Insta Joys: December Catch Up

december has flown by.

the days have been going by so quickly but some of the weeks have felt slow.

here we are on christmas eve

its hard to believe

i will be a little sad tomorrow when the day ends

i love this time of the year

i have been busy with our advent activities and trying to stay on top of posting about them but i haven't done an iPhone photo dump for a few weeks

here's a little glimpse at our december

 landon, mauryn, and i started off the month with a visit to the zoo

its the only free admission day all year at the zoo

the animals are given special treats and santa comes to visit

it was overcast but not too cold and most of the animals were out

it was so fun!

 mauryn whispering her wish to santa and letting him know she had been good this past year

as i was watching landon on santa's lap, i kept wondering if this will be the last year. the last year he'll want to visit santa. the last year he'll still believe.  it made my heart a little sad.  

 we went to visit our local living nativity.  it was a warm night. the kids really didn't even need coats, hats, or mittens.  even thought it was warm, this little lady wanted to be sure she got some hot chocolate!

 this is my favorite kids christmas cd

i never tire of the songs on it

 3 kids for dental check ups = 30 minutes of quiet in the waiting room

is it wrong that i look forward to my kids dental check up every six months?

30 minutes of uninterrupted quiet and reading mid day

its pretty great

its also great when all 3 kids are in the no cavity club!

 its that time of the year again... time for a new planner

i loved my erin condren planner so much i ordered a new one this year

i adore her planners and love the new changes from last year

this baby keeps me sane and organized all year long!

 i was tired of our mismatched stockings on the mantle

so i begged  asked andrea really nicely if she would consider making stockings for my little family

she was kind and gracious enough to say yes!

i love them

 we woke up to a skiff of snow 

from my kids reactions you would have thought we had a foot of snow!

the two littles got bundled up and headed out the door

mauryn was cruising up and down the sidewalk on her pink power wheel bike

 the first thing landon did was eat snow {eew! even though i know i did it as a kid too}

the second thing he did was make a snowball and throw it at me :o)

 this guy got all cozy on the couch next to me while i was riding the spin bike

 december was a HARD month for school

no one was very motivated

everyone was looking forward to christmas break and counting down the days

school had to be done

we made it through... barely!

we are all so ready for christmas break

 our fourth annual free hot chocolate stand

we have had a mild start to winter so it was the nicest day we've ever had for our stand

we had our biggest turn out... yeah!

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 after closing up shop we drove across the street to walmart to give hot chocolate to the bell ringers

we always borrow carafes from our church for our stand so we delivered hot chocolate to some pastors and office staff who were around when we returned

 i introdcued mauryn to skeeball

she wasn't super impressed

she much rather play whack a mole

 our annual trip to the ice skating rink over advent

it always takes a bit for the kids to get the feel for the ice again

it is one of their very favorite things to do each december

 there is just nothing better than freshly washed sheets on a bed

even though i had made the bed, those clean sheets were calling my name

i unmade the bed and crawled in for a little afternoon nap

it was perfect

 this little dude loves to help in the kitchen

he makes sure he is always wearing his kitchen robe {his apron}

he is awesome at peeling carrots and potatoes

he can even make a few things himself

i love that he loves to cook and bake

his wife is going to thank me one day :o)

 every night we get some type of performance

this night, mauryn was reading us a story she had "written"

i love her imagination 

 i noticed my snowman had a new accessory the other day

mauryn decided to decorate him/her up

i like the added touch of the pink hat

the last day of school before break and these two were sleeping in

i did not want to wake them up

but we did need to get school work done so we could start break

they were so sweet snuggled up together

i just hope they choose to sleep in a day or two over break :o)

are you ready for christmas?

has your december been crazy?