I was determined not to spend the week of Thanksgiving on the computer while the kids were off school. Then, we went out of town. So, now, you're going to get a huge recap.
The kids had chocolate milk and wanted me to take a picture of their milk mustaches. Can you see them?
Hey, hey, it's an old lady doing a backbend!
And, a sorta hand/head stand thing.
And, just to prove that kids want to imitate EVERYTHING you do, here's proof.
Just a normal evening of hanging out before bedtime....way back on November 11th. Ha!
I'm so slow about posting pictures on here. I wish there was a faster way to do it. Any tips from other bloggers are welcome!November flew by. Last night I sat here and realized that trick or treating with our friends happened a whole month ago. Whoa! That's crazy. Where in the world did November go?
Now, it's December. I had lofty plans of having an Advent plan in place and books wrapped to count down the days. Guess I should get off here and go wrap 'em.
The kids have their school Christmas program tonight. Great way to kick off the month, in my opinion! Also gets it done early in the month. Like, like!
But, back to November. The kids had their school Thanksgiving program on Tuesday, the 15th. I was lame and didn't take a camera. (Hey, I made it there with Jett...on time. I can't handle everything!) My friend Tiffany snapped this shot of Jenna with her buddy Zoe.
That Friday they had "Business Day" -- their reward day for good behavior/choices for the grading period. The older kids make and sell goods/services and each kid in the school earns "Scholar Dollars" that they can "spend". Jenna and Asa (and our friend Eva) were purchasing some of Rylee's Christmas magnets.
We stayed in jammies for a very long time the first day of Thanksgiving Break. During the week we went to the library, had some friends over to play, and played lots of checkers. For Thanksgiving Day, we celebrated with our great friends, the Helms.
I attempted to make little 'placecard' cookies. haha!
We love spending time with the Helms. They are part of our Texas family.
The kids enjoyed playing in the backyard, making some crafts (at least that's what they called it), watching movies, and eating. They had so much fun that we then brought Grace (their oldest) home with us to spend the night. The partying kept going until late the next afternoon.
Joel spent a lot of his free time working on our new pergola. It started early in the month and got wrapped up over Thanksgiving break. A post on that is coming soon...stay tuned.
Then, we finished off November with a quick trip to San Antonio.
A friend gave us use of their timeshare at a Hyatt Resort. It was lots of fun. It had an indoor/outdoor heated pool with a big water slide. It also had a game room and the first night we were there they had a fire and makings for Smores!
The kids LOVED the huge whirlpool tub in our bathroom.
The whirlpool button wouldn't shut off and before long, this is what happened. Maintenance had to come shut off the breaker. Ooops! Not like we broke it, but it created a little excitement for our first night.
Unfortunately, more "excitement" was in store. Jenna got sick at 3am. She and I spent Sunday laying around feeling miserable. I managed to not get sick, but felt awful all day.
By Monday we were well enough to go swimming, visit the River Walk, and tour the Alamo.
We drove back home and as we entered Dallas, Asa got sick. Walking into the house, Rylee got sick. Ugh. After getting the settled, I started feeling bad again. We spent Tuesday of this week recovering.
We were all well by Wednesday. Hopefully December won't fly by so quickly or find us battling any sickies.
Our celebrations began on December 1st with the big kids' school program. Each grade level sang a few songs with several kids having solos--usually one for each song. Rylee sang a solo line for "Frosty the Snowman". 
Normally she gets shy once on stage and in front of an audience, but this year she seems to have turned the corner and has fully embraced her inner diva, not just at home but everywhere!
We went to McDonald's for some ice cream afterwards. At Halloween I bought a coupon booklet for $1. It has 12 coupons for free treats --4 each of 3 treats --an ice cream cone, apple slices, and apple juice or milk. I bought 5 booklets (they have no expiration date) and I can give the kids a little yummy when we're out and about.
We then spent a full week of practices and performances. We had a mentor dinner on Monday night at GFA, followed by the Children's Christmas party at GFA on Tuesday. (I never get good pictures so I didn't take any this year.) Wednesday was our only night off, so we enjoyed relaxing at home. Thursday the kids had dress rehearsal for choir. (We missed the last practice due to the school performance, but my kids seemed to be fine with all the practicing we did at home.)
Friday night we had our GFA Christmas party. The decorations were beautiful. My friend Summur had a blue and red theme, which was very classy.
Jett with Auntie Brenda. Brenda is a gem. We had the privilege of taking her School of Discipleship class to India almost three years ago. Then, I was honored to serve as her mentor while she was raising support and adjusting to being new to staff. She's blessed our family with watching our kiddos too. They all love her to pieces!
Jett was the model for many pictures. He was the only one who stayed with us throughout the party. The big kids had a blast running around with their buddies.
Auntie Pam. My kids are head-over-heels crazy about their Texas grands. Pam and her hubby Jim dote on our kids and bless us in countless ways.
Our tablemates and sweet friends, Joe and Cari. Cari works on Joel's Web Marketing team while Joe serves in the Volunteer Department. We've been friends since we got to host them during their interview in the summer of '09.
The kids did a skit based on the story The Three Trees. Having directed the kids performance for two years, I know it's a LOT of work. My friends Debi, Amy, and Susanna did a great job organizing the kids and putting together a very sweet performance. The kids had a blast!
Then, Saturday night was our church's children's performance. The kids did a production called "Star of Wonder". Rylee was an angel, Jenna was a king, and Asa was a wise man. The story followed a group of stars as they discussed their most important assignment...pointing the way to the birth of Jesus.
Auntie Pam and Uncle Jim came to see the kids. Jett enjoyed playing with Uncle Jim the whole time. I hear he was bopping around to the music, too. I was down front helping the kids with motions and then helping with costume changes.
Last night we took the kids to a living nativity in Mesquite. I didn't take any photos because it was outside and rather dark. It was also cold and we were bundled up with lots of layers. The kids had fun, though. And, they all fell asleep on the way home!
