Lights, gifts, celebrations, Christmas, two birthdays and an anniversary...it must be December! We started off our December this year cheering Preston on at a tree lighting ceremony. The kids were thrilled to watch their Dad give a speech. They lit up when they saw the lights come on the tree. We still have yet to find a CEO but hoping one will be announced in early 2020 :) Preston has done such an incredible job taking on so many responsibilities he would not normally have. This occasion would be one of those times. He had the opportunity to speak on behalf of the hospital and did a phenomenal job.
The kids patiently waiting to hear Dad.
Preston rockin it.
As soon as Pres was done with his speech, Jack yelled, "Great job Dad!" Then all of the kids clapped for him. It was the cutest thing. They were so proud of their Dad and so was I.
The tree is lit!
I started this tradition last year after my sister Brittany mentioned it. We open our Christmas jammies on December 1st (or close to) so the kids can enjoy them all month long. They get so excited for Christmas. They wear these so much before Christmas and a ton after. They LOVE their Christmas jammies.
We had a Christmas themed carnival/festival right down the road from our house. Preston had the chance to volunteer so I took the kids and scoped it out while he worked. Our first stop was to drop in to Preston who was helping Santa out. After we said hello, the kids and I headed over to check out the booths, games and rides. We had so much fun! I was so happy we checked it out.
All aboard! A ride around the park.
Riding these roller coaster horses was a favorite.
Quinnie girl was in heaven ;)
Checking out the petting zoo.
After jumping around in a few bounce houses, riding the horses and train we took off to check out the animals. We did a quick swing by Pres to say good-bye/good night and then ran to the animal farm. Everyone really enjoyed this part. It was fun watching the kids reactions to each kind of animal. The donkeys made them a little nervous as first and by the end fed them carrots. The bunnies were a hit and they enjoyed chasing and laughing at the chickens.
Quinn found her favorite bunny.
Jack thought this was the coolest thing.
It took Beckham boy a minute to warm up to feeding these little guys, but once he did, he loved it.
Pancake breakfast at Jack's school. I think that may be the real Santa!
Woodward Elementary held a pancake breakfast/fundraiser this year. We had a lot of fun attending. Beckham and Quinn were so excited to meet Santa again. Jack however, not so much, haha. He told me, "Mom, I like to only meet Santa one time." Haha. I couldn't help but laugh. We had met Santa at the mall a few days prior to this event and all of the kids got a chance to talk with him. Beckham and Quinn were not afraid to let him know about their wishes one more time:)
Christmas Parade in the rain.
The hospital sponsored a float in the Manteca Christmas Parade. The staff invited the kids to come and sit on the float while the adults handed out candy to the crowd. That afternoon it started to down pour! I mean like legit down pour! I thought for sure the parade would be canceled but it wasn't. Pres and I had to make a quick decision on whether or not to let the kids participate in the parade. The staff assured us that they had plenty of ponchos and that it would be ok.
Since our crew was pretty much half of the kids that showed up we decided to go for it. It rained and rained on these little people and they enjoyed every minute of it. I thought for sure we were going to have melt downs or someone would hate it half way through but they were all troopers. Jack and Quinn kept yelling, "Merry Christmas!" to the crowd as we drove by.
We were soaked afterwards. Even with ponchos. I was worried that everyone was going to catch a cold but not one soul in our house did. We enjoyed it overall but I'm not sure I care to do that again in the pouring rain, haha.
Beckham opted to walk rather than ride. He held Preston's hand the hole time. The other two sat back and enjoyed the ride.
The parade ended like a quarter of a mile away from where they asked us to park, haha. Of course it wouldn't end at the starting point, haha. Pres ran to get the car for us while we waited under an awning outside a mechanic's shop.
Christmas with Lisa!
Our sweet neighbor Lisa brought over gifts for the kids. She gave everyone several books. We sure do love Dr. Seuss in our house. Aunt Steph gifted me her collection of Dr. Seuss a couple years ago and our kids have LOVED him ever since. Lisa added to our already growing collection. Love this girl! She's been such a fun person to have around.
Beckham's in a Christmas play. (3rd from the left)
We had the cutest little shepherd boy in the Pre-K play they put on this year. He was so excited to participate. He sang every song. We were so very proud of our little Beckham boy.
Where's Beckham?
I loved how he would make sure he could see us and that we could see him. A priceless moment. My heart!
Dad was able to come with Quinnie and I to watch the performance. Beckham LOVED that!
Gingerbread Houses!
Gingerbread houses boys vs girls...well actually they were Graham cracker houses, haha. Something I learned from my bestie Rhiannon. I was so happy she told me to use those. They have made this way more fun for all of us.
Preston and the boys final product.
Mom and Quinn's
Ours was voted most colorful and the boys won in tallest and architecture skills :)
Jackson's Christmas Concert
Oh how we love this boy. He was so excited to sing all of his songs. He did such a great job!
