December events

December is always filled with lots of little events that I only have a few pictures of each, but still want to document and remember.  The first of these for December 2015 was Kendall getting her braces on.  She was really excited to get them on and when they were all done, she looked so cute!  I know she will love the end result here in about 9 months even more.

  

Several other events that I have pictures of revolve around the kids' school Christmas acitivties, including Avery and her friends making snowflake grams for Student Council at Ella's house one afternoon, and Judson helping me make candied pecans for part of his teachers' Christmas gift.

Last but not least is Avery's Battle of the Books competition.  It was held on a Thursday this year so I was able to volunteer to be a table monitor so I could be there to watch.  My table was a group of 4th grade boys, but Avery's table was close by.  They didn't win, but they gave it a good effort and I am always proud of Avery for reading as many of the books as she can.

Thanksgiving

For the third year in a row, I joined Judson and his preschool class the week before Thanksgiving for the SCP Thanksgiving Feast.  Judson's class made feather hats and vests with Native American names on them to wear during the feast.  His Native American name was "Scampering Wolf"- very fitting.  As usual, we had chicken and biscuits from Chicken Express along with grapes, carrots, salad and desserts.  It was a yummy lunch and a special time for Judson and I to enjoy together.

For Thanksgiving Day, we had my parents, Amy and Chris, and Aunt Milly all over to our house for lunch.  Milly brought the turkey and Mom, Amy, and I prepared all the food and desserts.  After our delicious lunch, we talked, shared pictures, watched the Cowboys' game, and visited Avery and Kendall's "spa" for massages.  I think some of the clients might have even taken a nap during their spa visits, what with it being so relaxing and having such full bellies:)

Kendall's "Thanksgiving Hero" page she brought home from school. Makes my momma heart happy!

The girls helped me make this centerpiece for our table using pears, roses from our yard, and some roses from Kroger

the kids table got some roses as well

thankful for my family! 

Aunt Amy showing Avery how its done!

Kendall and Judson massaging their Daddy (who promptly fell asleep)

Mimi getting her massage

Now Aunt Amy's turn

Happy Thanksgiving!

Disney World Day Three- Back to Magic Kingdom

Since we only had three days and there is so much to do at Magic Kingdom, we decided to skip Animal Kingdom and Epcot and do a second day at MK.  We got a bit of a late start because Kendall had gotten sick in the middle of the night and we wanted to make sure she was ok, but we eventually made it to the park mid-morning.  After having our picture taken in front of the castle by one of the photographers (which was horrible because we were staring directly in the sun), we rode Splash Mountain and the Magic Carpets of Aladdin.  After those two we went back to our resort for some lunch and souvenir shopping.  Avery was looking for a tshirt or sweatshirt, but never found one she liked, so she ended up getting a Minnie Mouse charm for her charm bracelet and then at the park she got a Mickey staff like Judson's.   I got a nice frame for our family picture in front of the castle and a magnet for the fridge.  When we got back to the park we rode Space Mountain and then used our Fast Pass at the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.  We had pizza and pasts for dinner at Pinnochio Village Haus and then used our last Fast pass at the Meet and Greet with Cinderella and Rapunzel.  The kids got their pictures taken with each princess and got their autograph books signed by each one as well.  After that we headed over to Cinderella's castle to get a spot for the parade and fireworks.  The parade was really neat because it was holiday themed and was at night with all the floats covered in lights.  We saw a float with Mickey and Minnie, Pete's Dragon, an American Eagle, Peter Pan and Tinkerbell, and The Seven Dwarfs to name a few.  Then there was a stage show with lots of characters and princesses followed by show with music and lights and movie scenes projected onto the castle, which was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip.  It truly looked like the castle's appearance was changing right before your eyes!  Last but not least was the fireworks show, complete with shooting stars.  Sometime during all of the shows, Scott took Judson to ride The Pirates of the Carribean, and Judson came back with 2 more souvenirs- a hook and a sword.  We topped off the night with ice cream on our way out of the park and a FOREVER long wait to ride the shuttle back to the resort when it was so late and we were all exhausted.  Scott and I are still trying to forget that part, but it truly was a magical vacation and looking back on it, it was such a awesome time for our family to have fun together and experience something new.

Mickey and friends starting the show in front of Cinderella's castle

The lighting on the castle made it look surreal

Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella danced with their princes onstage

Captain Hook and pirates of Neverland

The princesses and princes waving at Tinkerbell as she flew off .

Mickey and Minnie- the Masters of Ceremonies

Mickey and Minnie's float in the parade

The Seven Dwarfs' float

Pete's Dragon

American Eagle

Just a few of the many designs projected on the castle

Fireworks!

Meeting Rapunzel. She was very talkative and friendly.

Meeting Cinderella.  She was more reserved that Rapunzel, but still nice.

Disney Day Two- Hollywood Studios

We spent the second day of our Disney World vacation at Hollywood Studios. We started off our morning with some thrills and chills on The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.  To our surprise, Judson was tall enough to ride, so we made the HUGE mistake of taking him along.  Bless his heart, he was so scared and I think we scarred him from wanting to ride anything with big drops for a long time.  To our credit, nothing we had ridden up to that point had been very scary or thrilling, so we thought maybe this one wouldn't be either - WRONG!  Even I didn't like it very much and I love rides.  Next we spent a LONG time in line for Toy Story Mania, but we tried to make the most it by playing "Heads Up" on my phone and enjoying the Candyland path and fun things they had in line to keep us busy.  It was an interactive ride where your cart spun around and you got to shoot at things- so it did end up being fun and different from any other ride we did.  We also did the Star Wars Star Tours 3D flight simulator ride, which Jud really liked, The Muppet Vision 3D show, and The Great Movie Ride.  We saw two shows as well- Beauty and the Beast Live, and Disney Jr Live which featured characters from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Doc McStuffins, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, and Sophia the First.  We also did a little souvenir shopping.  Kendall got a Frozen book and snow globe and Judson got a Bubble gun.  One of the highlights of our day was our only character dinner of the trip- Minnie's Holiday Dinner at Hollywood and Vine.  We had a family picture made with Santa Goofy and we took the kids' pictures with Mickey, Minnie, Daisy, and Donald.  The food was buffet style and was expensive, but it was delicious and definitely our best meal at Disney.

Starting our morning with some terror!

Beauty and the Beast Live 

Scott and the kids watched some comedians perform a street show while I looked around for souvenirs. Judson was so interested in this show and was absolutely cracking up at the performers!

Disney Jr Live- Sophia the First 

Jake and the Neverland Pirates

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

Meeting Santa Goofy before our dinner

Minnie's Holiday Dinner at Hollywood and Vine