Well, we have finally arrived. I feel like I have been looking forward to Christmas and preparing for it and dreaming of it for quite a while now. And then today I woke up and realized that this is the last Sunday before Christmas and my parents come in just a couple of days! I am really looking forward to their visit and getting to have two full weeks off of work to just relax and spend time together as a family. I have been especially hard at work this past week making sure that I have less to do while on break. I've been packing my schedule at work to see as many of my kiddos as I can before I go on PTO and prepping all of the end of the month stuff since I will be gone for the actual end of the month. And at home, I've been busy buying and wrapping and cleaning and re-organizing and baking. I'm really glad we've been doing the Light the World advent calendar because I do feel like that has helped me stay focused on the Savior in spite of everything else in my life that threatens to monopolize my thoughts and efforts. I'm grateful for my nativity, the decorations around our house, Christmas lights, presents under the tree, Christmas music all the time, treat plates for us and our neighbors and ministering families, holiday tradition sharing at work, kids' pj party at school and all the cute photos and videos that came home of that and the kids' happiness and excitement about it. I am looking forward to Levi and Emery's reactions to presents on Christmas and to getting to be with grandma and grandpa. Despite coronavirus still ravaging the world all around us, there is much to be grateful for this year.
Levi's class (Bluejays) all dressed up for their Christmas music performance!
They got to decorate and eat cookies. I had signed up to bring pink and green icing but when I put in my Kroger order for pick up, apparently the store was out of green icing so it substituted red! So the kids in Levi's class only had red and pink icing to decorate with. It was just one of the many things wrong with that Kroger pick up order.
Levi and his very best friend at school, Jackson. I think they're pretending to be penguins in this picture.
They also got to watch Scamper the Penguin during their quiet time which really brought back childhood memories when Levi told me about it!
Emery also got to decorate and eat cookies at the holiday party in her class.
We found out last Friday that Emery will soon be moving out of this toddler class that she is currently in and up to Flamingos which is a primary class like Levi's. I am a bit nervous about the transition for her but Ms Faye is confident that she is ready and that it is the best thing for her at this time.
The teachers videoed the class doing its performance and I'm so glad they did because it's hilarious. I have no idea what words they are singing most of the time but they are all very enthusiastic haha.
Check out that single leg stand!
Acroyoga queen on Daddy's back!
Levi and Emery created a "city" the other morning while I was cleaning up from breakfast. Levi was very excited to show it all to me, especially the ninjas with their grappling hooks.
One of the Light the World invitations was to do some art and share it with someone. So last Monday the kids and I spent quite a bit of time raking up the leaves in the front yard and then Levi and Emery collected their favorites and we did art with them.
Emery wanted to just keep painting and painting. I was only able to get her to stop when I told her that the paper would start to rip and fall apart if she put any more paint on it! And even then there were some tears when it was time to clean up. I love that she and Levi both love art though.