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
Jack was chosen to have a speaking part as well. Only four kids were chosen. I had no idea. He never mentioned it until the day of. We were so very proud of him. He crushed it!
Supporting Jack.
Pres was able to attend this one too. I am so grateful that he has a job that he can carve out a little time for the special moments and occasions in the kids lives.
Jack with Mrs. Meadows
He adores his Kindergarten teacher so much. I am hoping we can have her again next year for our Beckham boy...crossed fingers. She's been awesome.
Jack made this little elf :) His name is Elfie and he's been hanging around the entire month of December. Who needs Elf on a Shelf when you have Jack around :) We sure do love our very creative boy. He gets an idea and he runs with it.
Preston and I celebrated NINE years of straight up awesomeness on December 18th! He is by far the best decision I have EVER made! We make a pretty dang good team. I am so grateful we found each other.
I caught this cutie warming up next to the fire.
The boys were begging to go and see Frozen 2 one more time. So, Pres and I told the kids that if they behaved super well for 3 days then we would take them. Everyone made it except this little girl above. She had a rough few days and was no longer able to go to the movie with everyone else. I opted to stay home while the boys did a boys night out. Quinn helped me around the house that night earning her an award. She got to eat popcorn and watch the first Frozen on the kindle.
We love our SUNDAYS!
Christmas Break
With the kids out of school I wanted to do a few fun things. They love this jumping place. We had the entire place to ourselves for about 30 minutes. It was AWESOME!
Climbing and jumping everywhere.
This day was talked about, well, for days :) I was asked about going back on the regular, haha. I am so happy they had a great time and could get some wiggles out in the process.
Ready for Christmas!
On Christmas Eve we had the missionaries over for dinner. We also invited our neighbor Lisa over to watch the Christmas story. Our church recently came out with a new video called 'The Christ Child'. It's absolutely beautiful! Once it ended the kids wanted to re-watch it right away. If you are interested in watching yourself click this link ... https://www.comeuntochrist.org/light-the-world/the-christ-child you won't regret it.
We all loved talking about our Savior and the true meaning of Christmas after we viewed the video. Because of Christ we will live again. Because of Christ we can live with our family again. How grateful I am to know that I am a child of God and He knows me.
Christmas Morning!
The boys came and got us around 6:45am on Christmas morning. The kids were so excited to come down and see the presents. They beat Pres and I before we could even get up out of bed. Next year I will have to remember to tell them to wait for us before they come down, haha. I missed seeing their faces light up. The boys told us later that they originally came down around 6:15am and looked at the presents, haha. Jack said they had tried so hard to wait for us to wake up but they just couldn't wait any longer, haha. Poor kid. I told him he can wake us up on Christmas morning, that's a special day that we can wake up a little earlier on :) He was thrilled to hear that. We woke up Quinn and headed down together around 6:45am.
Someone didn't make it ... haha.
A favorite gift for Quinn. Another favorite for the boys.
Matching jams!
Our family had such a wonderful Christmas morning. I was so happy that we stuck with the same rule that we did last year. I always second guess myself which I am sure many parents do. I am grateful I kept to my original decision. We do five gifts for each person. The kids had an additional gift this year from Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles and school. It was perfect!
After opening our gifts, Preston had gotten us cinnamon rolls for the morning. He found this little cafe that makes AMAZING cinnamon rolls. They let us come and grab the cinnamon rolls on Christmas Eve before closing. It was perfect! We busted those out after the chaos of wrapping paper. They were delicious! The best breakfast for a Christmas morning.
This kid could not wait to start construction on his volcano. He was over joyed that he got to make a mold and then paint it. He had to learn a lot about patience, haha. When it came to waiting for the plaster to dry it seemed like it took forever :) He did such a great job though. He checked on his volcano frequently. Making sure that it was drying properly. He even brought a fan in to help the process ;)
Everyone loves Dad!
Christmas morning selfie with my favorite people in the world!
After our morning festivities Pres went to the hospital. He served the employees working that afternoon some lunch. Santa made an appearance as well :)
That night Jack was ready to paint his volcano. He was so happy!
It's all in the details! He concentrated so hard and did a wonderful job! We were so impressed with his final product.
Three monkeys on our balcony.
Jackson Scott turns 6!!!
I love doing presents first thing in the morning. That way the birthday boy or girl can enjoy them all day long. Jack was thrilled to be turning 6. He got a watch from Grandma and Poppa, a telescope and a science kit. The science kit has a new experiment to try every day for 12 days.
Our little astronaut was so excited to check out the moon and stars. Unfortunately our telescope didn't work properly so we had to return it :( We are trying to find a replacement model now. Luckily, Jack didn't mind. He said he could wait until we find a better one :)
Keeping us up to date on the time.
