Mom Day: Colton

After a full day with Mom, Ranger had a sleepover at AJ's house and so I switched to Mom Day with Colton on Friday evening! Colton ended up doing 2 half days with Mom. He felt really happy with both his 1/2 days, and that is what counts.

For his first half, he did an "almost" sleep over with Eva. It is an almost sleepover because they wear jammies and have fun, but then go home right at bedtime. Eva and Colton had the best time decorating for Grant's birthday, coloring shrinky dinks, eating cookies, doing a KiwiCrate, and being silly. I had the best time too. It was so fun to get to focus on Colton and Eva. Jennifer came over for a bit towards the end of the evening and it was great to catch up with her too.

Then, for his 2nd half of a Mom Day, Colton picked Epic Waters! A flier had come to the house and he immediately wanted to check it out. I convinced him to take the rest of the kids. Even though it was his day, he agreed that doing rides and splashing around in the water was more fun with other kids so he included Kamryn, Cadie, and Ranger in his Mom day. I wasn't sure what we would think of Epic Waters and we LOVED it! It was clean, the staff was so nice, it was a nice temperature, and it wasn't too huge. The food was pretty gross and overpriced, but the "Twilight Swim" for $14 per person was a great deal. Colton is so brave and he did so many ride - bit slides and the surfing thingy and the lazy river. All the kids ran for 5 hours straight. We showered off there and then headed home tired and happy. On the way out, a man was pushing a cart of what looked like trash and we told him what a wonderful evening we had. He pulled 5 tickets out of his pocket and gave them to us to come again for free! Wow!

Mom Day: Jack Ranger

I loved getting to hang out with my little man! We did LegoLand, the Grapevine Mills Aquarium, bought some Calvin and Hobbs books (his new favorite), ate lunch at Rainforest Cafe, and played blacklight mini-golf. We both thought it was so funny that Ranger's green shorts disappeared in front of the green screen at LegoLand! I am used to LegoLand being super busy, but it was not busy at all and Ranger got to do all the things he wanted. We got there first thing when it opened, and I think that helped. Ranger is so fun to talk with and I loved the 1:1 day with him.

Christmas

A wonderful Christmas eve at DD and Big John's and then Christmas Brunch at our house on Christmas Day. The weather was beautiful and it was great to be able to play outside. I loved being able to celebrate with my parents and with DD and Big John. I also loved going to the Christmas Eve service at Peak Street with our little family of 5. The service was small and lovely at Peak Street and the present way to remember the real reason for the season.

Mom Day: Cadie

The tradition continues! We managed to squeeze Mom Days over the holidays and they were so fun.

Cadie had a plan for her day and we almost fit it all in. We didn't make it to Rise, but we checked everything else off the list. Cadie says it was hard to pick a favorite part because she loved it all. I loved that Cadie and I picked the same Avatar at the Alien Zoo Dreamscape. Cadie loved getting her nails done and my favorite was the Mother/Daughter Tea at the Arboretum. Cadie didn't love the tea, but she put up with it for me and we had a nice walk and chat afterwards in the gardens.

The Granny Awards - 3rd Grade Musical

I am still not 100% sure what the plot was of The Granny Awards. My favorite story related to The Granny Awards was Ranger rushing downstairs on Nov. 29 and telling me he needed a Crane costumer THAT DAY! Ummmm... I didn't have a Crane costume just sitting around. He insisted that he was going to get in HUGE trouble if he didn't have a Crane costume that day. I tried for a few minutes to see what i could come up with, and I pretty much was at a loss. I told him we would have to work on it over the weekend.

So, after a trip to JoAnn's and a few hours spent upstairs cutting and gluing and ironing, we had a pretty awesome Crane costume! However, I was sad because our mask was so good, but too big! We couldn't see Ranger during the play behind his mask! Now I will know the next time I have to make a crane costume to make the beak smaller. Live and learn!

Thanksgiving

A wonderful, relaxing break! Thanksgiving Day was kicked off with the Hamm Turkey Bowl in the cold and then a warm dinner at DD and Big John's. I was bummed to not be able to play in the Turkey Bowl due to the recent broken foot diagnosis (bummer!). But I cheered loudly from the sidelines. Cadie and Lauren were cute doing a film and photos of the game. The entire break was really relaxed and included lots of time playing with friends, decorating for Christmas, and hanging out with family. Colton was living his best life in Christmas PJs at the SMU football game.

Ranger saved the day on Tuesday before Thanksgiving because Colton woke up and said he needed a Turkey shirt! What?! I didn't have a turkey shirt just hanging around. Ranger drew the BEST turkey! I LOVE the shirt.

Snider Plaza Christmas Tree Lighting

One of my favorite traditions! The weather was PERFECT. One small thing that made me sad was that I couldn't get the older two to get a picture with Santa. I think they both might be over Santa... except when he is bringing them presents. The face painters brought their A game this year!