First Half of December 2022

December was a busy month with a lot on the calendar, as usual. This post will cover everything from December 1st-16th when school ended for the year. I’ll cover the rest of the month in a separate post.

Brooklyn usually runs on ahead on our walks home from school, but Savannah and Abigail stick closer to me. This was December 1st, and Abigail pushed her doll stroller all the way to school and back :)

This year, Mill Creek had the “12 Days of Dress up Days” in the 12 days leading up to Christmas break. The girls didn’t participate in every dress up day because we didn’t always have the right stuff on hand, but I did go out and buy these cute holiday headbands for hat/headband/antler day on Friday, December 2nd.

Abigail and I ran/scootered to the greenway after we dropped the girls off at school that morning. We stopped at the creek to throw a few rocks before heading home.

“Take a picture of me and Addie too!”

Later that day, I volunteered for 2nd grade duty free lunch and got to chaperone Savannah and her classmates while Ms. Kuenzli ate her lunch in peace and quiet.

Savannah wrote a journal entry about worms on December 5th :)

Brooklyn helped me with supper that evening…

Because December isn’t already busy enough (ha), we decided to take on another pet this month too ;) Brooklyn asked if she could adopt a crab from her science class. They had been doing a unit on animals and had been observing fiddler crabs, millipedes, and frogs in class for several weeks. At the end of the unit, students were allowed to adopt one of the animals if their parents agreed. We told her that would be fine, but we needed to buy a tank, food, sand, and special salt to mix with the water. Abigail and I made trips to multiple pet stores that week looking for everything. I was initially confused because pet stores only sell things labeled for hermit crabs, but apparently fiddler crabs are scavengers and will eat pretty much anything, including the pellets that hermit crabs eat. While we were at the pet store, we had to say hello to the kitty cats, of course. Gabby wouldn’t have been happy if we’d brought home another cat though!

Savannah’s journal entry on December 7th was about whether or not kids should have phones. I can’t say I agree with her reasoning, but it was interesting to read it ;)

That day, Abigail and I met Danielle and her kids at Sam’s to eat lunch in the food court. I am late to the game, but we recently discovered how cheap and good their pizza is. We can eat lunch for just a few dollars total, which is really saying something with inflation these days. After we ate, we walked around and looked at Christmas decorations and books. Abigail loves spending time with Hannah, and we had a good time.

Mrs. Prevatt’s other room moms, Jodie and Amy, helped Brooklyn’s class make snowman ornaments out of wooden circles and paint on December 8th.

This was the sample ornament. I thought it turned out so cute!!

Abigail and I spent the morning that day at Britni’s house. Abigail loved playing dress up with Ella and Adelyn and listening to Frozen songs :) I’m thankful she has so many sweet church friends her age!

Abigail loves to play outside after lunch, no matter the weather. It was wet on December 9th, but we still kicked a big pink ball in the driveway for a few minutes.

December 9th was the big crab adoption day! Brooklyn’s science teacher, Mrs. Davidson, texted me that morning to ask if it would be okay if Brooklyn brought home TWO crabs that day instead of just one…haha. Of course, that made Brooklyn even more excited.

It was hard to get good pictures of them, but Brooklyn picked out two female crabs…one that had belonged to her group in class and one from another group. She named them Waffles and Syrup and was so excited to have them home!

On December 10th, we had a big party for Baugay’s 90th birthday! We were missing a few family members, but this is most of the Grant family at least. Many of Baugay’s friends were invited too.

It was a fun afternoon! I was in charge of making the slideshow for the party. I enjoyed looking through lots of pictures of Baugay from when she was younger. She is so special to our family!

After Baugay’s party, we went to Uncle Allen and Aunt Debbie’s house for supper and a tour of their new “chicken palace.” They recently bought a bunch of chicks and a rooster and built a big chicken coop in their backyard. It’s the nicest chicken coop we’d ever seen–with electricity and a door that opens and closes automatically so the chickens can go outside during the day.

