3 Things

It's been a sweet forever since I've shared "3 Things" and I'm vowing to be a better blogger in 2023, soI may as well start now. And what better way than to wrap up 2022, by sharing 3 things.......

1. Gretchen had her winter dance over the weekend. It was the first time I've been able to help her get ready for a school dance and we had so much fun. We painted her nails, curled her hair, did her make up. All the girly things. 

2. She's making straight A's. I mean, are you even surprised? She tested out of her ELA class for 2nd semester and will go ahead and take her health class. 

3. She's busy with school plays. She was in one production already this year, and she's busy with her Mama Mia practices, which opens on her 15th birthday next month! 

1. Megan is still loving gymnastics. She'll repeat level 4 this year, which we are excited for because she should be stronger than last year, and she had some great scores on some of her events from this past season. So fingers crossed, that next season will go well. Gymnastics just takes up a lot of her time so that's hard that she's rarely home. 

2. She's a snuggle bug. Since she's gone so much, she often loves to get in extra hugs and snuggles when she can. It breaks my heart sometimes that all she wants to do is snuggle up, or wants to sleep in our bed. Sometimes her schedule is just hard on us. 

3. She's thriving in middle school! It's fun that she'll pick out her clothes and doesn't really care what other people think. She'll wear what she wants. She's making friends. She has  A's and B's. and she's just doing a good job of balancing it all. 

1. Adalyn started Pfutsal, which is similar to indoor soccer. She loves soccer and it's fun to watch her play! 

2. She joined her school choir this year and had her first choir concert and was able to march in our town's Christmas parade. 

3. School is not her favorite. This 2nd 9 weeks was rough, and her grades were subpar. But, we've worked through it with her teachers, put in some extra work, and it's much better. School just isn't her thing, and it'll probably be a long 7 years to get through it! Ha! 

1. DJ and I are celebrating our 17th wedding anniversary this weekend. How crazy is that?!

2. He's busy with bowl practice and football. It never ends. But, he has actually been home more and has been able to take Adalyn to school some days and it's so helpful!

3. I'm busy with work. I finally have an almost full scedule, and I just really love what I do. But, I am looking forward to having some time off over the holidays! 

 

Come On In: Christmas Home Tour

I decorated early this year in hopes that I would blog our decorations and share them over on Instagram. and here we are on December 14th, and I'm just now making the time to share. I swear in 2023, I'm going to be a better blogger. 

But, come on in, here's a glimpse of most of our Christmas decorations. 

In our entry way, we have our collection of hand and foot print art the girls have made throughout the years. This year, I'm thinking about letting the girls make a guided painting from You Tube, because their feet and hands are getting too big to fit on canvas, and we've just about made all the characters we can. 

Our hall table, has my antique wooden Santa's, our advent, some whimsical snowmen, and a little tree. 

Over in the dining room, we have greenery, wooden trees, and pearl sprays. 

I added a piece of greenery and bells to my dining room mirror, and used the buffet table to display some of my Spode collection. 

Our coffee table has a small nativity, a tree, another antique Santa, a wooden tree. 

And our little baby Jesus for our kindness manger. 

Our TV stand is my faux- mantle. I used greenery, lights, red sparkle ornamnets, and wooden reindeer.

We also have a basket of our favorite Christmas books, and Christmas cards from over the years. 

Our stockings our over and out of the way by the back door.

I added little ski's rather than wreaths to my kitchen cabinets, added a bow to my wreath above the microwave, and a wreath on the pantry door. 

I ended up keeping our tree simple this year. We decorated it the first weekend of December, and since we aren't going to be home for Christmas, I decided that we could just keep the tree simple this year. 

We also opted to not put out our Christmas village upstairs; it was just so much to do! 

But, I love how everything turned outl I love sitting by the twinkly lights and enjoying a family holiday movie! 

 

It's Already Been a Busy Month!

December has already been so busy!  Our calendar is packed this month with kid's activities, football practice, choir concerts, and then all of the Christmas traditions we love squeezing in! I already know December is going to fly by! 

We started our advent on December 1. Each day, the girls open the bag to see what Christmas activity we'll do that day. Sometimes it's just going to support one another at their concerts or performances. Other times, it's something easy like listen to Christmas music, watch a movie, or wear a Christmas shirt! It's just a fun way to celebrate the season a little each day. 

Our elves also returned and so did our candy advent calendar. The big girls were so nice to let Adalyn go first with the advent's this year. 

Gretchen had her "howl-iday" showcase at school and had 3 different performances. Two jazz dances and a Mama Mia performance! 

She's really involved with theater and it's keeping her so busy! 

We were all excited to support her. 

My friend bought a house and we were all able to celebrate her! She works so hard and totally deserved to be celebrated! 

Adalyn marched in our town's Christmas parade. We dropped her off with her choir teachers and went off to find a spot to watch her! 

We couldn't wait to see her! 

She was totally embarassed though that we were yelling at her and cheering! She was not ammused- ha! 

