the words of Tyler, she looked "miserable". Personally, I couldn't justify putting her down when she was still eating, had moments of being her normal spunky self, and she just didn't seem ready yet. I kept hoping for a clear cut sign. Making the decision to put a dog down is definitely not easy, but it is much easier when you can truly sense that they are in pain. Though it was tough to see, Chesney gave us that clarity and in a matter of two days, she went downhill very quickly. She stopped eating, was barely able to walk, and wouldn't even show interest in her most favorite of all things - bananas! Tyler was the true hero of the situation and drove her the vet (on his lap!!!) to have her put to sleep. I couldn't find the strength to go with, but am so thankful that he did and followed through on his promise to not leave her side for a second. Our family will never be the same without her and we are so thankful for 13 years with our Chesney. She joined our family many moons ago when it was just the two of us and she was the center of attention. She gave us a run for our money (literally) with all of her allergy and health issues, but she was totally worth it. She was loyal to the end and loved our three kids like they were her own babies. We will miss so much about her, but are happy to know that she's no longer in any pain.

Carmi Trip

Several months ago, we enjoyed a visit from Tyler's cousin Meredith. While in town, the brainstorming began for a fun-filled weekend trip to Carmi. Big plans were made and we were so glad that they came to fruition. We headed down on Friday after the kids got home from school and stayed through Monday. The entire weekend was jam-packed with family time, fun, and relaxation. There's something so great about staying in your pjs until noon, drinking coffee, eating (way too much) delicious food, and catching up with family and friends. We played games, went out to eat, saw a movie, ate more food, visited the farm, ate more food, and spent so much time laughing that our faces hurt! Everything about the trip was wonderful and we definitely hope to make it happen again soon.

Thankful

We had the joy of watching another fantastic school program put on by Leah's music teacher. The third graders sang songs and shared videos about what they're thankful for. Leah had been anxiously awaiting this performance for months (they started practicing the songs LAST Spring). She can be pretty shy in front of a crowd, but seems to love the idea of performing. Hopefully she will someday come out of her shell a bit and really dive into her passion for singing and dancing.

Waterpark Overnight Trip

For some annoying reason, our school district has no school on election days. It's because of the fact that several schools are polling places and they're just trying to keep the kids safe, but despite that, it's really weird to have a Tuesday off of school! This time around, we made the most of it and planned an overnight trip to a waterpark in Wisconsin. We've taken the kids there before, but when they were MUCH smaller. This time around, it was so nice to be able to enjoy the water without fearing that a kid would drown...not only because they are all good swimmers, but also because it was TOTALLY dead (who goes to a waterpark on a Monday night?!?). The kids did some swimming when we got there on Monday evening. We had a fun time watching a movie in our room that night and enjoyed a slow morning as we waited for the waterpark to open back up at 10am. Unfortunately, about a half hour before the park opened, we had a MAJOR catastrophe. Tyler and Leah were heading to the lobby to ask for a later check-out. As soon as they walked out of the door to our room, Leah bumped into Tyler (who was holding a full, freshly poured cup of coffee). It didn't end well, as you can tell from the picture. Sadly, Leah didn't get to swim that morning, but she was thankful for the chance to play in the arcade with just Mom. All in all, it wasn't the trip we were hoping for, but everyone managed to have fun despite the crazy turn of events.