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

Only 3 days until Christmas... let's be Santa's helpers and bring dinner to daddy's friends at UPS. 

Yeah, so this didn't happen and I don't know if we will be able to do this again during peak season. Y'all. EVERYONE shops online. How is that possible? The number of packages that go into the little 'ol center in Bryan, Texas is crazy... I can't imagine what it's like in real cities. Dinner would have to be closer to 9 or 10 for most of the drivers, and then who really wants to stay at work after you've been there for 10+ hours. So, we skipped this one and brought a surprise to our neighbors instead. 

Only 2 days until Christmas... put your game faces on - it's GAME NIGHT!

I knew my parents were coming into town on the 23rd so I thought it would bet fun to play some board games and let the kids stay up past bedtime.  

We made it through Candyland without a glitch. 

Mainly because this kid was the winner. And the girls aren't really into caring much about winning. In fact, Emmy get's sad if she doesn't get stuck on the liquorish and Landry thinks getting any of the "character" cards is awesome - even if she has to go all the way back. 

But this kid.

Oy.

(She had a tiny chocolate milk mustache).

We moved onto Uno which was still fun - until Radley got a million cards. Or got skipped. Or had to push the button. Or... 

He is super competitive and gets so frustrated when things don't go his way. 

(He has no problem; however, if things don't go anyone else's way. In fact - he loves it.)

(It makes me want to pinch off his head). 

(But it was Christmas, so I didn't.)

I keep hoping he will grow out of it. Until then, he just gets to learn the hard way. 

And if you've never played Uno with this as your view, well... you haven't played with Landry as your "pawtner".

Only 1 day until Christmas... Let's bake a cake for Baby Jesus!

This is our traditional Christmas Eve activity - I'm thinking next year they can do it by themselves!

Emmy and Radley are very into helping - they like measuring the ingredients, pouring the oil, cracking the eggs. 

And take the job of mixing very seriously.

Landry joined in when it was time to taste spread the icing. 

Happy Birthday, Jesus! The best gift is always you!

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

Only 6 days until Christmas... Let's drive to Waco and celebrate with Karli and Cooper (and Gigi and Pops, too!) 

This was a BIG one...and kind of last minute, too. I hadn't planned on taking an overnight trip to Waco but Ryan was going to be at work late on Friday and this weekend was "Super Saturday" so it was perfect timing. Plus, I hadn't been home in a while and the kids love spending time with their Waco besties, so win-win-win-win.

We got into town and hung out with Gigi and Pops before all the holiday happiness began. Between pizza and laughter we caught up as best we could and then the kids ran around aimlessly with all things resembling swords and bad guy slayers. Oy. 

We got them to calm down with a promise of cookie making. That last 5 minutes. But they were pretty darn cute, weird faces and all. 

Then we changed into our matching jammies to open gifts. My kiddos got gift cards to Build-A-Bear which they put to use the next day; the girls took home Frozen inspired bears and Rad scored an Olaf. We got Cooper and Karli "real" sleeping bags and fun flashlights, which was the winning prize. Flashlights. 

Y'all. Why do we spend tons of money on our children. They like flashlights. 

We stayed up way past bedtime and then headed back to Gigi and Pops' for a good nights sleep.

Which was clearly needed since they seemed to have lost their minds. 

;)

Only 5 days until Christmas... put on your jammies and let's sleep under Christmas tree. 

Favorite night of the season. 

(I think I've said that 10 times by now).

But I love it. 

We did get off to a rocky start with some bah humbug behavior from Mommy and Daddy (keeping it real, folks) but that was no match for Christmas spirit. There really is nothing better than to wake up in the middle of the night to this. 

We stayed up way past toddler/little kid/first grader bedtimes, had our fill of popcorn and m&ms and watched 1.5 movies before nodding off. I think we will do this again before all the decorations come down.

Only 4 days until Christmas... light candles for 5 people at church. 

No pics of this one, because, well... clearly. But we did pick our five special people to pray for and the kids got to light candles which is a special treat. 

And the countdown continues... 

12 days countdown (9, 8, 7)...

We've been busy this week - I'm exhausted just thinking about the recap!

Only 9 days until Christmas... Spread holiday cheer and wrap some gifts!

We don't really belong to the "let's make extravagant Pinterest inspired gifts for friends and teachers" club. But if you do - I applaud you. Instead, I let the girls pick out tiny trinkets to give friends at school and Radley gets to pick his favorite snack for the teachers (he once again picked popcorn and m&ms). 

And the wrapping began. Radley had cards to sign so the girls got busy tying bows onto the Christmas rings for their friends. 

After a quick dinner break they set up the assembly line for Rad's teachers. 

And everyone had a special job - and for a brief 10 minutes of time, everything was right in the world. Did y'all see that? TEN MINUTES of everyone agreeing, helping and not being jealous of what someone else got to do. 

Merry Christmas to me!

