Candyland

I've lost track of how many years we've made it to Candyland but it's been quite a few. It hasn't changed much but it's still a fun tradition. We got through the game board faster than ever so we did it a couple times and then also had hot chocolate and made a craft.  Jamie, Owen and I had a word search contest while Pat and Paige crafted. We also headed to Melt after for some cheesy food. It was good but I think we were all overwhelmed by the cheesiness.

Speaking of cheesiness...This posed picture of Jamie and I enjoying the experience is awesome!

Mom and me!

Me and kids

Mom and Dad

Crafts!

Giant Connect 4

Favorite pic!

Owen asked for some mac and cheese on his burger and it came out like this! So big!!

Spirit Week

Paige's dance company had Christmas Spirit week during December! Paige participated in Christmas sock day, Christmas sweater day and Christmas Hair day. A lot of people put extra effort in and made it a lot of fun (especially one of Paige's teachers). 

Fun socks for ballet!

With their teacher!

Paige with Mrs. Claus, also known as Ms Rachel. 

Christmas Hair, and my favorite picture of the week!

Paige and her trio buddies

The day after Spirit week ended but such good chest stands that I had to include it:)

Lights!

We went on our usual Christmas lights excursion to a local neighborhood (see last picture) but also tried something new this year! Our fairgrounds had something called Magic of Lights where you could pay per car to drive through some lights. There was also a spot to park and see more, plus visit Santa etc. We liked it a lot and the weather was pretty temperate so it was even more enjoyable than it might have been. 

Birthday/Baking/Surprise

We headed over to my parent's house after Owen had a soccer game to get some baking in before everyone arrived to celebrate my mom's birthday. We should try to challenge ourselves next year because I think it keeps getting simpler and simpler. This year we made Reese Peanut Butter Cup Peanut Butter Cookies. So good but not very difficult! 

This year's birthday/baking day came with an extra surprise! Jamie and Kevin got engaged!! We were all very excited to hear the news. They surprised by mom with a bottle of champagne that had the announcement on it!

Ugly Sweater Party!

Owen's soccer team had and ugly Christmas sweater party (hosted by his coach/friends)! We've never been to one before so we had to stock up on some ugly sweaters. Paige and I went the cute route while I'd say that Pat and Owen's qualified for the theme!

Nutcracker!

Paige's dance studio is not performing the Nutcracker this year so we decided to organize a trip to take the girls to see it performed. We went to the Olive Garden with one of the families and Paige snuck her heels on after I told her to wear different shoes! So sneaky! When we walked in to the theater, there was a man painting Nutcrackers and told us we'd be seeing a special one he made in the show! He turned out to be the man playing Grandpa Drosselmeyer. It was fun that we unknowingly got to interact with one of the performers! We also knew three girls from Paige's studio that were in the performance as angels and mice!

Ortho Adventures!

A bracket fell off of Owen's tooth so we took an unplanned trip to the orthodontist. I don't know what it is about that place but we always laugh so hard when we're there!

3rd Grade Musical!

Two days after Owen's orchestra concert we were treated to Paige's 3rd grade music program, Holiday Windows! It was super cute and very festive. Paige was very, very nervous about performing it this year because so many kids have fainted/thrown up in years past (and even two during this years rehearsal!). But she persevered and got through the performances! Afterwards, we went to Igloo for some ice cream for the second time that week!

Orchestra Concert!

Owen had his first orchestra concert of the year a week or two ago! It was fun to see how much they've all improved since last year and listen to some Christmas music too! It was a quick concert and we couldn't see much of Owen until he stood up on stage because he wanted to see who had won the raffle! Ha ha! Afterwards, we went to Igloo with some friends to celebrate!

Before!

I caught a glimpse of Owen! It looks like he's standing to be recognized for something but he is not:)

Group shot! Nanny came too!

Ice cream!

Art Museum!

The last time I did a blog post about the art museum was over a year ago! I don't know if it's been that long since we went...maybe I just didn't do a post about it? Either way, I was excited to go back even if it took some convincing to get the kids there. They always think they don't want to go but then we get there and they love it! Hopefully they remember for next time:)

We got there pretty late, with only a little over an hour left before they closed! We wanted to get a couple family pictures for our Christmas card and the lady at the information desk was so nice that she took us around to three different spots! Then we roamed for the rest of the time that we had. We all always enjoy the armor room and the contemporary art but next time I'd like to get to some new spots!