More Christmas Themed Activities

Walk along the RiverWalk

Walk around Neighborhood looking at lights (that's our house in the background)

"bundled" up - the nights actually do get a little chilly. We've had some nights where it's been right around 32*

We had just got back inside from our walk and started getting pj's on when we heard a loud siren/honking and some Christmas music. We walked outside and this is what we saw!

It was SANTA!!

Hi, Santa

We also went to the Old Town Helotes Christmas Parade. There weren't many floats, but it was still fun. The girls enjoyed seeing Santa for about the 5th or 6th time! :) I couldn't stop laughing at this! We are going to do a float in the parade next year. We already have it all planned out.....should be fun!

Gingerbread Houses

This year we decided to split our gingerbread house making into 2 nights. One for the adults....while the kids were in bed and another just for the kids.

The Girls -- Building the Alamo

The Boys -- Constructing the Eiffel Tower

Derek's BIL, Dan, made this sugar "glue" that was awesome! Nice and solid.

 

 

 

Closer look at our decorated Alamo

Now on to the kids night.......
We started out with a dinner of hot dogs, fries, and a veggie tray.

Frisbee Golf

This is just weird........playing frisbee golf in December wearing t-shirts! It's going to take me a while to get use to this. The other day Allie asked, "Mom, when is it going to snow?"  We definitely don't miss the cold, but it sure is fun to play in the snow.
Anyway, back to frisbee golf. We discovered this course not too long ago. It's actually right down the road from our house. It's only a 9 hole course and super small but hey, it's free and something to do. We actually headed over there with TAKK after our church Christmas party. It was such a beautiful day!

Bunk Beds

We've been wanting to get bunk beds for the girls........and we did find some cheap ones on craigslist a couple months ago. Thanks to Kevin & Tami's help we were able to get them sanded and stained within a few days! They look SO good! I'm pretty sure the girls love them too. The first night Avery got out of bed 3 times and after that she did great. The past few weeks she's been getting up in the middle of the night saying she has to go potty, but other than that she will stay in bed. Allie really enjoys being on the top bunk.

One Thing After Another

This post is probably going to be super boring for most. It's more for my records and journaling....no pictures.
So, Friday it was just me, Allie, Avery and Kaiya here. As soon as Tami headed to work Avery said she needed to go potty. Well, when one little has to go there is no doubt the other one has to go. So off Avery and Kaiya go running to the bathroom and immediately slam the door closed and locked it. I stood there listening for a bit and they seemed fine. Then I heard the water to the sink turn on........and never go off. So, I knocked on the door and asked them to unlock it........nothing. I knocked again, asked to unlock the door again and Avery was like, "What?" This went on and on.......I was getting angrier and angrier. Finally Avery was able to get the door unlocked (this was a first for her) after at least 5 minutes of me asking them to open the door. Both girls got a good timeout after that!
Not too long after that I started getting ready for the day. All of a sudden I hear a loud thud. I run out into the hallway and the pack and play had been knocked over. Allie said the girls were climbing on it. I didn't want anyone to get hurt and they had been saying they wanted to eat so I figured I'd take them down for a snack. I got out a granola bar for them to share (it was close to lunchtime and I didn't want them to fill up on it). I sat them at the table with their snack and took Allie upstairs to get her ready for school. When Allie and I came down the kitchen floor was just puddles of water! I hadn't realized there were 3 or 4 cups of water on the table......they grabbed every on of them and dumped them.
After I got that mess cleaned up I started packing Allie's lunch. I had the little ones go to the living room to play while I did this. All of a sudden I hear a computer shutting down. I run out into the living room and the girls were playing over behind the chair and must have pushed a button or stepped on the laptop over there.
Finally it's time to take Allie to school. Everyone was great in the car. Once we got back home I fixed them lunch and they were great until the very end. That is when they decided to start throwing their forks and food on the floor. After that I was just ready to get them in bed for naps! I cleaned them off and had them go look for their blankets while I cleaned up the mess on the floor. After I got that cleaned up I figured I'd hurry up and try to tackle their dishes and a few that were in the sink to get the dishwasher started. While I was doing that my phone rang. I picked it up and it was Tami........she was saying she was leaving work and asked how Kaiya was for me........it was then that I realized they still weren't back down with their blankets!!
I walked out of the kitchen and turned the corner and they were playing in the toilet! Water was all over the bathroom floor, Kaiya was soaked, and Avery had pulled the whole kiddie toilet seat and holder off the wall and was putting it in the toilet.
I hurried to clean them up....AGAIN.....and put them right in bed!
Luckily, I was able to get a break from kids that night. Derek and I went to his work Christmas party. I wasn't exactly thrilled to be going. I'm not one who likes to socialize a whole lot, especially to people I don't know.......and when you're husband is one of the bosses I feel like I have to talk a lot and make a good impression. I don't know if I did make a good impression, but I did have a good night.......it could only get better right!?
It actually got a lot better. We saw the new Chronicles of Narnia (opening night).....although it wasn't all that great, I wouldn't recommend it, the message at the end is good though. We had a decent dinner during the movie and popcorn as well. Derek and I were the first to arrive at the party so we both got a card for free burritos at Freebirds........and there was a raffle drawing and my ticket was the first drawn (87 people there and 6 tickets drawn). I scored a $25 gift card to Regal Cinemas and a $25 gift card to a restaurant (Chili's, Maggianos, On the Border).
Turned out to be a good day!