The kids got to sign their names on the walls of the chicken palace for decoration :)

Brooklyn drew this cute picture of her new pets…

…and she made sure to spell out the “rules of the crabs” so that we would know how to be on our best behavior around them ;)

December 11th was Baugay’s actual birthday, and it was also our Sunday to eat lunch with her. The Loveless crew couldn’t join us because one of the boys was sick, so we went out to eat at Luigi’s. It was Baugay’s first time to eat there, and we all enjoyed it.

We ordered a cannoli and a slice of Italian cream cake to share for dessert, and they brought out the cannoli with a special message on the plate :)

It was such a busy weekend that Abigail fell asleep on the couch on Monday after lunch :)

Brooklyn’s class party was on December 12th at 1 pm. It was a lot of fun! Brooklyn didn’t want me to come on the field trip to Guillion Farms earlier this fall, but she said she was actually happy for me to come to the party. This year, her class has a really great group of parents who are eager to help and be involved. We had 16 parents at one point who were RSVP’d to come to the party! Of course, this was the first year since 1^st grade that there was no limit on the number of parents who could attend.

The kids had a great time. First, they painted a sled ornament that Jodie had made, and then we played a “decorate your friend like a Christmas tree” game. They paired up with a friend, and one got to be the decorator and the other was the tree.

I think the kids enjoyed that the most! It was funny to see the “trees” when they were finished.

A bunch of the trees ;)

The kids also ate a snack and played Christmas bingo. Mrs. Prevatt has been out on maternity leave since the end of October, and the kids were looking forward to her returning after the break.

All the kids!

Abigail helped me make a game for Savannah’s class party later that week. It was a Poke-A-Tree game with prizes inside. I can’t take credit for the idea…another mom made one of these for Brooklyn’s party when she was in 1st grade.

Each cup was covered in tissue paper and held prizes inside :) Abigail enjoyed helping me fill the cups. I thought it turned out cute, and the best part is that the board and cups can be reused for future parties!

Savannah’s class party was on Thursday, December 15th. She was very excited about me coming. Ms. Kuenzli wanted to divide the kids up into small groups, so we did that rather than having the whole class do each activity at the same time. Savannah went to the ornament station first and made a snow globe ornament with her picture inside.

Next, she went to the Poke-a-Tree station. The kids enjoyed seeing what prizes they got. The tissue paper didn’t stay in place with the rubberbands very well, so I may need to tape or glue it next time. They also made Christmas cards at this station.

After that, she rotated to the “Decorate your friend like a Christmas tree” station. Savannah got chosen to be the tree in her group :)

They wrapped her up pretty tight with the green crepe paper…haha

She made a pretty cute tree when they were finished!

The cupcake decorating station was a crowd pleaser, of course :)

After the kids rotated to all the stations, they ate their cupcakes on the carpet while Jessica, Anniston’s mom, read them a Christmas story. It was a fun morning!

That night, some of the teachers and staff from school went caroling in a few neighborhoods, including ours. As far as I know, this was the first ever Mill Creek caroling night. We were excited!

The teachers pulled up in a school bus, got out and sang a few songs, and then gave hugs before they headed to the next neighborhood. We saw Ms. Kuenzli and several other teachers we knew!

The last day of school was Friday, December 16th, and it was a half day of school. The last day is always PJ day, which is something the kids look forward to every year.

Later that morning…ready for Christmas break!!

That afternoon, we delivered the Millstone News with Elaina, Bristol, and Addie. A good way to kick off the break!

Notes and Quotes from Early December:

• 12/2/22 – Abigail likes to play a game where she and I race around the house. We are supposed to dribble our soccer balls while we run, but she normally picks hers up and runs with it ;) Anyway, she told Travis later, “I beat Mommy during our run today because Mommy’s getting very old and having gray hair!”
• 12/15/22 – Savannah: “I think I will live in Savannah when I grow up, but I will come home once a month to watch Sunday night football with you.” :) Brooklyn plans to live in Florida when she grows up, and Abigail says she is going to live with Paw and Rae Rae…haha!

Thanks for reading!!