Seeing Santa

We started off our day super early for some reason this morning.  All three kids were up by 6:30.  I usually have late sleepers, but they have all turned into early birds lately.  It really is kind of nice to get things going a little earlier, take earlier naps and have earlier bedtimes.  We'll see if this trend continues.
Since Gracyn woke up so early she was back down before 8 for her first nap.  The big kids made some Christmas cards and played and then we headed to the library for story time.  We have not been to the library as often as I would have liked to these last few months.  Our librarian is wonderful and they kids really enjoy it.  Today she read Owl Babies.  This was a perfect story for Garrett to hear.  It is about three owl babies who miss their mom and are afraid she is not going to come back and of course in the end she does.  Garrett has been so worried about me leaving him lately.  He is scared to death that I am going to forget about him.  We had a surprise visitor come after story time to make some balloon creations.  He was incredible.  I have never seen such amazing balloon animals.  Gaitley got a kitty cat and Garrett got a really neat sword.
After the library we headed to Sonic for Wacky Pack Wednesday.  This has become our new thing.  We don't eat out very often anymore and on Wednesday Sonic Wacky Packs are only $1.99.  You can't beat that!
After lunch we played outside and then came in and both girls took really long naps.  Garrett and I played and rested and then he helped me clean the kitchen.  He thought it was a treat to get to mop the floor.  I enjoyed the help!
Our day ended with a trip to Bass Pro Shops to see Santa.  Santa left a note in their Christmas calendar this morning and asked them to come.  They had been looking forward to it all day.  My sister and Ellie met us there.  We have been going to Bass Pro Shops for the last three years to see Santa and have never had to wait in line.  We got there tonight and it was packed.  We had to wait about 40 minutes to get our pictures taken.  I was shocked!  Garrett has never sat in Santa's lap before and I was really not expecting him to do it tonight but he did.  I really thought Gaitley would and the closer we got the more she didn't want to.  Oh well, two out of the three is not bad.  Then of course after we took our pictures we had to shoot some guns and bows and arrows.

Fun December Weekend

December is always such a busy month but so much fun.  We started off the weekend with our Sunday School class Christmas party on Friday night.  We had a delicious dinner catered by On the Border.  It was so nice to drop the kids off at the church nursery and not have to worry about getting a babysitter or paying for one.  We had a great time visiting with friends.
We got up Saturday morning and went downtown to watch the Christmas parade.  It was the largest I have ever seen it.  There were over 100 floats.  The kids loved it.  Garrett 's favorite part was seeing Santa on the fire engine and Gaitley talked nonstop about the cheerleaders.  Saturday night we bundled up in our Christmas pajamas and went to look at Christmas lights.  It is so exciting to watch the kids light up when they see all the decorations.
Our weekend ended on a good note with the Hanging of the Green at church.  All the kids' choirs sang Christmas songs.  Garrett has been practicing for this for months and he was so cute to watch.  I don't know if he knew any of the words but he stood up there with his hands in his pockets and smiled and waved the entire time.  Both my sisters were able to come and that really made it special.
We can't wait for the rest of the fun activities we have planned for this month.