I realized the reason I don’t like blogging right now is because I’m so far behind that it leaves me overwhelmed. So without any more excuses here’s a big catch up.
Like the rest of the world we celebrated Christmas too! This year was by far the best year yet with the kids. With all the excitement surrounding Christmas we tried to talk about and celebrate the true meaning of Christmas. Maybe next year they will understand a little more. Holly had another dance recital, this time it was a Nutcracker in a day with her little dance friends. JD wasn’t feeling good otherwise he would’ve joined her. He was very happy to watch from the audience. I smiled the whole time as did Holly. She giggled and did the choreography so well. They were treated with a dance by the sugar plum fairy whom Holly could not stop talking about for days after. Cutest thing ever.
We enjoyed our ward Christmas party but no pictures with Santa because Holly and JD refused to sit on his lap. But they did perform on stage, in front of the whole ward, with some of their dancing friends. We were all smiles again. Jim and I even bribed them with a big prize of their choice, which turns out wasn’t really necessary. We followed through with our end of the deal though with a trip to the Disney store!
The kids and I bonded in the kitchen. We made a couple batches of almond roca to pass out to our friends. And I made a Garfield cake for a friend in the ward. It turned out way better than I even planned leaving my friend in happy tears.
Grandma took the kids and I to see a ballet at the Dean Lesher Center. The kids did pretty good but started getting antsy near the end. Maybe next year we will be seeing the Nutcracker.
We had joy school at a place called pump it up. It was a fun change of scenery and the kids had a blast running, sliding and bouncing for a few hours. I even had fun going down the slides with them!
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And just to add to the craziness I decided to have my very first piano recital before the Christmas break. I debated but the kids wanted to play their Christmas songs and I’m so glad we did. The kids did great and continue to get better and better. I’ve really enjoyed teaching and Holly and JD have enjoyed spending time with grandma during my lessons. Love my little students.
One of the kids most favorite things to do while we were out driving was to see the Christmas lights. Mr. Christmas was of course on our list and we visited a few other houses as well. We drove up to a pretty impressive house and Holly insisted she take a picture. She and JD kept saying, “this is amazing.” They could sit in front of a lit up house for hours. JD still wishes we left our Christmas lights up especially when he sees other houses with them on and wonders why we don’t.
And because the holiday season isn’t crazy enough JD’s little body decided it was a good time to get croup. The scariest thing ever! He woke up coughing a couple times in the night so Jim and I kept him in our bed. About an hour later JD woke up coughing again but this time gasping for air and coughing like a barking seal. We gave him an albuterol treatment and he wouldn’t take the mask off when it was over. We couldn’t get a hold of Jim’s family and I wasn’t comfortable driving to the ER by myself so I insisted we call 911. Jim gave him a blessing and the ambulance arrived. JD freaked out a little as we put him on the gurney so I leaned close so he could hold my hair, he grabbed it and put it on his cheek. Glad I know what comforts him! Sweet boy. After a few epinephrine treatments, steroids and four hours later we were on our way home. I hope to never experience that again.
This year we had a few friends over to Grandma and Poppy’s house to decorate gingerbread houses. I think this tradition will keep getting more fun with Holly and JD!
We had our annual Hopkins family Christmas Eve fondue night followed by the Christmas story and songs. This year we skyped with Doug, Cate and Wesley in Texas while they had their own fondue night. We opened Our Christmas pjs and Poppy read while we sang.
Whew, that was long. Next up Christmas Day!