2017 :: week 51

December 17

We celebrated Will's eight birthday Sunday. How can our little boy be eight?! Birthdays on Sunday can be a little tricky, so we did the aquarium date Saturday afternoon. Sunday we went to church, then had Memaw and Pepaw over for dinner. Right before we lit the donut cake we heard a knock on the door--it was the Throssell's caroling and delivering a plate of Christmas goodies. Perfect timing because they were able to sing "Happy Birthday" with us! After dessert and present opening we went to Sar-Ko-Par Park and walked around the lake and enjoyed the Christmas lights. It was a perfect way to celebrate our favorite big brother.

December 18

Monday afternoon the kids worked on putting together the Lego set Will got for his birthday. They love following the directions and putting the sets together perfectly at first. But then they like to take things apart and build creations of their own imaginations. They like to build homes and the Lego Creator sets are good for that. It was so nice to see them working together so well.

December 19

I finally was able to check "Bass Pro Santa Picture," off my Christmas bucket list Tuesday afternoon.  I've had this hanging over my head for the past few weeks and it felt good to get it done. Last year we went in November and it was much less stressful.The kids had their Winter Parties at school and I went up to the school to help. We went to Bass Pro right after school to get the pictures and arrived at just the right time--3:55pm. They gave us a ticket to get in line at 4pm and we were in and out in about 30 minutes. The line had tripled in length by the time we left.

December 20

Lauren's friend Daphne invited a few friends over to her house to decorate sugar cookies after the early dismissal from school Wednesday. Lillian and Breanna were there too. The kids rolled out dough, decorated cookies and played in the backyard for a bit. We were all having a good time and would have been happy to stay longer but we had to get home because Will's friend Porter was coming over to play. Both kids were excited to start off the school break with playdates.

December 21

Thursday was a workday. We cleaned all the bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen, family rooms, basement, etc. I was hoping it would take 2-3 hours but it took closer to six. It had been awhile since we deeply cleaned the bedrooms, and our house had been in a bit of disarray ever since we moved back in after getting the floors done. I was a bit frustrated with myself that we used most of the last warm day to clean, so we went to the playground for about and hour before Anthony got home. Due to a series of unanticipated mishaps we ended up eating dinner at Pizzeria Locale.

December 22

Doug and Tina arrived Friday morning after changing their flights to avoid a snowstorm (they were originally set to arrive late Friday night). We picked them up from the airport and spent the afternoon walking around Union Station. Elliott was in heaven with all the "choo choos." He watched the little trains run around the tracks for minutes on end.

December 23

Anthony baptized Will on Saturday morning in front of 73 family members and friends. It was a beautiful meeting and a great way to usher in the Christmas weekend. Nana John spoke about the many Thomas John's in Will's paternal line and the first Thomas John that joined the church in Wales. The group sang Christmas carols while Anthony and Will changed clothes and I felt like I was part of a heavenly chorus worshiping the Savior. Lauren and cousins Leah and Tyler sang the first verse of "I am a Child of God." My heart felt so very full.