December 2014 Highlights

I can hardly believe that it has been nearly a month since Christmas. December was packed full and it really feels like such a blur. As much as we looked forward to celebrating the holidays we were really looking forward to the end of a hard year and the beginning of a new, hopefully more rewarding, year. Here are the highlights from December:

* Snowflake, our Elf on the Shelf, returned for another year. This year she didn't bring any funny business. She mostly watched, moved around the house, and wrote letters back and forth with the kids.
*One lowlight came with the arrival of Snowflake. Harper decided she no longer wanted to sleep through the night. It's rough going back to no sleep and being up for 3-4 hours a night. We calculated that the only night that she slept without waking during the month of December was Christmas Eve.
* Harper had her very first school holiday program. Sadly, I was the only one that witnessed it. She spent the majority of the program staring at the crowd and waving to her brother. No singing this time around.
* Brett and I both were able to volunteer at Riley's holiday party at school. She loved having us there and it was fun to see her interact with her friends. She is definitely one of the mature kids in the class. We helped get everything set up and then ran one of the stations. Kindergarten teachers are true blessings!
* Riley and Harper both sang in the Christmas Cantata at Hope. Sadly, I was sick and didn't get to see it. I'm impressed that they were able to stand in front of so many people and sing (or stand there like Harp)!!
* Aunt Libby and Uncle David were here for the week leading up to Christmas. The kids loved having them here. They kept us busy with a Bucs game, basketball games, brunch with Santa followed Polar Express at the iMax, and Christmas Eve service at Hope.
* A trip to see Santa at the mall. Riley sat next to him, Cole gave him a high five and hug, and Harper wanted nothing to do with him.
* We celebrated Christmas with the Consolver side of the family. It was fun to have my aunts, uncles, and cousins together and a reminder that we don't get together often enough.
* Christms Eve we did absolutely nothing and it was GREAT!
* Christmas! What a fun day. The kids slept until 7:15 which was an unexpected surprise. We decided to follow the four gift rule (want, need, something to read, and something to wear) and will definitely do the same going forward.