Better late than never, here is our family’s recap of December from last year!
Brooklyn made a board game called “Race to the Top” as a project for her AVID class. She based it on a book series that she likes to read. She put a lot of effort into it, and I thought she did a good job!
Around Halloween, Mrs. Gray (the school librarian) joked with Abigail that she wanted Abigail to bring her a Reese Cup after trick-or-treating since that’s her favorite type of candy. It took us a while, but Abigail finally took her one in early December! ;)
Speaking of books, Brooklyn couldn’t wait for the next book in the Keeper of the Lost Cities series to be released this month! The author, Shannon Messenger, was hosting a ticketed live virtual event on December 2nd where she talked about the new book and the series in general, and Brooklyn begged to be able to listen in. We decided to make it part of her Christmas present a little early. She was so excited! She even took notes while she was listening :)
December 3rd was Giving Tuesday, and each child could donate $2 and wear pajamas to school. The money went toward a fund called Supporting Our Students that helps students who need extra financial assistance in the district.
Mill Creek always decorates a tree in every house color for the month of December, and Mrs. Pride got a picture of her yellow house students in front of the yellow tree :)
1st grade had a Sight Word Glow Party on December 6th for the kids who had already learned all of their sight words by that point in the school year. Abigail was very excited to attend. There were a few snacks and lots of balloons :) The kids enjoyed dancing to music and running around with their friends. I was glad to be able to help out with it and watch her have fun.
Brooklyn had a yummy class project in her German class this month. They learned about German cookies and got to choose a German cookie recipe to translate into English. They could optionally bake some of the cookies and bring them to class to share with the rest of the students. Brooklyn chose to make Schoko Cookies, and they were very tasty!
There was a baby shower for Josh and Jana at our neighborhood clubhouse on December 7th, and the kids who came spent most of their time outside on the playground :)
Baugay turned 92 this month, and we celebrated her birthday a few days early on December 8th!
Mill Creek had the 12 Day of Christmas dress-up days this month. At this point in my mom career, I don’t stress out about dress up days ;) But the girls did some of them that we had the right stuff for. Abigail was surprised and excited to find her friend, Evelyn, had worn the same pajamas as her to school on PJ day. Savannah coordinated with her friends, Lillian and Rose, on “Dress like a Friend” day, and Abigail matched with her friend, Sadie.
Mrs. Pride’s class visited the Penguin Patch holiday shop on December 9th. It’s always sweet to see what things the girls pick out for each person that they shop for. This year, Abigail wanted to buy something for Mrs. Pride too. There was also an opportunity to donate leftover change to St. Jude’s and earn points for your house color.
I was very excited to be the Mystery Reader in Abigail’s class on December 11th. I just love volunteering with the younger grades because they are always so excited to see parents come to visit :) I picked out two new books from the library that Abigail had never read before rather than bringing one of hers. One story was funny and silly, and the other was sweet. I enjoyed it!
One of Mrs. Pride’s traditions at Christmas is to gift each of her students with a board game. I remember Savannah coming home with Don’t Break the Ice when she was in Mrs. Pride’s class, and the girls still play with it to this day. Abigail was super excited to get a game called Mermaid Island! Mrs. Pride is so sweet!
Abigail’s classmate, Ren, had his last day at Mill Creek on December 13th. He and his family were moving back to Japan. The kids were all very sad, and Abigail even cried about it. They kept in touch with Ren throughout the rest of the year though, and his mom sent pictures of their family in Japan. I’m sure that helped, although they still missed him!
Abigail was sick and stayed home from school on December 16th, but felt well enough to offer to tie my shoes for me :) I took her to the doctor, and it turned out that she had a sinus infection and fluid behind her ears. It was neat to watch Brooklyn give her a piggyback ride into the store to pick up her antibiotic after school. I love sweet sister moments!
Abigail made this hat out of a popcorn box, and Travis nicknamed her the “Popcorn Pope” :)
Abigail’s class Christmas party was on December 18th. The kids had a snack and then rotated around the room to different stations. I brought two of my standard Christmas party games that I keep reusing (they are the gift that keeps on giving!), and the kids enjoyed poking a hole in the tree to win some little prizes. They also had fun doing the jingle bell toss. My favorite memory from the party was seeing how excited Abigail was when she rang the antlers on the reindeer ring toss :) It’s the little things!
Savannah’s class party was immediately after Abigail’s, which worked out because I could just head straight upstairs to her classroom. We used the Jingle Bell Toss game for her class as well. The kids were very competitive with it and were serious about keeping up with their points. Savannah also decorated a cute Christmas tree using an ice cream cone. I was happy that so many parents were able to attend both parties.
