Pre-Christmas

First off, Christmas cards are a HUGE deal to little kids.  Below is H holding a card from Grandpa and Nana.  Each piece of mail feels very personal to them and they carry around each card for like 3 hours.

Jackie was pumped to put Julie in her new ice skating apparel. 

Jackie drew this- It's mult-media.  Marker and water colors. She named this girl Olivia.

The Shoemaker Xmas.  The cousins are all getting older so they all played together a lot which is cool.  They were even freaked out by noises and stuff in the church, which is very Shoemaker of them.  My cousins and I ALWAYS freaked each other out.  Very fun as a kid.

Gift time.

Grandma during the gift exchange opening up "Love in the Attic" parfum. Go Gma!

A large family pic.  First one, sans Grandpa.  His absence still stings. It's tough when people talk about their deceased grandparent that they loved very much, etc... because I just don't want Grandpa do be in that category.  I want him to be here now, laughing with us.

Jackie went to yoga and to Payton's house the Sunday before xmas. Tiffany took this pic.

Abby and Sam and Payton and Hannah and their parents came over for dinner. Other than Abby getting an enormous bruise on her cheek from Jackie's head, fun times!

I love how little he is.

This is what I spent the better portion of my life doing these days- painting our basement.  Making it look less like a dungeon and more like a space that could be lived in.

Paint store antics.  Thank God for these free samples.

We met up with Betsy and crew at the mall one evening this week. 

It couldn't have been more chaotic.  Below is my little buddy.

We ate at Grub.

This looks so calm, doesn't it? Well, it wasn't.  Thank God Em was w us!

Bunny in carriage.

The steps.  Freshly painted. Jim and I pulled up this crazy old disgusting carpet, not knowing what was underneath.  Looks way better now, though.

Benny and his dog.

Benny and Maddox painting a table in the basement.  We will use this table for staging the dog room.  We are going to make it look like a breakfast room instead of a dog room/treadmill room/recycling center. 

My friend Mer building a wall/

Jackie went to Emily's Xmas show with Amy and Emily.  Words cannot express how much I love this family.

The wall, not painted or caulked, but complete.

My love.

Dancing at Grammy and Pops.

It's a win!

Hannie's position as I paint in the basement.

December Insanity

These pics aren't in order.  There have been concerts and getting ready for concerts and teacher gifts and xmas parties and on top of it random people falling ill with colds- everyone has a wicked cough, I'm fairly convinced.

Below- at some point, we were over at Betsy's. I can't remember why or what day- but this happened.

Crazy pic request.  I LOVE how baby Kate totally gets it.  Love that little girl.

I stopped by my in-laws for a second one morning and I was standing outside my awesome minivan texting someone when I heard crunching.  I looked up after awhile to see this beauty.  There were 4 huge deer snacking on my inlaws' plants (hahaha).  But it was one of the most beautiful moments of my week.

An ornament Hilly made in class.  My love.

Benny showing me his candycane.  He said to me "This isn't mint." He was right indeed.

Tennis. This coach is legit the worst. Jim doesn't think so.  But Em and I do.

I found this note Jackie wrote to my mom:

Benny at their school concert.

Hilly was a shepherd.  Her line was "Let's go see Jesus." 

This show was so perfect and beautiful.  It is the perfect length.  Watching my kids sing these beautiful Christmas songs melts my heart so completely.  This was the next generation at Aldersgate, so many of these kids I've known their entire lives.  They are so big now and such cool little people.  This school was exactly what I had in mind when we decided I would stay home and send the kids to preschool instead of daycare.

Selfies w my little friends.

These 2. All they need is more sugar.

The maze.

This is how Benny fell asleep one day this weel.

I babysat a bunch of kids for a bit the other day and here are Ben and Drew playing intently in the dollhouse.

Jackie's school performance.  Also an adorable little school.

My friend sent this picture to me. Doesn't the girl to the right of Jackie looked jacked? That's her little friend Leah.  On the other side of her is Lily.  They were in daycare together as babies.  And next to Lily is Jack's bestie Sarah, who is ADORABLE.  We all love us some Sarah.  They had a little fight at school the other day.  Jack told me Sarah colored on her paper.  Jackie got mad and said she was going to tell.  Sarah started crying and then Jackie started crying and then they both started laughing.  Ahh, females!!!!  As I watch my daughters navigate female friendships- as painful as it can be- I also try to keep in mind that some of the most treasured relationships in my life have been with my girlfriends.  It can be a rough road, but it is certainly worth the travel.

Christmas at Gma Debbie's.

We also celebrated baby Peyton's first birthday.