Santa & Mrs. Claus

Place: Helotes City Hall
Occasion: City Tree Lighting (it was the cutest little thing)

 

Santa came in on a wagon off of Bandera Rd. I tried to get Allie up as high as I could so she could see him

 

Getting a good look at the jolly couple

                                 Avery liked them better from afar!

                       Calmed down a bit when Dad and Mom were near

What did Allie ask for?  Ariel dress up outfit........her first visit to Santa this year she asked for a pillow pet.........and a few days later Avery found them in our closet and went and gave it to her!

Fall Break -- Careful Daddy!

No Black Friday shopping for us this year! Surprising since 1) there are 2 famililes living here that always go ALL OUT on Black Friday and 2) It's a little bit warmer here this time of year than what we're used to....even though it did get kinda cold that night. Okay, I'll admit that I did have Derek go to one place. I sent him over to the movie theater because they were going to be selling $100 gift cards for $20!!! You can't beat that! He got there and the line was wrapped around the theater. He didn't get it  :0(

So, instead of shopping we went to Sea World. We didn't think there would be all that many people there because we thought they would be out shopping. We were wrong! I think it was just as crowded, if not more so, than it was in the summer. It was the first day of the Christmas shows though. We saw just about every possible show we could that day. When a show was over we'd rush to the next one....relax a bit during the show.....and then jump up and rush to the next one and so on. I think we saw 7 shows, 1 4-D movie (The Polar Express) and we also saw Santa Claus and rode a log ride!

The next day we decided to give biking another shot. As soon as we got the bikes out to load up Avery started talking about "Fall, Daddy fall". Then when we actually got to the Mission Trail and Avery was in the bike trailer she yelled, "Careful Daddy!!" We could tell she was afraid to be in there. But I think it's a good thing we did it or she might never have gotten back in.

looking  a little hesitant

not scared at all.....or are they?? They're wearing helmets

views

a bit of a dilemma....water across the road

traveled across safely

her fears must have went away!

Fall Break -- Giving Thanks

All month long the girls have been drawing strips of paper from the thankful jar. Each strip has something written on it that we are thankful for. Then it has an action to do to show how/why you are thankful for whatever was on the strip. For example: I am thankful for my Mom. Do something nice for her. Allie was soooo sweet! I had been having a bad day so she asked her Daddy to help make Mommy a treat. Derek, Allie and Avery all pitched in to make me some puppy chow. It made me feel so much better!!
One of our favorites (and just about the only one we took some pictures of):
I am thankful for my neighbors. Do something nice for them anonymously.

We took a picture that the girls drew and a cupcake over to Miss Marilyn

Then we "ding dong ditched" (and then hid in a ditch) our other neighbors. The girls drew a picture for Addison who is their age. Would have worked nicely, but the little ones gave them away.

This was a great activity for the girls and a great learning tool as well. We truly do have SO many things to be thankful for. I am thankful for ------

• my family. I missed them again this Thanksgiving. 
• My husband and children. Derek sacrifices a lot of his time to provide for us and enables me to stay at home. Allie and Avery are such a joy. I love them with all my heart! 
• skype! I was still able to see most of my family for the holiday
• friends. Old and new
• good health.
• neighbors. Yesterday I was on my way to take Allie to school and my car wouldn't start! I looked over at the neighbors and saw that Miss Ann was home. I knocked on the door and without hesitation she offered to take us! Then she came back and helped jump the car. : )
• My home. 
• and the list could go on and on

Now on to Thanksgiving dinner.  Last year it didn't even feel like we had a Thanksgiving. Derek and I were in Switzerland eating wienerschnitzel for our dinner without any family, not even our kids. We had too much on our minds to really think about it then, but being away from family this year was difficult. We still had TAKK and a few friends here to help fill that void and we are thankful for that. I'm bummed that I didn't get a picture of my turkey! It was my first time EVER making one. I have to brag a little though, it was excellent! The whole meal was!

Appetizers - I made a bruschetta like dip and Tami made a sweet potato dip

Turkey, Turkey & noodles, corn, gravy! And you can even see one of Tami's cheesecakes in the back

 

 

Mashed potatoes, stuffing, sweet potatoes by Tami, Rolls by Kevin and friends made a salad and 2 different types of green bean casserole...and Kevin & Tami  made loads of apple pie, pumpkin pie, pumpkin cheesecake and regular cheesecake!!

Yes, we ate OUTSIDE on Thanksgiving day! Tami and I even went and changed into shorts and our lightest shirts because we were that hot.

The girls rode around on the Jeep while the adults played cornhole and bocce ball. As you can see it started getting pretty windy and all of a sudden the weather completely changed!

so we went inside for dessert and card games

and a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving

make a wish!

And I couldn't resist posting these!

 

We hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!!