And Merry Christmas to their friends and teachers, too!

Only 8 days until Christmas... Christmas is about giving... let's sort the gifts for The Giving Tree!

This is my favorite day of the Christmas season each year - the day we get to see all of the gifts from The Giving Tree and sort them into the piled for their agency. This year we had to make an adjustment in the plan so we didn't have as many gifts to sort and were able to do it as a family, but it was still wonderful. 

The kids have helped from start to finish with this project... writing on the tags, putting ribbon on the tags, setting up the tree and even buying gifts. 

They were as excited about getting to work as I was! (And they were extra excited that Gigi was there to help, too!)

It took us about an hour and a half to sort and bag 600 gifts and we really were all smiles at the end!

Only 7 days until Christmas... Put on your pjs and let's do some Christmas crafts!

This was a last minute switch-up. We had planned on bringing dinner to the UPSers, but the volume is crazy out the roof so Ryan was worried that dinner would hit more at 9-10pm. (We are ready for Daddy to be at home at night!) 

Tit sent home Christmas melty bead kids for the kiddos - she has some fond memories from making them at VBS and wanted to share that fun with them. I will say that 3 kids, 1 adult and 600 beads was a bit overwhelming, but they actually did GREAT! Rad made his Santa all by himself, Emmy did half of her snowman and Landry was satisfied with handing me the colors I requested. 

We also had some decoupage Christmas trees to make from Gigi - they got to do everything but cut them out with the razor blade. 

It was a pretty successful night and we are one week away from Christmas!!! 

12 days countdown (12, 11, 10)...

If you are a loyal follower (Hi, Mom!) (And Cindy!) then you may remember we start our Christmas countdown without fail on the 13th. I know that the 12 days of Christmas actually start ON Christmas, but it's fun to build a little anticipation.

We have typically kicked our 12 days of Christmas tradition off with letters to Santa, but this year we decided to switch things up a bit. I know, we are living on. the. edge.

Only 12 days until Christmas - Put on your party clothes and celebrate the season with UPS!!!

Now, this wasn't an official UPS Christmas party - more of just a gathering of UPSers that, when I made the list, I thought started at 7pm. Turns out it started at 8pm...at the VFW. And kids weren't allowed past 9pm.

Yeah, so day 12 didn't work out how we planned. (But what does!?!)

Luckily, the kids decided they didn't want to go to the party before we told them they couldn't go to the party. They much preferred to hang out with Michael and Lauren. (Whoop for besties with big kids.) So instead, we grabbed dinner with two of my sweet sorority sisters that I haven't seen in much too long and then Ryan went to the party so Michael and Lauren could go to the movies.

Luckily I am a creature of habit and the kids wrote their letters to Santa that morning anyway, so the day wasn't a total Christmas bust.

Items included Hot Wheels, Barbie dolls, and Princess dresses. 

And then they were on their way to the North Pole. 

Only 11 days until Christmas – Go on a fun shopping trip with Mommy and Daddy!

When the kids woke up they were greeted with a note from Alfie that let them know they had gotten a little return letter from Santa. I wrote a letter that made them realize Santa sees it all. (It may or may not have mentioned all the bickering between the siblings that we experience around here). I'll let you know if it works. 

Then they checked for what was next in our calendar and were excited to see that they got to shop for some special people like classmates, teachers, and a few extra-special people. The girls were maybe the cutest I've seen them when they found these rings for their friends. (Act surprised and sorry about the extra tiny thing you really don't need in your house!) ;)

We also bought a doll for a little girl we drive to school, some treats for Rad's teachers (that he paid for with his very own money) and a few other small items. It was a great way to spend our Sunday morning - doing something that focuses on others instead of ourselves.

Although I did hear lots of "but can we get this for ME?" "When is it my turn?" Isn't it funny how some of the smallest moments can serve as the biggest teachers. As best we could to a 2 and 4 year-old - we explained for the 100th time about the spirit of giving. It was finally when I reminded them about those cute rings they got their friends that they let it sink in that giving is lots of times better than receiving.

Only 11 days until Christmas - Bundle up to Cruise the Creek with Hudson and Harper!

We did this last year and the kids didn't quit talking about it all year. As soon as the first set of lights went up in our neighborhood Radley asked when we got to go look at lights with Hudson - so they were more than thrilled when they read this card!

They stocked up on canned goods and Radley even gave everyone some of his own money to donate at the house with the "singing lights". If you are thinking of checking it out (and you should) bring canned goods or cash because they are taking donations. 

It was the perfect night weather wise and between all the "sit downs, stop thats, and quit singing so louds" we managed to have a pretty great ride through the 'hood. 

Harper kept trying her best to escape the car when we stopped but she settled for waving to everyone we saw instead.

Hud and Radley got to ride in the front seat since they are the oldest, but they may get kicked back to the trunk next year if they can't learn how to make a normal face for a picture. 

Stay tuned for more...