December in Review

In addition to Maisy being born, our North Pole Breakfast, Kate's Christmas Party, and obviously Christmas (pictures to come next post), we had a really fun month! 

We got some snow, which canceled school on Daddy's birthday (nothing compared to the 12" we just got on January 5th).  

We celebrated Daddy turning 32.

Kate's Daisy troop had a little Christmas party at one of our meetings.  My co-leader bought these for all the girls.

We visited Santa at the firehouse.  

We went to Union Station to see the Holiday Express train.  It was FREEZING and crazy people were standing in an hour long line (at least!) to walk through it.  I don't think you could have paid me to stand in that line. We went in and watched the guys at the Fudge Factory instead. ha! 

All warm and cozy at Qdoba afterwards.

Kate had Spirit Week at school.  This was on Mismatch Day.

Jack and I went to an event at the library all about snow.  The kids put on smocks, ate ice cream, made crafts, read stories, and played games.

We had a few playdates with friends.

Mark and I went to a couple Christmas parties... without kiddos! 

I sold a bunch of custom made tiles for Christmas and pulled a couple LATE nights getting those done.  In fact, I snoozed on the couch one evening after one of those late nights while Mark and the kids made the gingerbread house.

Sidenote: Mark took off the whole week before Christmas.  It. was. bliss.  Jack would come in our room every morning saying, "Daddy, will you play superheroes with me?"  I told Mark that Jack never asks me to play his superhero guys with him and Jack said, "Yeah, 'cause you talk funny."  Apparently, I haven't mastered the art of superhero voices.  Anyway, it was just soooooooooo nice having him home for ten days! The kids (and me) were thrilled about it.  

We had a big baking night with Brad and Victoria.  We baked for HOURS!

We saw Babaloo at the library a couple days before Christmas.

We drove around and looked at Christmas lights with popcorn and hot chocolate.

The day after Christmas, the kids had fun playing with all their new stuff.

Then, on the 27th, we left for Texas.  Mom, Uncle Stuart, the kids, and I all drove down to join the Texas crew for a 60th anniversary party for Gammy and Gampy (since they were down there for Christmas).  I was soooooo worried about the 12-13 hour long drive, but the kids did AWESOME!! We had a ton of fun down there, too.

Kate and Jack got to meet my cousin's four kiddos and my other cousin's little guy.  They all had a blast.

 

Out to dinner to celebrate

 At Steve and Jill's the next day

 Loving the hot tub in December!

These two became fast friends. 

Then, we drove back to St. Louis all day of the 30th, grocery shopped for New Years Eve on the 31st and had a low key night with Mimi, Papa, Brad, Victoria, Ruckus, and Maisy.  We ate yummy food, celebrated at midnight, and stayed up WAY too late.  

Now, we just experienced Snowmageddon 2014 and Kate's first day back to school after break was canceled because the whole St. Louis area was shut down. For real.  Someone posted this on facebook... 

Kate's Holly Jolly Jewelry Party

Jen, a friend of mine that I used to work with, started a new little business venture where she has bracelet making parties for little girls.  I told her awhile back that I wanted to have one with Kate's little friends and then came up with the idea to pair it with a Christmas party. I've always wanted to throw a kids Christmas party.  (I WISH Mark had been here with his camera because my pictures during the party didn't turn out that great.)

Mark made some invitations and we invited her classmates, her Daisy troop, and some of our other friends. It was such a fun party!

I just did easy (mostly sweets!) snacks, and we had a hot cocoa bar. 

Jen brought beads and charms and had a work mat for each girl. 

 I wasn't quite sure what to expect about the quality of the bracelets because she only charges $5 a girl, but the bracelets, beads, and charms were awesome!! The girls had so much fun making them and Jen did such a good job explaining and helping! 

Boo for this one being blurry. :( She did such a good job.  

Kate's teacher even joined us for the party! It was so sweet of her to come.  Kate was over the moon about it.

After the bracelet making, we played a game.  The girls had to draw a snowman on a piece of paper they put on the top of their heads.  They thought it was so funny looking at their drawings.  

Then, they each got a cup of hot cocoa and added some toppings.  They ate lots of yummy snacks.  After eating, we made a candy cane craft and Reindeer food (not sure why I don't have pictures of that).

When they were all finished, we went downstairs and did some Christmas karaoke.  They all loved the microphone, of course! 

                              

Maddie came over to help out with the party.  Of course, all the girls loved her!!  

We watched a Christmas movie and read some Christmas books before the parents came to pick them up.

 I was SO glad we did this party, even though it was only a few days before Christmas.  Kate had a lot of fun, the parents got a chance to get some last minute Christmas stuff done, and I fed my love of throwing parties. It was a win-win for everyone. ha!   

Oh, and while the girls were here partying, Mark took Jack out.  They went to Lowe's to pick up some materials for a gift Mark was making for Kate.  Mark said he turned around while we was looking at some PVC and Jack was standing there like this.  Only Jack.  Never a dull moment with that kid! 

Later that night, we took Maddie out to dinner for helping us out.  She's just about Kate's favorite person in the world!