December 2012

December started off great with both kids bringing home awesome report cards!!  I couldn't have been happier or more proud of them!

Ashleigh's reward for a great report card is a daddy-daughter date to Ihop, and then to get fake glasses (they'll do this sometime in January)

Preston's reward was a trip to the Expo Center (via the Max Train) to see the Train Show. 

Nick got our Christmas lights and Penguin up that weekend as well. So pretty! 

I've been having back spasms and one day in particular scared me so I went to the chiropractor...My X-rays are a little scary! My scoliosis is not isolated to my low back anymore. The low back has gotten worse-which includes having arthritis, but I also have scoliosis in my mid/upper back and in my neck! :-( I am one big S-shaped mess and it'll cost a LOT if I want to try to help it at all. So for now, I have to live with it.  

Ashleigh's Glee Club performed at school so I went to watch. She has so much fun singing with this group! 

I also helped out in Preston's class for their Polar Express party. They got all dressed up and went caroling to all the other classrooms around the school. It was so so cute! 

The next day was the Connecticut school shooting... this was a hard day for me as I kept thinking about Preston. He's the same age as those sweet kids and my heart completely broke for their families. I spent most of the next couple days just sobbing and cherishing my kids a lot more. 

Nick and I went to his company's Christmas party on Saturday evening. Always a good time! Great food, great company, great gifts, great fun!!! We got to take home this cute little Reindeer and one of it's little friends. 

We got home from the party and I immediately started feeling very flu-ish sick! I went to bed and basically slept until Monday night! 2 long days/nights in bed. I was miserable!!! On Tuesday I was finally able to move from the bed to the couch, which was necessary because Preston woke up sick that morning so I had to take care of him while Nick was at work. Ashleigh was a big helper, but she had a mild cold/flu the week before so I didn't want her to be too close to Preston and I. Preston and I both started to feel better Thursday morning and I attempted to go back to work that night. Nick started feeling sick on Thursday, but he fought through - filled up on medicines - and continued working on Thursday and Friday. That weekend was very lazy so everyone could get all the way better!



Thankfully everyone was all better in time for CHRISTMAS!!  :-)

The kids put together the plate and cup of milk for Santa. Then we read the Night Before Christmas, and the story of the birth of Jesus in the Bible, before tucking them in.

Then Nick and I went to bed and when we woke up, Santa had come and left presents and ate some of the food that the kids  left for him. 

 

We opened our stockings, and then dove right in to the gifts! Yay! 

Then it was time to play with all of the new things we got! :-) 

We fed our friendly squirrels and watched them for a bit too. They're so cute! 

The next weekend, I took the kids up to Mt. Hood to play in the snow. It was freaking cold up there, but we found a good spot to play and wander through the beautiful blanket of white! 

On our way home we stopped at Ashley's restaurant for dinner. It's always fun to go to a place that has your same name! :-)

New Years eve was spent at home, just our little family. I got party supplies for us all. Don't the kids look festive?!?! :-) We had mini quiche's, taquitos, and other random finger foods. Nick and Preston worked on P's new model train that he got at Christmas time and then they played the Wii while Ash and I watched a show called "Back to the beginning, with Christiane Amanpour" So interesting.

Ash has been asking us to get her a coconut for a loooooong time, so I finally did. She took exactly 1 drink of the coconut water and that was it. sigh. an entire coconut wasted. Oh-well. 

I had to take a pic of the back of my kids' ears...on their right ears in basically the exact same spot is a little freckle. How cute!

Preston fell asleep that night around 1030pm, but Ash made it all the way through to the new year and made a lot of annoying noise outside with Nick and I. It was lots of fun. Happy New Year everyone! 2013 will be great!...I hope! ;-)