New Years Eve

We had family over for our New Years Eve party.  We had LOTS of food.  The kids ran around and played, but the adults mostly sat around and relaxed.  There were a couple movies watched, a few games played, and overall a good time.

We had a Mia Maid get together during our party (not at my house) so I went over for that for an hour.  I did their hair for the New Years dance they were going to.  We played some games as well and had lots of fun, as usual. 

Silly Girl

We can't get enough of this little girl. She just cracks us up.  Lately, she has been putting as many headbands as she can find on her head.  She loved Dora the Explorer and especially Azul, the train.  She runs around saying, "Azul! Azul!  Choo-choo!"  Her newer obsession has been Star Wars.  It is so cute. She imitates Darth Vader's breathing and also R2D2's beeping, while taking small steps.  She loves to watch it too, so we did a Star Wars marathon over break, watching one at a time in order on nights we want to relax and watch a movie.

Bowling

 We went bowling with some of the family today.  It was snowing, but not too bad.  Shortcake fell asleep on the way, so I stayed in the car with her while she slept.  When we came in, she had so much fun running around.  Luckily, our lane was right by the little arcade section.

 She kept running back to me and posing for me.  What a ham!

Show Choir

Tink is in show choir this year.  This is the first time they've had show choir for 8th graders, and she has loved being a part of it.  I love her dress, though it leaves glitter everywhere!  This was taken the night of their first performance (December 11th). They also performed at the Rec Center during Cookies with Santa and then also at a school assembly.

Light Show

For activity for Family Home Evening on December 15, we went to look at the Christmas lights in the neighborhood.  I had heard about this light show a couple streets away, so we went to check it out.  It was so cool!  It lasted about 15 minutes. You tune your radio to a certain station so you can hear it and the lights and everything are synced up to make a pretty awesome show.  This picture is what you saw for the a capella group Pentatonix "Mary, Did You Know?" song.  It was all really good. There was a Frozen compilation, which we all loved, and the main song from the Lego Movie, which the boys loved.  It was definitely a great activity!

Storyboard Homework

Another homework assignment this past semester, was to create a storyboard of one day during the week. This is what I came up with, which is a typical day for me. (This was done December 12, by the way.)

A Day in the Life of Gina

(My story is portrayed in the style of Realism.)

Every school morning is the same: packing lunches, signing planners, and getting the children to school.  This is one of the four lunch boxes that must be quickly filled. 

Then by 8:00, we are in the car.  I spend a half hour, picking kids up and dropping them off.  I listen to the Christmas music station, and we all sing along. 

 After one final school run from the high school back to the middle school, my husband, toddler, and I pick up a friend and take her out to lunch for her birthday.  Kneaders is her favorite, so we go there.

After lunch, it is naptime.  Being pregnant I am also wiped out, so I lie down to take a nap with my daughter on the couch.

When I wake up, it is time to go wait in the carpool lane at the elementary school.  I take homework and work on reviewing my notes and filling out my study guide for the final exam next week.  Any chance I get at peace and quiet is appreciated.

Once we are all home, it’s time to make dinner.  My husband helps a lot since I feel nauseated.  We keep it simple and make spaghetti and meatballs.

Then we all chip in to clean up and do the dishes.

After dinner, we get to relax and watch a movie together.  It’s the little things in life that make it beautiful.  

Christmas Morning

Luckily, the children all slept in until at least 7:00. Here they are all ready to come down and see what was left for them under the tree.

Opening their stockings

 
 This was Bucko's Gift of Fun.  It's a practice sword and pretty cool.  He got books and a timer bookmark for his Gift of Learning and some much needed clothes for his Gift of Love.

 This is Shortcake's Gift of Fun.  She still loves Frozen and she got an Elsa doll. She got a Frozen poster for her gift of Love and a Leapfrog phone and Frozen case for her Gift of Learning.

 Goofy's Gift of Fun were these practice sais.  He thinks they are pretty awesome too.  He also got book for his Gift of Learning and base layer set and shoes for his Gift of Love.

 Minnie got a water bottle for her Gift of Fun.  She also got some clip-on earrings with that gift.  She got books and a timer bookmark for her Gift of Learning and base layer set and black ballet flats for her Gift of Love.

