December

This past month has been the busiest December that I can ever remember. We got back from our Hawaii/Thanksgiving trip on Nov 30th and hit the ground running. Every single weekend was booked before the month even began and I was up til at least 11pm (usually midnight and once 2:30am) every single night trying to get all our Christmas projects done. I despise being this busy, with so much on our schedule, and deadlines hanging over my head. I totally crashed at the end of the month (seriously -  in bed for a full day). Even just going through pictures for this post, and having to relive it, has me all stressed out again. But I am sad that I've gotten so behind on blogging, so I'm determined to get it caught up.

Here's a quick catch up on some of the little things in December that helped make the month a little more special . . .

"Mr. Elf" found his way to Gram and Papa's house the day after Thanksgiving and managed to sneak into our car before our drive home. Boy was it fun having Mr. Elf around for the month. He added such a simple bit of excitement to every morning! I love how Cal still asks about Mr Elf every now and then.

We picked out our Christmas tree the first Saturday of the month. It's important to Spencer that we get a fresh tree every year, but I wouldn't be opposed to going the fake route in the future just to save some time and money.

Home Depot is always a fun place to hang out on Saturday mornings though. This particular Santa was there for a photo op, right next to the monthly Home Depot building project which the girls got right to work on.

That night was our ward Christmas party. The Primary kids were in charge of the entertainment which meant I was in charge of helping organize, get costumes, schedule a weekday practice, and pull it all off. Thankfully I've got an amazing chorister who's super on the ball and was able to get it pretty well organized while I was away the last 2 weeks of November. The kids put on such a great show! 

Visits from Santa are always fun!

 Except for maybe Calvin . . .

Tanna and Sydney came in town for a quick weekend trip. It was fun to be able to spend some time with them on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. 

Sydney joined us at our ward party Saturday night and then she and Tanna both joined us Sunday afternoon for our impromptu Christmas card photo shoot - done completely with my tripod and self timer.

Big thanks to Aunt Tanna and Sydney for making the photo shoot extra fun!! Love this picture collage that Sydney made and emailed me:

The girls both had school Christmas concerts the week before school got out.

Look for Elle - in the middle - third girl in the white shirt:

And sweet Madi:

The second weekend of December was the annual Camarillo Christmas parade.

We had a huge group with us! Aunt Fay and Uncle Bob had arrived the night before, and Spencer picked Corinne, Morgan, and Bailey up at the airport that afternoon (after the parade).

That evening was Camarillo 2nd wards Cowboy Christmas party. Spencer had told his dad he'd help serve the food so we all went along to join in on the fun!

Lots of snuggle/story time to try to slow time down a bit.

Donut run with dad:

Elle's Mother Goose play was adorable - definitely a highlight of the month. I'll need to make that one a post of it's own.

Elle had quite the crowd that came out to cheer her on:

It's always fun having family in town for the holidays. I love how Jocelyn and Michael are always so good about coming over to our house to visit. It was fun to have them stay for dinner one night. Another afternoon they came over for Collin to get his very first Flowbee haircut! He was a champ!

Lots of fun preschool crafts:

I loved the sweet cards that the girls made for their teachers. Coming up with all the gifts and goodies to pass out at Christmas time adds a little stress to the holiday, but it all worked out great in the end.

Madi's teacher personally came up to tell me how much she appreciated the card Madi made for her and that it made her teary-eyed. 

Last day of school before the break was pajama day! It was fun to come to the girls' school, help with parties, and feel the excitement buzzing through their classrooms!

After school caramel corn delivery to the neighbors:

The lights on Gemini Street are always a favorite (excuse all the red eyes):

The Terry cousins got new baby chicks which Madi (and Spencer) fell in love with.

Spencer got into biking this month. Tom was gracious enough to let him borrow one of his bikes for the next six months - until Spencer figures out what kind of bike he wants (maybe a future birthday present)!

We had a Jenkins family white elephant gift exchange the Monday before Christmas. Such a fun idea that hopefully becomes an annual thing. 

The gifts were a bit interesting . . .

Spencer wished he could have taken home one of the baby chicks, but ended up with the lovely Christmas place mats instead.

We sure had a crazy fun time!!

Looking back on all this fun stuff makes me realize how great the month actually was. We truly have so much to be grateful for and I need to remember to slow down and enjoy life a little bit more. Spencer and I decided at the end of the month that we'd try to be a little more organized next year so that we weren't scrambling to get everything done at the last minute. . . like taking our Christmas card picture in November, so cards are already made and ready to be mailed out Dec 1st. I also need to start my photo projects earlier - the calendars I make are SO much work and take SO much time. I only made Elle a photo book this year - I was bummed that a completely free book coupon went unused because I ran out of time.

Our Stake Christmas Choir was another thing that took up a lot of my time this Christmas season. Last years performance was so awesome that the stake decided to make it a bigger deal this year. Practices started in November, the choir sang for stake conference, practices got longer in December - taking up every single Sunday evening, including one on Saturday, we had 2 performances on the 21st, and an evening performance at the LA Temple Visitor's Center on the 23rd (which we never made it to because we'd completely run out of steam by then). And the biggest bummer is that I never got a picture of Madi and I together before our big performance. She looked beautiful - the kids choir definitely stole the show! 

December is also one of the busiest months in Primary. Re-organizing for the New Year has felt like a full time job, especially with Holly out of town, Alexis busy with tons of family in town, Marianne out for shoulder surgery, and Francie visiting her grandkids. We did manage to pull it altogether though and I'm finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel! February is the month I can finally breathe again - and finally catch up on blogging! :) I sure love these cute primary kids though. I love my calling! 

One of Madi's last Sunday in Junior Primary

Both girls on the front row: Elle on the left end, Madi on the right end

It also didn't help the busy month any by Madi getting head lice (again)! She had it back in October but we'd completely gotten rid of it, then December 14th I found it again. Talk about major set back! It takes hours and hours to go through Madi's (and Elle's - cause of course I treated her as well) hair. So that was another thing that added to our stressful month and made me a little crazy for awhile. But what a sweet note I got from Madi for all my hard work! :)

It also didn't help the month any by miscarrying on December 7th. I was barely 7 weeks along, but have been trying for over a year and a half, so that was a bummer. Still trying to figure out what I'm supposed to learn from all this - I know there is a reason.

I really can't complain about all my little stresses, trials, and set backs, especially when I know there are many going through a lot worse. We had a huge rainstorm in Camarillo a couple weeks back which caused a devastating mudslide in the Camarillo Springs area. Homes were completely destroyed, leaving many homeless just 13 days before Christmas. Spencer was able to go with his young men and help many of the affected families.

Sure puts things in perspective and makes me extra grateful for all of my blessings. It was a wonderful December spent with my sweet family I love.