Mrs. Pride also takes her class caroling around the school during the month of December – another fun tradition. It was perfect timing that Abigail was missing her two front teeth while singing about it :)
Mrs. Pride takes a ton of pictures, which I love! Here are a few more random pictures from the month :)
Savannah and Abigail are excited to have matching mugs now for hot chocolate (another sweet Christmas gift from Mrs. Pride). Savannah has loved using hers for the last several years, and now Abigail loves hers too! After drinking hot chocolate together, the girls were excited to show me how their American Girl dolls could do gymnastics :)
December 19th was a half day of school, which left extra time in the afternoon for painting and decorating a gingerbread train. This year, I bought an Oreo gingerbread kit, which was fun and different. It had 3 sections, which was just right so that they could each decorate a different part however they wanted to.
Some of the Mill Creek teachers and staff came to our neighborhood to sing carols that evening. It’s become a fun tradition that we look forward to each December!
December 20th was the last day of school before Christmas break. That evening, I took Abigail to Sadie’s birthday party at a nearby movie theater. Her family had rented one of the small theaters and invited the class to watch Moana 2. Abigail was excited to see the movie, but equally excited to see it at the theater since we don’t go to the movies too often ;)
Box-turned-rocket ship!
On December 21st, we went ice skating with Daniel and Nicole and their boys. This was our second year in a row to ice skate together, and this time we tried going to the indoor Huntsville Ice Center. It worked much better than skating at Big Spring Park because the rink is so much bigger that it wasn’t nearly as crowded. It was neat to see how much more confident and coordinated the girls were on the ice compared to the year before when they’d never done it. We had fun!
After ice skating, we ate an early dinner (or maybe a very late lunch?) and went to walk the Tinsel Trail at Big Spring Park together. It was a cold night, so we were glad to have packed all of our cold weather gear. We enjoy seeing the creative ideas that different companies and groups come up with to decorate their trees. The kids enjoyed seeing the ducks as much as they liked the trees…haha!
Two thumbs up for Christmas break!
We headed to Paw and Rae Rae’s on December 22nd to stay for a few days. On the 23rd, the girls had fun playing with Christian, and we also played some board games. Savannah brought a game she’d made called Santa Marathon that we played together that evening :)
We celebrated Christmas with my side of the family on Christmas Eve this year. The Bares came over around lunchtime, and we had “sammies”, chips and fruit for lunch. The girls couldn’t wait to open gifts after that! They were very excited to each receive a clip-on reading light for the car (each in a different color) – which will make it easier for them to read in the car at night now. Savannah was super excited to get a Nerf gun after playing with her cousins several times at their house. We were surprised at how powerful it is! Brooklyn received lots of books as usual and even got some clothes this year, which she was excited about. I guess that’s one way to tell she is growing up 😊 We decided to surprise Abigail with her own two-wheeled scooter this year since we were getting her sisters new bikes (they’d outgrown them). She was very excited! Brooklyn and Savannah were completely surprised about the bikes. We left them at home, but wrapped up a picture of the bikes, and they liked what we picked out. Yay! Brooklyn and Savannah both got some new Star Wars things. Abigail was thrilled to get new outfits for Mary Ellen and some Wellie Wisher books. I loved seeing her reactions this year. My favorite part of the day was seeing the gifts that the girls either bought or made for each other and other family members though. I love seeing the thought they put into each thing, especially the homemade gifts. Savannah made Brooklyn a “paper organizer” for her unfinished artwork and projects. Brooklyn bought Abigail a headband at Dollar Tree, and Abigail was so excited that she gave Brooklyn a big hug. Brooklyn also made Abigail her own diary because she had been wanting one for a long time. Brooklyn made Savannah a “fantastic sister award” that came with a medal. Savannah also made Abigail a “decoration” for her room with a water bottle and food coloring 😊 Abigail also bought several thoughtful gifts at the holiday shop at school.
The biggest surprise of all was the last gift that the girls opened. It was for all 3 of them, and it was a “certificate” for a new cat that they could help pick out. They had really been missing having a cat since Gabby died almost a year earlier and had been regularly asking when we could get another cat. Travis wasn’t on board for most of the year, but after a discussion in early December, he was finally in agreement that we could get a new cat. I thought it would be fun to make it a surprise Christmas present. The girls were completely shocked. Brooklyn screamed, Savannah’s mouth dropped wide open, and Abigail was completely confused for a few seconds because they stopped reading it out loud when they realized what it said. All three of them started screaming and celebrating and headed straight to hug Daddy for saying yes! It was a priceless reaction.
For supper, we had prime rib, mashed potatoes, salad, rolls, pink arctic freeze, carrots, and two super yummy frozen pies (caramel and peanut butter). Christian enjoyed his first Christmas – he is such a happy baby and just enjoyed being part of the action. Next year he will be even more into it when he can unwrap his own gifts and will really be on the move! The girls enjoyed playing with him after opening gifts and playing Twister with Daddy!
