Happy December!

Well, I didn't make it through every day in November, but 27 days was pretty good.

The boys had a great birthday celebration in Iowa. A very yummy CAT cake, and lots of fun new presents. Or "new" presents if you're James. He did get something new, but my mom also went shopping in our basement the last time they were here and wrapped a couple of Daniel's old toys! Get used to it kiddo. You're the 2nd child. Haha!







We were very thankful that Grandma was able to come over for Thanksgiving. The boys both gave her plenty of love and hugs. It makes my heart happy to see them together.





Sunday we drove home. It was a long, tiring drive, but the boys were good. Daniel even fell asleep for awhile before we stopped for lunch!

Yesterday was a bit uneventful. which is always good. Especially after having a busy long weekend. I realized though, that the advent calendar that I had been planning to make wasn't going to happen if I didn't get on it! I always get these ideas in my head, but never follow through. This is one I've wanted to do for quite awhile. Every day leading up to Christmas we'll turn a card over and we'll do something special. Either something fun as a family, or a project or an act of kindness. Today's activity was writing a letter to Santa! I had already discussed Santa with Daniel. I finally got him to visit Santa last year, but he wasn't overly thrilled. This year he has requested no Santa visit, so a letter seemed like a safe plan!



"Dear Santa,
My name is Daniel. I've been a good boy this year!
I like to read books with my Mommy.
I like to play Candy Crush and Soda Crush with my Daddy!
I like being silly with my little brother James.
For Christmas I would like:
books, a baby doll and a toy shark.
I like my preschool and church.
I'm excited for Christmas!
Love,
Daniel"

So much fun! I tried to make everything "doable" so that I don't tire out. He's already excited to see what tomorrow's is! I love this idea so much more than the Elf on the Shelf. First of all, those things creep me the heck out. Second of all, there is no way I'd want to find creative places to put that dang thing every night. Ain't nobody got time for that!

Daniel had a fun day at preschool and then we did some Aldi shopping after I picked him up. We were out of a lot of stuff! The boys were very well behaved though.

Tonight I busted out the waffle maker. I mean, I'm pretty sure I've only used it once since we got married! I even got all fancy and made them from scratch. They were pretty tasty too! I just don't have the patience to do things from scratch very often though.

I gave both boys a bath, but did them separately tonight. They have fun together, but I've felt something pinching in my back again this last week and set it off just by walking tonight. Ouch! Then after I tucked Daniel in I discovered yet another leak in our basement. So tomorrow I'll make the 3rd call to the plumber in the past 2 months. We cannot win. I can't let myself get too down, but it sure is frustrating when you don't have the money to keep flushing it away (see what I did there?).

But alas, tomorrow is a new day and supposedly my Christmas present will arrive by the end of the day tomorrow! We'll see though. The last place it was tracked was Maryland. Yay new camera though!