Half of December

So I sat down this afternoon to write a blog post documenting our December for Aunt L who reads this but does not check-in on facebook.  It seemed only fair she should see the pictures of my beautiful children as she is at least half the reason they dress so nicely.

But, I was constantly distracted.  I can't blame it on the kids because Oak took them upstairs so I could concentrate.  Nope, I'm just that scattered.  I needed to download more presets for my new photo editing program (Lightroom 4), look at pictures from China, eat, install presets, look at SnapDragon's baby pictures, eat some more...

So I only got through to December 22nd.  But here goes...

At the beginning of the month we watched Christmas movies and cut-out and decorated Christmas cookies.

Sweet Pea was more interested in eating than making, and Sunflower spent a good amount of time doing somersaults, but overall a good time was had by all.

Then we spent a few weeks distracted by my dad's open heart surgery which went very, very well and he is recovering from excellently.  It included a few nights in a hotel near the hospital which was fairly fun for the kids in swimming and eating and nice to have my family close by.  Sweet Pea did NOT sleep well away from home and I took no pictures, but in all other ways it was a great mini-vacation.

Finally on December 16th we did two of our normal Christmas activities.

First, decorating a gingerbread house with Aunt J.  She came to our house and brought the kit which means I get to take pictures and play on the computer.

 Sweet Pea spent most of the time coloring.  We didn't trust her near all that candy.

Then on to decorating the Christmas tree that Oak and the kids had picked out the day before while I was at a Christmas party with friends. 

Then the following Saturday we went to celebrate Christmas with the local family from Oak's side of the family.  I love going to Aunt J's house at Christmas; it is so pretty, with lots of lights.  It was an excellent time of great food, good conversation, laughter, and some presents for the kids.

It did lead to the battle of Sweet Pea versus the GingerBread House which I'm happy sad to report Sweet Pea lost after a valiant effort.

She would have won if Oak hadn't stepped in on the side of the house and thus ended the battle and my photos ops.

We returned home after a long and lovely party for me to create the photos that entertained my friends on facebook for weeks.  Apparently bad photography is more amusing than good...why did I think it was a good idea to go for a group shot when everyone (including the photographer) was tired and maybe a little cranky?

And that brings us to the end of December 22nd which was the beginning of a three week period full of family, friends, fun, celebrations, and joy...all of which I have another zillion pictures.  But that post will have to wait for another day.*  Today it is early to bed with the second to last Jordan novel, my husband, and the Hobbit. 

*I cannot promise that that other day will be soon.  Once I start to read the Wheel of Time again, I may not surface for weeks.  My children will go unsupervised and would go unfed if I did not have Oak.  The last novel comes out Tuesday...at which time it may be a good idea to send us pizza...my husband is also a fan of Jordan.