Our elves had a snowball fight- big thanks to our way more creative big kids! 

And we were finally able to decorate our tree! Literally the day before the middle lights went out so we had to replace them, and sometimes it feels like we are never all home at the same time. 

We found a Sunday afternoon that we were all home together, but I was not feeling well, so I let them do it all! 

I didn't even bother to add ribbons to the tree. We are going to be out of town for Christmas, so the way the girls decorated it was just perfect. 

DJ helped Megan put the star on top. 

Megan had her choir concert last Wednesday, so we went to watch her.

And the girls made the elves zip line through the entry way. I'm telling you, this elf thing is way eaiser when you have big sisters who want to help! 

Adalyn had her choir concert last Thursday. 

And we all went to watch her perform! 

And these two made the elves fly in the Barbie helicopter and DJ hung it from a vent. 

We are looking forward to the last few days of school, our annual PJ & lights night, celebrating our anniversary, and all the other fun things December brings us! 

Happy Holidays! 

That's a Wrap.

Football season 2022 has come to an end. We played our last game againist Baylor the day after Thanksgiving, and now we get ready for a bowl game. 

This game is always a litlte bittersweet. At the beginning of the season, I'm excited and ready for the season to begin, but I'm also excited and I count down to the weeks that it's over. And then it ends, and I find myself wanting a little more football. The games are fun. The atmosphere is fun. I know what our weekend plans will be. I can predict what life will be like during the season. And when it's over, it just takes us some time to get back in to a routine again. 

We headed to DJ's office about an hour before kick off to get settled. We stop for a family picture, grab some water, head to the bathroom, the girls mess with his students, and then it's game time. 

DJ's dad and stepmom came down for the game too! The girls headed to the meeting rooms to play with the other kids, and then the rest of us got settled in our seats. 

We made it out in time to see the senior video students on the field for senior day. 

Senior day makes me cry. Every single time. 

The students and players put so much work in to this program for 4 years and then it's gone. They're done. Definitely a bittersweet time. 

One last coin toss before the game starts. 

I took zero game pictures, but took some video instead. I was also afriad my phone would die. 

Post game we headed down to the field, gave DJ a big hug, and sang the Eyes of Texas together. It's always my favorite moment after a game. Then DJ heads back inside, and the girls play on the field

They tracked down a cheerleader for a picture. 

And Pops had to have his picture with her too! 

We went to see Bevo. Who was not in a good mood and had his back turned toward everyone! Ha! 

This girl has been great this season. She's been a huge help with the other coach's kids and with her sisters.

Megan ended her season with 30 yards of back walk overs on the field.

We headed back in and caught a glimpse of post game player interviews, and then headed to DJ's office to say bye to his students and wait around for traffic to clear out! 

And that's a wrap on the 22 season. 

 

Thanksgiving Time

Our Thanksgiving week was a good one. Every year Thanksgiving looks different for our family. Some years it's the 5 of us. Some years, we have family visit. Sometimes, we ship the girls off to grandparents and it's just DJ and I. Honestly, it all depends on the football season!

This year we had a home game. DJ's dad and stepmom made the trip down to Austin, so we all stayed in town and had a great big family Thanksgiving. 

The girls and I spent the weekend and Monday cleaning so the house would be in perfect shape for their grandparents. I was working in Adalyn's closet, looked over and saw her sprawled out on the bed, and she instantly looked like more than a 9 year old. 

DJ's parents arrived on Tuesday. We met up with DJ's family Tuesday night at a local Mexican food restaurant. Because Mexican food is the perfect way to kick off Thanksgiving week! 

On Wednesday, we had Thanksgiving lunch with the football team. The food was delicous!

Pops gave Adalyn a scooter ride, back to the car. 

One quick family picture before DJ went back to work and the rest of us went home to watch shows, play, bake, and hang out. 

Gretchen made the pumpkin pie while I worked on all of the other casseroles. 

Thanskgiving morning we made cinnamon rolls, watched the parade, and got ready to put the casseroles in the oven when.......

it wouldn't preheat. My oven literally stopped working and would not get hotter than 100.

I called DJ and thankfully he was on his way  home and he could save the day. We put everything on the grill and cooked it outside! 

While the chaos of cooking was going on, Gretchen was in her happy place with a book. 

We burned a little on the sides and bottom, but everything actually came out great despite the fiasco. I was stressed about it all turning out but kept telling myself we could laugh about this one day. 

Thankfully, I have an oven roaster so the turkey was cooked to perfection. 

We let the girls fight over the wish bone. 

All the kids got the dining room table and all of the adults sat around the living room! 

I didn't take a picture of our food until after we had dug in! I cooked all of my favorites- ha!

Green Bean Casserole

Cornbread Dressing

Sweet Potatoes with Marshmallows

Broccoli Cheese Rice

We were so thankful to be together.....

one big family picture and then DJ had to get back to work! We spent the rest of the day watching football on TV.