Jack asked to go out for breakfast on his birthday. We took him to a cute little diner in Ripon. It was delicious.
Anytime someone asked, "Hey Jack, what time is it?" He was ready to answer. He LOVES his watch.
We let the birthday boy choose between bowling and Kangazoom. He chose Kangazoom. It's a really fun place in the mall not far from home. There are a ton of blow up bouncy house things that the kids can slide and jump on. They LOVED every minute of this!
Ready, set, GOOOOO!
And they're off.
The boys really enjoyed racing each other down the different slides.
Quinn's turn.
Birthday lunch was Subway sandwiches. Jack's favorite lunch place. He gets a ham and provolone cheese on Italian bread with pickles and black olives. It's the sandwich that makes him smile :) After lunch we headed home for naps and quiet time. Jack really enjoys his quiet time. He gets to go to the play room, pick a movie and build or draw anything he chooses without anyone else around.
For dinner he asked for a corn dog, broccoli and apple sauce.
Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you.
We have a 6 year old!
Cupcakes to top off an exciting day for this brand new 6 year old. I cannot believe how fast that came! I sure love this sweet boy. Jack is the kid that everyone loves. He's nice to every single person he meets and knows. He tries very hard in school and has lots of friends. Everyone seems to know Jack when I'm picking him up or dropping him off. His teacher tells me that all of the students like him. He is the smartest 6 year old I know.
He LOVES constructing anything and everything, drawing, building, science, all things planets, talking about everything he knows, asks tons of questions and enjoys reading. Playing outside is always fun for him. He likes to take his siblings for rides in the electric car, playing soccer with the family and riding his bike. Jack loves to help me in the kitchen any time treats or baked goods are involved :) He's an incredible big brother to Beckham and Quinn and is loved beyond measure by his parents. We LOVE our Jackson Scott! Happy Birthday Buddy Bear!
Quinn is 3!
I cannot believe Quinn Marie is 3 years old. Or as she says it..."My name is Quinnarie":) Quinn is the sweetest little girl you will ever meet. She is adored by everyone. Literally everyone. From random strangers to the people that love her the most. Quinn is a very sweet spirit. One of the things I absolutely adore about this girl is her independence with playing. When it comes to play time she would rather be on her own. She enjoys playing in the playroom with all of the toys while talking to them. Quinn enjoys unicorns, teddy bears, her ice cream cart (we all get crazy amounts of ice cream throughout the day, haha), her play kitchen, Paw Patrol movies and Thomas the train rail station. She sings quite a bit but mostly at night during bed time. We have come to the conclusion that this is how she self soothes. She sings and talks to herself until she falls asleep. It is the cutest thing! Her favorite songs to sing are Frozen, I Am A Child Of God and I Love To See The Temple.
Quinnie girl has started into what our family refers to as the terrible three's. We never had an issue with terrible two's however, once three is about to hit, Lord help me. It's as if a switch goes off in their little minds. They decide it is time to test the waters and that means ALL waters. From saying "No" on repeat to talking sassy and bossing everyone around. She makes sure to let everyone know what Quinn wants and that she REALLY needs it right then. We have already started working on communication and talking nicely. Consistency is key... I have to keep reminding myself of that, haha.
There are many more time outs for any of our three year olds at this time rather than the toy time out. For our kids...if they are arguing over a toy we put the toy in time out. If they are talking mean, yelling or doing things more on a behavioral level that needs fixed, they go to time out. If time out doesn't work we start to take away the things they love most. For Quinn we haven't had to do that just yet. Time out is punishment enough. Quinn has unfortunately been seeing the blue time out chair a little more often, haha. She has also missed out on a few fun things due to her attitude. Poor girl. But...that is learning, just like we all have to learn at some point. With time, patience and consistency she will come around. I just know it.
Birthday morning gifts! A dog she has named "Geno" from Grandma and Poppa and a pretty pink bike. She LOVES her dog and bike. She makes sure that Geno is next to her for every nap time and bed time. She has ridden her bike around the house a few times trying to get to used to it. She thinks it's fun to race with the boys.
With Geno on the handle bars this girl is ready for some bike time.
Quinn's birthday was a little more special this year. We decided to take a trip to the coast for New Years. Preston tends to get off several days between Christmas Eve and New Years so we decided to take advantage of it. Living where we do helps with that as well.
We left after Quinn's special birthday breakfast which was Entenmanns chocolate donuts (a favorite of mine as well) and go gurt. She opted for chicken nuggets and fries from McDonald's for her special lunch. Dinner at a restaurant with an ice cream shake topped off this little one's special day. Turning three has been good to Quinn :) We sure love you Quinnarie!
We will explore Highway 1 in our next journal entry :) It was such a lovely trip. We all really enjoyed it!
No comments:
Post a Comment