1. Our countdown to Christmas continued this week with all kinds of fun activities. Sunday morning the kids woke up to gifts in their shoes for St. Nicholas Day.
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| They got candy and electric toothbrushes. #balance |
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| A short explanation of the St. Nicholas legend. |
2. Monday was Lego challenges: a gingerbread house, a gift, etc.
I guess I never took any pictures of the kids doing the challenges. Haha. Oops.
3. I've been feeling slightly overwhelmed lately. I just feel like I have a ton to do, and not enough brain space to remember it all. My phone is full of notes that would likely be nonsensical to anyone else, but mean something to me. Haha. On Tuesday, I dropped the kids off at school and went straight to Alpine to do some more shopping. I always think I'm done, then I realize I forgot teacher gifts, or someone doesn't have waterproof gloves, or I bought Christmas pajamas for two kids but not the third. I also had to pick up something I bought online at Kohl's. I did the "curbside pickup" for the first time. It was the best thing ever!
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| I actually didn't open my trunk. When I saw the lady coming, I rolled down my window and she handed me my order. I want to do all my shopping that way! |
Oh, and I have to tell you the joke about that "poor people probs" hashtag. One night recently, I sent my sisters a snapchat of my dinner plate filled with "franks and beans" (baked beans with sliced hot dogs). I was trying to use up some stuff from our pantry/freezer instead of grocery shopping that week, so it was a pretty pathetic dinner. I hashtagged it #poormansdinner. Libby responded with a snap of the goulash she had for dinner. And Niki replied with, "We had steak! Not even pork steak. Real beef!" Wow. If that isn't indicative of our levels of income, I don't know what is! Hahaha.
4. Tuesday night was our annual trip to see the trees and trains at Frederik Meijer Gardens.
In years past, Justin's grandma has always picked up tickets for us (because she's a member and can get a certain amount of people in for free/at a discounted rate), we'd go to her house for dinner, pick up the tickets, and go to the gardens. This year, she was sweet enough to buy the tickets and arrange a way for us to get them, but we didn't get to see her or Grandpa or go to their condo for dinner for obvious reasons. So sad. We managed to enjoy the gardens anyway.
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| Lucy and Levi didn't think they had to smile since their masks were covering their faces anyway. Haha. |
Honestly, it's a lot of work with Levi. He's such a troublemaker, and we were constantly chasing him, telling him to put his mask back on, telling him to get up off the floor, he even picked one of the trains up off the track. 🤦🤦🤦 So embarrassing.
5. Wednesday was gingerbread house day. I decided to try the pop-tart version I've seen floating around facebook/pinterest, hoping that'd be easier. Spoiler alert: it was not.
6. Thursday was just Mad-libs. Lucy wasn't interested, but Lena and Levi thought they were hilarious.
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| Levi insisted on filling the blanks himself. It was an added challenge for Lena to think of words short enough for him to fit in each space with his big handwriting. Haha. |
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| Preschool for the win! |
And Friday was family movie night.
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| This was the first year Levi really paid attention/actually got the plot. He was full of questions and giggles. |
7. Tonight, we celebrated with Justin's family since his parents are leaving for Florida tomorrow (lucky ducks).
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| Last year when we were in Florida, Lena had a Connect 4 app on her tablet that she and Grandpa played. Ever since then, he asks her every time we see them if she brought her tablet so they can play that game together. So a few weeks ago, Lena said, "I want to buy Grandpa real Connect 4 for Christmas so he can have his own." Haha. That's just what we did, and Lena was sooooooo excited to give it to him. |
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| After presents, Uncle Jesse broke out the guitar, and made up songs as Levi strummed. Hilarity ensued. |
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| Then he moved on to the piano. Such a musical child. |
8. Bonus point for my exciting news of the week! On Tuesday, I got a message from the school librarian asking if I could sub on Wednesday and Thursday of this week, plus 3 days next week! I couldn't do this Wednesday because I had Nova and it was too short of notice to work something else out. But I did it on Thursday, and am planning on next week!
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| I dug out some semi-professional clothes (I live in yoga pants, or occasionally jeans!), and even got up early enough to curl my hair! I was so proud of it in this picture, but don't be fooled. It was a hot mess most of the day. Haha. |
It was a great day, that just confirmed this is what I want to do when I grow up. Some of the kids were obnoxious and didn't listen very well, but we're so close to Christmas break that they're especially squirrelly. I also had to do recess duty, which is definitely not my favorite. Haha. Fortunately, Thursday was unseasonably warm for December. I don't think I'll be as lucky this upcoming week. But I loved checking in and out books, choosing what to read to each class, doing voices for all the characters, and connecting with the kids. Unfortunately, I got my financial aid letter today, and it's not as much as I was hoping for. If I decide to go through with this furthering my education thing I'm going to have to fork over a big chunk of change. And I can't decide if it's worth the strain on our finances. Ugh. Adulting.
9. Another bonus point for a few more pictures!
We got to watch Ruby and Casper for a while Sunday evening.
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| This girl turned 2 today!! |
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| This picture cracks.me.up. |
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| Buddies |
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| I've been looking for winter boots forever. Mine from last year have holes where my bunions pushed against the leather too much. 🤦 Found these gems at Aldi's for $15! Hopefully they can withstand my bunions. |
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| We're so excited!!!! |
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| Full disclosure: I sucked in my stomach as hard as I could before snapping this pic. 😂 |
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