The girls wanted Santa to come to Rae Rae and Paw’s house, so we decided to stay there until mid-day on Wednesday (Christmas Day). They all woke up before 7 am and were ready to see what Santa brought as soon as we would let them round the corner 😉 It was a race to get to the living room once we gave them the green light. All 3 girls got Squishmallows (always a hit), and Abigail was super excited that hers were Bluey and Bingo. Brooklyn had been hoping for a radio to be able to play music in her room. Santa picked out a vintage one that was both a radio and a Bluetooth speaker, but unfortunately it was a dud that needed to be returned. She was surprised by some Keeper of the Lost Cities stickers in her stocking. All of the girls loved their 2025 pet calendars. Savannah had a marble run on her list, and she was excited to get one. The girls also got Squishmallow Croc charms, which they were excited about. Brooklyn and Abigail also got some new earrings! Abigail’s main thing she was hoping for was a “Peanut the Playful Monkey” that she’d seen in an Amazon catalog 😉 It makes noises and can move and sit down/stand up on its own. She was super excited about this. We’ll see how long she actually plays with it 😉 It was interesting because she found out about Santa before the previous Christmas, but this year she acted like she believed in Santa again. I think she probably just enjoys the idea of Santa being real. After breakfast, Paw helped Savannah set up her marble run, and the girls enjoyed playing with it. We got home mid-afternoon, and the girls had some time to put some of their new gifts and toys away before church that night.
The next day (December 26th) was Christmas at Cici’s house. Cici outdid herself as usual with the breakfast spread we had. Everything was delicious! We opened presents after breakfast. The girls all got new travel jewelry boxes that were super cute from the Loveless crew. Abigail was so excited about a new Little Mermaid nightgown, American Girl clothes, and a set of Bluey characters. Savannah got some new Perler beads, books, and a binder for her Pokemon cards. The girls also gave gifts to Cici, Tyler, Alisha, and their cousins. After gifts, the kids played the board game Life, which Brooklyn got for Christmas. Savannah decided to marry the 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (she thinks he has “sparkling” eyes…haha) and they had several kids. We hated to break it to her that he’s already married in real life…haha.
After a while, the kids were getting restless, so we suggested they go outside to play. They ended up making a HUGE leaf pile that was big enough for all 6 of them to jump in and be completely engulfed. It was funny to watch them all jump in at the same time and just disappear into the leaves! The adults played Century after that, and we ate snacks for dinner. On our way home, we stopped by the Woodard Family Lights since we still hadn’t seen it all season yet. To our surprise, there was another house around the corner with a synchronized light show as well, so we stopped at both houses for a bit. It was another good day!
The next day, December 27th, the girls couldn’t wait to go to the animal shelter to look at their kittens/cats, so we went after lunch to A New Leash on Life in Madison. We had heard from our neighbors that they had rooms where you could interact with the kittens and adult cats and see which one might be a good fit for you. We went into the kitten room first, and they had so many cute and sweet kittens. The girls loved playing with them. Some of them crawled right up into our laps, tried to get into my purse, batted at my ponytail, etc. It was funny to see how many of them liked Travis too! Some kittens were more friendly than others, and it didn’t take long to get attached to two in particular that looked pretty similar. After a few minutes, we decided to visit another room with one kitten in it and also the room with the adult cats, but I think we were all drawn to the original kittens most of all. It was hard to decide between the two white and brown kittens, and the girls started asking if we could adopt both 😉 The certificate was only for ONE cat or kitten, but we ended up ultimately deciding to bring both home. Their shelter names were Sherlyn and Zaylyn, but we renamed them to Willow and Cassie. The best way to tell them apart is that Willow has a brown nose and a white patch on her back. Cassie has a white nose and no white on her back. Other than that, they look super similar. They were about 3 months old when we got them (birthday is 9/19/24).
A New Leash on Life let us bring them home that same day, but we had to bring them back to the vet on a few days later to be spayed. (Check out the makeshift “cones” we made for them out of dessert plates to keep them from biting their incisions…haha). The girls have had so much fun playing with the kittens and snuggling with them. They are very cuddly and love to be held and petted. It’s a good thing they don’t mind lots of attention because they are definitely getting it. Sorry for the kitten picture overload!!
Savannah has had a loose tooth for a while now, and it finally was loose enough on December 27th during dinner that she asked Travis to pull it. (She almost never wants anyone to pull her teeth, but it was bothering her at this point). He pulled it right out, and she didn’t even feel it! I think this was tooth #10 for her!
We spent most of the last few days of 2024 snuggling kittens, but we did manage to go outside a little bit to test out Abigail’s new scooter and Brooklyn’s and Savannah’s new bikes. They were all a hit!
December 2024 Notes and Quotes
- 12/11/24 – Abigail was unpacking her lunchbox after school and announced, “I couldn’t eat my sandwich today because I was very talkative!” :) That’s not too surprising!
Thanks for reading!
