Christmas Countdown

This week was an at home week for school for the middle 3. I hate at home weeks and I was even less thrilled that it meant that I had to help the kids with school work a week before Christmas. This is really making me want to quit this hybrid program. I was not so good at helping them get things done because I was so disgruntled about things. Monday morning I went to Grace's so she could fix my terrible haircut. She did amazing as usual. I wish she didn't have hand issues so I didn't feel guilty asking her to cut my hair. Monday night the girls had an activity and Tyler took them. Apparently with temperature drops the roads had iced over and one of the leaders got in an accident on the way to the activity. Thankfully nothing too major but what a bummer.

I spent a lot of Tuesday having the kids root through their toys and their rooms so that we could make some room for the new things that will be coming on Christmas. It was quite the ordeal and I was reminded why I usually do this without them. They do not like to give away/get rid of things. That evening, while the boys were at their youth Christmas party, I decided to have some fun and took some Christmas pictures of Ruby. The hardest part was that she kept trying to put everything in her mouth. I'm grateful for a fancy phone camera that allowed me to do some editing to where I think they almost look professional. 

Wednesday evening Lucy had her last volleyball game. Grams Hatch was able to come so that was nice. Her team won the first round and then lost the last two but their were some good volley's to watch and Lucy made some good efforts. Afterwards I went home with Ruby but Tyler and the rest of the kids went to DQ with Lucy's team to celebrate the end of the season. This is an outdoor DQ so I think that was a weird (and very cold) way to celebrate but the kids did not mind.

Thursday morning we discovered that Ruby had a tooth! That would explain a lot of her behavior. 

Thursday was a bit busy. I made a quick trip to Kroger's for some last minute things. Then I went and had lunch with Grace and Caroline where I talked way to much- it was clear I was needing a vent session. After that I had a dentist appointment with a very chatty hygenist. I also like to chat so I think the cleaning took twice as long as necessary but I won't complain too much about that. I will complain that apparently an old filling as cracked and there is now a cavity under it. Dentist says it's close to the root so I might need a root canal. Boooo. After my appointment I went home and made a quick dinner and then we went on our traditional outing to the Wayne County Lightfest. Only this time we had Mariah's family join us. We met at their house, the boys got in Mariah's car (because her boys love our boys) and then we followed each other there. Once we paid our car fee and were in the gates, we pulled over and Jessie came in our car (they hadn't wanted to move out her car seat). I also changed Ruby's diaper because she had a major blow out. She still has the yucky poop, it just hasn't been as frequent. But it always seems to be messy. I changed her formula and can't decided if it's better or worse. Less frequent pooping but more frequent spitting up... Anyways back to the lights, they were a good time as per usual.

Friday evening we had our annual Graham Cracker House Party so I spent the day getting the inside ready while Tyler spent the day making trophies for the party. This year we shook things up and Tyler didn't make houses for any of the kids (mostly because he didn't have time) but I do think that was a good change. It led to a lot more creativity from the kids. We also had new winning categories (most beautiful, most creative, most epic scene- instead of 1st, 2nd, 3rd). The kids all spent a good hour creating and then we all voted. Jenna won "the most beautiful". She was the first place winner last year so she seems to be reatining her title. Ben won "most creative" and he was so happy. He has been desperate to win an award for years. He had made a factory. Steven won "most epic scene". Steven had made a boat in space. The girls were both very sad that they were not winners. Penny had tried for "most beautiful" and Lucy went for "epic scene" by making Rapunzel in a tower. I really liked Lucy's tower. Tyler was happy that we actually got to keep 2 of the trophies in our house.

After the graham cracker making was done, we did the Saran Wrap Ball. They were much less crazy with it this year- maybe because Jacob wasn't there? I was suprised by how calm everyone was. Then we did "Don't Eat Pete" but with a twist- we used Bean Boozled Beans. It had flavors like toothpaste, dirty socks and fish...Less kids played and the ones that did, were really hoping to get to "Pete" quickly. It was pretty entertaining to watch the kids faces when they got gross flavors. They had me play too and thankfully the worst I got was toothpaste. I was pretty lucky and got "Pete" after eating 2 beans. Their Uncle Jeff played and was way less lucky- he pretty much ate every gross flavor possible. I would say it was another successful party hosted by us and even Ruby did a good job of not being fussy.

Saturday was a day for last minute Christmas prep- wrapping the rest of the gifts, going to Kroger's for a few more things, making sugar cookies to decorate the next day...That night we had a White Elephant party at Melissa's house. It was a pretty good time. Chatting, snacks and treats and a of course, a white elephant gift exchange. Tyler got a cookbook by Snoop Dawg and I got a "People of Walmart" coloring book. Steven got a Frozen lunchbox (that he gave to Isla), Lucy got a chicken hat and yellow gloves (she loves them), Penny got a deck of Harry Potter cards and Ben got an obnoxious rubber honking pig (really don't know what to call it). I was grateful they did not get the pet goldfish because we do not need another pet, lol. Once again Ruby did really good so that helped us all have a good time. We also tricked the men into all wearing matching shirts- "Go Jesus It's Your Birthday."