end of break

 We had a nice break!  Since they start school so early, they get a really long Christmas break.  Thankfully we had some nice days so we could get out some days!  The days we were stuck inside were spent making tents and playing LOL dolls.  I loved watching them each push a special animal or doll in a stroller on our walks.  The break always goes so fast!

snow

 I don't remember when in December we got a little snow, but one morning we got a skiff.  The girls were more than pleased!  Heidi was able to build a little snowman and Savanna was collecting as much as she could in a bowl.  Caimbree doesn't last too long in the cold temperatures, but she played for a little while.  The weather has been up and down all month, but the girls were happy to have at least a little white stuff!

sleepover

Heidi and Avery have been best friends since the first day of kindergarten.  They are the perfect little friends for each other.  Avery's little sister, Ryann, is Savanna's age and while they are not in the same class, they have become great friends this year!  So I invited them both to come over for a sleepover and everyone was just so excited!  They played games, did their doll's hair, and played LOL dolls.  I am so grateful my girls have such good friends!  Ryann was sweet and made sure to include Caimbree in everything they played and Caimbree spent the night in Savanna's room as well.  They all said it was the best day and night ever!

christmas day

 We had a wonderful Christmas day!  The girls were so excited and seeing their faces was the best!  They had mostly asked for LOL dolls, a Pikmi Pop, and books.  They also wanted some furniture for the dollhouse Jeff had finished for them.  We were invited to some of our friend's house from church for dinner so we went there in the late afternoon.  We had a great time and we are so grateful for all of the friends we have here that help make not having family close more bearable!  It was another great Christmas! 

christmas eve

Oh the night before Christmas is just so magical when your kids are ages 8, 6, and 4!  We were just so grateful everyone was healthy so we could enjoy reading our scriptures, getting cookies out for Santa, and going to look at Christmas lights.  We love going to a house called, "Petty's Christmas Corner".  They do a light show synchronized to music and collect donations for St Jude's. Heidi has such a giving heart and wanted to donate the $10 her grandpa had sent her.  She definitely has her heart in the right place.  We love these three so much and couldn't wait to see their beautiful, excited faces on Christmas morning!  Christmas is the best!

santa

Due to our sickness, I wasn't sure we would make it to see Santa this year.  Luckily the day he was at the library we were healthy enough to go!  And as a huge miracle, they all three willingly sat on Santa's lap and spoke to him! 

redskins come to nashville

 Heidi loves football. I think she loves it because it's a bond between her and her dad.  It fun to watch them get excited about games and teams.  Heidi loves the Redskins since that's Jeff's team and she also loves the Titans.  Last season she would talk about what would happen if they played each other. Well, her dream came true and they were actually going to play each other in Nashville!  It was a flex game and we told her the game might be on a Sunday, but if it wasn't on a Sunday, she could go with Jeff.  On the way to school one morning it was announced that it was going to be on a Saturday. She was freaking out!  She had to call Jeff right away!  So that night we got a little group together that included our neighbor, Craig, who is a Redskins fan and her friend, Lincoln, and his dad.  I think she might have been more excited about the game than she was about Christmas!  We were so grateful she got over the stomach bug just in time to make the game.  She said it was the best day of her life and she wished she could live it all over again! I am so glad it worked out that she was healthy and that the game was on a good day to go!

more december happenings

 The girls love America's Funniest Videos. They looks forward to it each week and always look so cute and cozy snuggled up ready to laugh.  Caimbree and Savanna have always called it, "Merriest Funniest Videos" and Caimbree's giggle throughout the show makes us all laugh.

 Savanna loves school an she is learning in leaps and bounds!  Recently I find little notes and writings on every scrap of paper and I love finding all of these treasures! 

 Savanna was so excited about Christmas and she was so excited about every single activity she did at school. She would come home and excitedly tell us what she was doing.  She was especially excited about the Christmas countdown with Santa's beard.  When she brought it home for break she proudly hung it on her closet door and didn't ever forget to the next cotton ball!  I am so glad that she loves school so much.

