December was the first month since Sarge’s adoption that things felt like they were finally getting back to normal. Well, a new normal! I no longer needed constant help from Mama just to take care of everyone and the kids and I got into a new routine around the house!

With it being December and Christmas right around the corner we did some fun activities during this month!

As is tradition, the girls made a Gingerbread House. I think we have finally learned the trick with Gingerbread House making. We need to assemble the house before the girls start decorating. Our house was very unstable and ended up collapsing before the decorating was complete but we still had lots of fun!

We made snow….with a diaper!!! Who knew? I didn’t before I saw this idea somewhere. Genius and oh so fun! The girls poured cups of water into a size 6 diaper. When it was full and could hold no more liquid, I cut the diaper right down the middle inside. And there was snow! We dumped it all out on a cookie sheet and the girls got to playing. Sweet Pea never really enjoyed the texture and Little Bug had to get used to it. Once Little Bug got used to the feel there was no stopping her and she had a ball with this. She played with it for over and hour and, yes, it was EVERYWHERE when she was done!

The girls made Button Christmas Trees. They had so much fun painting the Christmas trees (cut from a box that had been delivered) and then decorating their tree with various crafting supplies we had on hand.

The girls also got to make Printing Christmas Trees. They used a paper towel roll and stamped green circles all over the tree to make it green. Then they dipped their finger in paint to make the ornaments for their tree. Little Bug painted a star at the top of each tree.

We made Christmas Cookies with Grams! Even Sarge got in on the fun! Grams made the cookies before we arrived and then the girls decorated them with icing and sprinkles. Grams had to stay right on top of everything to keep up! After nap/rest time they each got to pick a cookie to eat!

On December 21st The Grinch Musical was at a nearby church in town. Dave and I took the girls! It was such a fun time for us all. Sarge stayed home with Grams and Gramps. I figured it would be too loud for him and it most certainly was. If I would have brought him I would have had to leave with him. There was even a warning sign at the door for “loud audio”. The girls do not like loud things in general so I was a little worried as we sat there waiting for the show to begin. The announcer came out and asked if we wanted to see snow. Little Bug was SO excited. She turned to me while shaking her head YES! Then the special effect lights made it look like it was snowing all over the auditorium we were in. The look on Little Bug’s face was priceless. She had the biggest smile on her face! Sweet Pea was so cute with her “Grinchy”. She wanted to take him. Before we got there Sweet Pea told me she was going to show the real Grinch her Grinchy. When the Grinch came out on stage the first time Sweet Pea held up her Grinchy for him to see. It was so precious. When she realized he couldn’t see her she turned to me and told me “He can’t see Grinchy.” The girls are both at such perfect ages to do fun things like this! We enjoyed our evening very much and were very grateful our little Buddy was safe and sound at home.

The show was LOUD but both girls were totally fine the entire time. When we left my ears were not ringing so it wasn’t that loud I guess.

In the midst of all the Christmas fun, we did do our academics! Little Bug has completed 8 lessons now in All About Reading and she is on Lesson 53 in Horizons Math K. She continues to work on her handwriting pages each week.

The big news academically is that we made the decision to allow Little Bug to attend a school nearby that partners with homeschool families. With the sudden changes in our family this year, I am not able to get out of the house as much as I had planned to this year. Sweet Pea is just fine with that (as am I!) but our little extroverted Little Bug is not. So we made the decision to let Little Bug attend this school. Her first day will be January 6th and she is SO excited. I am happy for her too because I think this will be just what she needs this year. Little Bug will attend this school three days of the week and then be homeschooled the other two days.

During December we would wake up and have breakfast and then the girls would play together while I did some morning chores. Then it was Bible Time, like usual. After Bible Time I would do school with Little Bug. Sweet Pea stayed with us in the school room. This was the first time I attempted to teach Little Bug with Sweet Pea around. Always in the past, I would do school with Little Bug when Sweet Pea was sleeping. Sweet Pea had a variety of activities she liked to do while Little Bug and I did school. She would cut paper, play with educational toys, do Play Doh and sometimes she would choose to just sit on my lap while I taught Little Bug! After school time, we would read books until it was time for Sarge to get up to eat at 11am.

One night we were heading home from something (I can’t remember what!) and Sarge had fallen asleep in the car seat. We still had some time before the girls needed to go to bed so we decided to drive to the neighborhood that has the cool Christmas lights! Little Bug’s smile says it all….the girls were thrilled with this plan!

Before Christmas I got on the library website and requested some Christmas book titles so we could read some good Christmas books during December. I LOVE this feature of the library website. It is so convenient. I can have the books ordered to the library down the street and then when they are ready, I get a phone call and go pick them up. These were ready the first week of December and we had a great time reading the books this month.

For Advent this year we did this book: The Donkey in the Living Room. Every day there was a new person or animal to add to the stable as we counted down to Christmas! The very last day Baby Jesus was placed in the manger in the stable.

On Christmas Eve we went to Grams and Gramps house. This has become our tradition since having little children. We don’t attempt going to Candlelight Service and won’t until Sarge is probably 2 or 3 years old. Mama made a wonderful Christmas Dinner, we sang Christmas Carols and then we drove around the neighborhood to look at Christmas Lights. We were a little disappointed though because the Santa we always see was not there this year! He is normally out giving Candy Canes to the children. It was a rainy night so I am not sure if that is why he wasn’t out. We normally park and get out and walk down the main street but we didn’t this year due to the weather. We drove around for about 10 minutes and then headed home.

Christmas Day Grams and Gramps came to our house first thing in the morning. We spent the morning with them and then we all headed out to Dave’s parents’ house after naps. It was a wonderful Christmas!

December was a very good month for our family after a very chaotic year full of ups and downs. We were finding our new normal, making decisions for the benefit of our entire family and enjoying our Christmas traditions.

- Elaine