Winter Break

Looking back over winter break, most of the pictures were on my phone. This was the kick-off to the season, our annual Christmas party at church for Children's Ministry teachers and helpers. Addison was asked to lead the opening prayer and had no problem jumping on stage in front of 200ish people, grabbing a microphone and praying.

We spent lots of time snuggled by the fire, in warm pj's, playing games.

If the fireplace is on, Maggie is never far away. I love this dog.

We sang Christmas Carols, with Reagan's Daisy Troop at a local retirement home.

There were school parties. 3 on the same day, overlapping times. It was pure chaos. Tommy took a vacation day and we managed to be all 3 places. 

We went to an AMAZING Christmas show at a church in downtown Cincinnati. AMAZING!!! Live music, dance, gymnastics, costumes, all telling the Christmas story. Tommy called it Church De Soliel.

They had hot chocolate and cookies before the show. 

More jammie playtime....this time with some serious bed head!!! I have mentioned it before, but my kids wake up this way. It is part of my morning routine to work through this each and every day! If you happen to see them out on a Saturday, when there Daddy is in charge, they will look like this from the back.

We made a day trip to Columbus to go to the American Girl store and do some other after Christmas gift card shopping! We discovered an amazing shopping center there, can't wait to go back without the kids. This time I only got to see American Girl, Justice and Barnes and Noble.

This was in Columbus, too!!!! HAPPY MOMMY!!! I would drive the hour and a half there once a week to eat fried chicken if I could! Rumor has it Cane's is coming to Cincy in the next year....I hope they hurry.

Gracyn went to a Pump it Up party with her preschool friends.

We went to Dave and Busters with Camden and Tessa on a super cold day! This was a good substitute for Addison. She had a riding lesson scheduled for that day, but since it was 11 degrees, it got cancelled.

Roller coaster simulator....hilarious!

Our friends had a cousin working there, so we were set up with tokens and tickets!!! They must have played a hundred games each. We were there for hours and everyone came home with a big prize. Hopefully my kids had a great time, because we would never get to play that long if we were paying for it!

Riding lessons in the snow. It had warmed to the 20's here, so we were back in business. My feet are usually so cold by the time we leave the barn that I can barely walk. But, my girl loves it regardless of the temperature, so off we go.

Headbands.

Did I mention it was cold? On this particular day, the wind chill was -30. The first 2 days back to school ended up cancelled because of unsafe temeratures. Miserable!!!

We babysat 6 hermit crabs from the science lab at Addison's school. They were great pets, except for the one time the biggest crab pinched Gracyn and WOULD NOT LET GO. 

Miserable temps mean driving to the bus stop. Gracyn climbs up to the front, turns the seat warmers on, puts on my lipstick and acts like she's 15.

The fun was had!!! But, after the 2 extra days, we were all ready last week to head back to school, routine and order.

Christmas

Christmas Eve after dinner, church and doughnut delivery we headed home to get ready for the big morning. We said good-bye to Trixie the Elf and we put out cookies and milk for Santa, sprinkled reindeer food around the yard and got all 3 girls set up for a sleepover in Reagan's room. They were super excited and in no hurry to go to sleep. Giggles, laughter and whispering continued for at least and hour and then, as they finally got quiet, we couldn't resist ourselves and begin playing "Santa Sounds" from an app on the Ipad. They went crazy when they heard sleigh bells and a loud "Ho Ho Ho". I think they finally settled down around 11.  

Christmas morning the girls found a new easel/white board, with every kind of school/office supply you can imagine from Santa. Favorite gifts from us were extra riding lessons for Addison, a sewing kit for Reagan and the Frozen dolls for Gracyn. And, all 3 girls got a face painting kit which was a HUGE hit. There were many face paintings for all of us throughout the day. We stayed in our jammies all day, ate yummy food, made birthday cake for Jesus  and played. I had matching Christmas pajamas for the girls, but they just weren't interested in them....I think those Christmas mornings in precious Gymboree jammies are over. But, I welcome the newest phase with my new bigger girls. Life is good in the sweet spot of parenting.

Christmas Eve Doughnut Delivery

After our Melting Pot dinner, we headed to church and then to our annual doughnut delivery. This year, we took several boxes to Children's hospital. We gave a few to the staff and then handed out a few boxes to families waiting in the ER waiting room. Next we hit up a gas station to bless the attendant working. And finally, we took a few boxes to our local fire station. The girls love doing this. It's one of our favorite Cincinnati traditions....something I think we will do forever, long after we leave here.

Melting Pot Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve we had reservations at Melting Pot. We went for an early dinner, before church and it was a NICE change from the usual rushing to a restaurant after Christmas Eve service and fighting crazy crowds. We schooled the kids on the way there.....fancy restaurant, good manners, be careful with raw meat, fondue forks are not weapons, etc. We got our drinks and had one spilled across the table and in laps in the first 5 minutes....so much for fancy. Despite craziness (think 6 bathroom trips throughout the course of dinner) it was such a fun night. As you can imagine, its quite different experiencing a 2 hour dinner like this with kids. The chocolate was a HUGE hit, the highlight of the night. I think we have found a new Christmas Eve tradition.