12 days countdown (3, 2, 1)...

The last three days of our countdown are always extra special, mainly because Christmas is getting closer which means we get to celebrate Christ's birth very soon!

Only 3 days until Christmas - Light 5 candles at church for people that need prayers

The kids LOVE lighting candles at church - they love deciding what person is getting our extra prayers and they really put thought into it. Radley and Emmy got to pick 2 people each and we picked one person as a family. 

Only 2 days until Christmas - Make indoor s'mores and stay warm

The funny thing about Texas - it's not really hard to stay warm. ;) But they did love getting to roast marshmallows inside and having Pops to help made it that much better.

 Only 1 day until Chrismtas - Make a birthday cake for Baby Jesus

I am always impressed with how much my kids actually HELP in the kitchen. They love cooking and baking and they even love cleaning up the mess! Win! They were extra excited to bake a cake for baby Jesus and even help with the icing and sprinkling!

Another countdown complete!

Super Saturday...

In the UPS world, this past Saturday was "super" - meaning it was the busiest Saturday of the year. They were running "full routes" instead of their typical Saturday condensed routes - this meant that Daddy was back off to work again. Boo. 

We really hate that he misses out on so much during the season, and since honesty is a favorite policy of mine, I hate that I only get to pee alone about 1 in 10 times for the month of December. We had no real plans other than laundry, house prep & clean, and the like - so I declared it a definite pj day.

By 9am they were all on the couch with popcorn and M&Ms liking the view of our amazing gift from MaMaw!!!! (THANK YOU!) [Side story - Ryan and I "talked" about moving our old TV into our room {meaning he mentioned it} and one day I came home to it hanging on our wall. His plan was to get a new one for our living room - my plan was not to spend money when we didn't need it. I won. So we've been "without a TV" for more than 6 months. The kids, Radley especially, were excited to have one back. And even I enjoyed being able to "work" and watch.]

Radley got invited on a play date with a classmate that lives in our neighborhood, so away he went for a few hours while me and the girls got to work baking some cookies.

They took turns measuring, stirring, and pouring - I only wish I was a better baker for them! :)

The cookies came out nice and golden (and thin) and tasty! Which was perfect because they were being delivered to a very special place...

Fire Station 5!

Just a quick trip to say thanks for all you do!

My plan was to just let them drop off the cookies, but we always get "suckered" into a tour! Radley got to drive the truck...

and the girls took the back seat.

Emmy asked me to set up the church's tag tree in our house and since it's Christmas and I honestly LOVE having lots of trees - I obliged. (We used to have 2 trees, but the old one wore out.) 

We also added some sparkle to the buffet.

(Ignore the Amazon package)

We ended the day with some Ninfas because it is a strict policy that I need to eat out too much during the holidays.

Someone loved the guacamole - the chips? Notsomuch... she just used them as a spoon. 

And we went to bed with full tummys and happy hearts...it was a SUPER Saturday indeed!

12 days countdown (6, 5, 4)...

The countdown continues...

Only 6 days until Christmas - Be Santa's elves and bring treats to the UPS drivers

Last year we delivered spaghetti and gravy to the drivers (well, my mom made it) but this year, sadly, they are really too busy. The volume has increased by a ton because more and more people are shopping online - which is great for job security, but also means the men & women that are the real Santas helpers are working tons of extra hours. 

Radley really grasps that all this extra work means time away from family, mainly because Ryan is away from us, but he is so sensitive to this and prays nightly for all the UPS workers to be with their families. 

So we gathered our supplies, made some cards, and delivered some goodies in our Santa pjs!

(Even me!)

"We know its a circus this time of year, thanks for working hard to deliver holiday cheer!"

 They basically never wanted to leave - Landry tried her hardest to ride on the conveyer belt and Radley loves to sort packages. 

Only 5 days until Christmas - Paint some ornaments to hang on the tree

Radley and I bought ornaments in November on a Hobby Lobby run when he wouldn't quit begging me for some Christmas stuff. Luckily I knew that he would forget about them until I brought them back out and he was so excited to paint his bell. 

He went with silver and gold, Emmy went with green and red and they decided that Landry would do a combo of their colors - gold and red. 

It took nearly 12 hours for their layers and layers and layers of paint to dry... so the picture taking took place the next morning.

Only 4 days until Christmas - Take a picture in your Christmas pjs and sleep under the tree

This is my favorite one each year! The big kids LOVE sleeping under the tree! And I love having a picture of our family in front of the tree each year. Pretty good too, for a self-timed picture!

Silent night indeed...