One of our friends in our ward is talented seamstress.  Heidi wants to learn to sew and our friend agreed to teach her!  There hasn't been much time for her to get any lessons, but she did go once and learned how to make scrunchies!  After she learned, she came home and made one for each of her sisters for Christmas.  She is so thoughtful! She is looking forward to learning more! 

sweet savanna

When I was really struggling and had a particularly difficult day, I walked in my room and saw this sweet note on my bed.  Savanna has always had the most tender heart.  When I am sick she will repeatedly give me hugs and love and she does the same for everyone.  If she sees one of her sisters sad she is the first one to try to make them feel better and if she thinks someone has wronged them, she jumps to their defense.  Noticing other people's feelings is her gift and we love her tender heart so much!

gingerbread houses

 Once everyone was feeling better we made our gingerbread houses!  Savanna was sick for the gingerbread house day but her teacher was so sweet and sent the supplies home so she could make it at home.  She sent home enough supplies that all three girls were able to make a house!  Gingerbread houses are so much fun!

sickness strikes

 Savanna brought home a really nasty stomach bug and shared it with everyone except Jeff.  It hit them all in the middle of the night and they got it about 2 days apart from each other.  So I was up almost 24 hours days for about a week.  Good times.  On top of that I had a crown put in, that ended up turning into a root canal. It was not an easy month.  I tried so hard to look on the bright side, but I was full of anxiety about if the tooth actually needed a root canal, who to trust to do the root canal, if the pain would stop if I got a root canal, how we would afford a root canal, why my teeth are so awful in spite of how meticulous I am about flossing and brushing, who was going to get the stomach bug next, if everyone would be healthy by Christmas, and on and on.  When I was able to sleep, I would wake up in a panic sweating and out of breath and just full blown anxiety.  It.was.awful.  I felt like I was going crazy.  I could hardly get through each day and I just felt so alone.  Logically, I knew and recognized all of my blessings and knew it was anxiety that was taking over, but I couldn't stop it like I usually can.  I finally got my tooth fixed and thankfully, the pain went away with it.  Unfortunately, due to the high does of Advil I was on for such a long time, headaches became an even worse issue than normal once I was no longer taking it.  So I had to work through some pretty horrific days of immense pain and vomiting from the rebound headaches.  But once I got through those, things started to look up and I was slowly, slowly able to get back to feeling more like myself.  December really wasn't a fantastic month, but there were some good moments and I am so grateful for the unconditional love from

 my sweet girls.  No matter awful I felt, they were always happy to see me, pray for me, and tell me they loved me.  I am so grateful the sickness passed and that they were better by Christmas! 

christmas baking

 We didn't get much Christmas baking done this year, but I was grateful to have my three baking buddies for the baking we did do!  Heidi especially loves to bake when I give her the recipe and let her do it on her own.  She loves independence!  The girls always looks so cute in their aprons that Jeff's mom made them.  Baking with these three makes baking slightly more work, but way more fun!

school christmas party

I spent Halloween in Savanna's classroom helping so I went to Heidi's class for Christmas since the parties have always been at the same time and I can't be in two places at once!  I was at least able to stop in Savanna's classroom for a few minutes to give her a squeeze and see her make an ornament before heading to Heidi.  Heidi's class played a bunch of fun Minute to Win It games and had a little Christmas breakfast.  It was so fun to be with her and she and Caimbree were so excited to see each other.  I love being able to help in the girls classes every chance I get!

christmas program

Caimbree finally got to have a turn performing in a school program!  She was SO cute!  I loved every minute of the program and I especially loved hearing her sing her cute songs and watch all of her cute actions.  She is so shy I wasn't sure what to expect on the stage, but she did a fantastic job!  I always look forward to school programs and she was a joy to watch!  Love this angel so much!

christmas in downtown dickson

 Every year we look forward to Christmas in downtown Dickson!  We love this tradition so much!  Sadly this year we got rained on, but we were able to at least enjoy about an hour of the night.  Our friend from our ward, Katie Riggs, was singing for the tree lighting so we went to that.  The girls had made ornaments for the big tree on the square so we checked those out as well.  It started pouring before we could do carriage rides.  We were all disappointed, but hopefully next year we won't get rained out!  We love our town more and more with every year that passes!