I didn't get any pictures of Tink opening her presents, but you can see her scarf in this picture. She got that and a base layer shirt for her Gift of Love.  Her gift of Learning was the game Word-a-Round and she got two hoodies for her Gift of Fun.
We got the kids the game Quirkle as well.  It has been a lot of fun.
My mom and dad did FaceTime with us while we opened most of our presents.  That's probably why I didn't take as many pictures as usual.  It was nice to have them "there" with us, though.
PC got me a Zumba workout set.  I got him a canvas picture of the family and some cologne.

Christmas Eve

We had our traditional Christmas Eve night at our house.  We were lucky enough to have lots of the Coleman clan around too.  We always do taco salad and then act out the nativity.  This year PC had done a Family Home Evening lesson the week before that got us even more prepared to celebrate the birth of Christ.  Papa narrated for us.  Uncle John played the piano and we all sang the songs.  Shortcake got to be baby Jesus this year.  We got out the toy playpen and she stayed in it the whole time.  It was so cute!

Bucko was the angel.

They aren't texting; they are looking up the words to all the verses of the Christmas hymns.  

Shortcake was having way too much fun.  Minnie was a sheep in case you were wondering.

 Then, we got everything ready for Christmas morning:

PC's Birthday

We celebrated this guy's birthday at Guadalajara.  Always yummy food and his dad had them sing to him.  He even had to wear the sombrero.  Then we came back to our house for cake and ice cream.  We did his favorite birthday cake: cookies 'n cream cake.  Yummy!

Christmas Card

I didn't send out Christmas cards through the mail this year. I e-mailed it to a few friends and posted it to Facebook.  It sure was a lot easier and cheaper that way.

Gingerbread Houses

Today we all went to Nana and Papa's house to make our annual gingerbread houses.  The kids always have fun making them, and it's even better when cousins are here.  We also did our cousin gift exchange.  The kids got some great stuff.  Shortcake got a baby doll, Goofy got Legos, Minnie got a Frozen poster and best friend necklaces, Bucko got a Minecraft poster, and Tink got some cute scarves.  We had fun purchasing gifts for their cousins as well, and they all seemed to like the gifts we got them.  We keep it under $5 each, so it isn't too much strain on the finances.

 Emmy went with me to the library in the evening. I saw that the last book in the series I've been reading was ready for pickup.  (The series is called River of Time and it has been so much fun to read.)  When we got to the library, Emmy looks over the fence and says, "Hey, there's a reindeer!"  She meant to say "deer," but it was really funny and we crept pretty close to it.  It stared us down and we didn't get any closer than this, but it was pretty cool to see a deer right there.

Pregnant

So, I am pregnant.  I went to the doctor and had an ultrasound. Everything looks good.  It's nice to have the same doctor that delivered Shortcake.  I've never had that opportunity to have the same OB for two babies.  The funny thing about this pregnancy, though, is that I had to be released from my stake calling as Girls Camp Director.  I am due the week of girls camp, so it really wouldn't work out. I was so bummed about that, but I'm sure I'll have other opportunities to go to camp again.  We are all really excited to have another child join our family.  We wrote on an index card "Little Brother or Sister" and wrapped it in a box.  Then we sat the kids down and told them they were getting an early Christmas present.  They were so excited! Bucko hugged me for several minutes and even started crying.  It was so sweet.  Minnie was jumping up and down, screaming.  Tink just kept saying, "I knew it!"  Goofy was just happy and smiling.  When you asked Shortcake if she wanted a little brother or sister, she just smiles really big and nods. I don't think she quite understands yet, but she does love babies.
Here is the little bean:

Activity Days Christmas Party

I was able to attend Minnie's Activity Days Christmas party with her at church.  It was lots of fun.  We played games and ate yummy food.  One of the leaders had a Polaroid camera and took each of our pictures at the photo booth.

A Night in Bethlehem

Our ward Christmas party was pretty amazing this year.  They did "A Night in Bethlehem."  I made all our costumes except mine and Minnie's.  She was an angel so wore her white dress, and a friend let me borrow one she already had made as my costume.  They had us all start in the chapel and gave us a rundown of how the night would go.  Then they took each family out for a special photo to begin.  I think it turned out well.  

The gym was decorated so amazingly.  The booths were put together very well.  We had different samples of "Bethlehem" food, and it was all very tasty.

Goofy fell asleep towards the end of the night.  So sweet.