holy cow... I thought I was doing so great only selecting just a portion of my pictures from the day but there's still a lot. whoops.
so, we started out the day with me taking Brady to make a bunch of returns at Walmart that I'd been procrastinating for two-ish months. I never go inside Walmart anymore (still loving Walmart grocery to go) and thought it would be crazy only ten days before Christmas. well, I'm gonna go ahead and say that amazon must be rocking it this Christmas season because Walmart was not at all busy. we parked on the second row and didn't have to wait long in line. and the only thing I had to purchase was a new set of headphones for Abigail for at school. I finally got smart and bought three pairs instead of my usual one pair. she bites through the cord every couple of months so it just makes sense that I should probably keep spares on hand. so hopefully this will get us through the rest of second grade. ; ) the greatest part though was that these headphones were on a special rack that was locked (you had to have an employee come and get them off for you) and they were carried by the employee to the register that's in the electronics section so that you could purchase them there instead of the front of the store. I thought this was all comical since I buy the cheapest headphones that only cost $4.88 each but it was awesome because that was my only purchase so, after that, Brady and I just walked right on out of the store. woohoo!
and then we were on to more important things... like the dollar store. two years ago, I'd taken Abigail to the dollar store to pick out Christmas gifts for everyone in our family. it's great because it's a kid friendly environment and you can just say "you get to look at the entire store and pick the ONE BEST item for each person in our family." it's great to see a kid get into the spirit of giving.
so I took Brady to do that after Walmart. it wasn't as awesome as I'd hoped. mainly because he was soooo hung up on stuff he wanted and he became instantly obsessed with this sword. but he was able to find some things for his siblings (and Chris) and... when he got home he told Abigail all about his shopping trip and how he really wanted a sword but that I wouldn't let him get it. well guess who's turn it was to go to the dollar store next? later, Abigail was all "I'm so glad Brady told me that he wanted that sword so that I could get it for him! I hope I got him the right one!" so cute.
Brady has been DYING to go ice skating ever since Chris took him skating at the Pepsi center a few weeks ago. he wanted to show me and Abigail how well he can skate without holding on to anything. it's true... he's picked it up quickly. we all had a good time. Abigail liked skating with assistance, Elizabeth enjoyed cuddling with me, being held by Christopher while he skated (until they told him he wasn't allowed to do that), and then "skating" in her shoes with the big plastic thing.
eventually I took the girls and Andrew in the library to warm up for a bit. the library is my happy place. there are just so many inviting books!
I think this is a little above my children's level right now but this would be amazing in future years.
Abigail ran out to keep skating so I just had the little two. Elizabeth wanted to walk up and down these stairs. well, when you're the oldest kid present, sure, go ahead. so I hung out with Andrew while Elizabeth walked upstairs, explored a bit, and then came back down. she was so pleased.
when we came out, Chris and the kids were finishing up. they were hungry and didn't want to wait for the zamboni. Chris took them to Texas Roadhouse. I wasn't in the mood to eat out so I took Elizabeth and Andrew home with me. we had scrambled eggs on toast. it was delicious. I also asked several neighbors if they would go caroling tomorrow at the house up the street... their little boy just got home from the hospital. he is almost four and has leukemia and one of my friends from church is organizing the caroling.
when Christopher and the kids got back, Elizabeth took a nap and we helped the kids wrap presents. it was so great.
Fiona came over to play for a bit... honey warmed up ham and turkey for our ward dinner. he took Abigail and Brady to the church to help set up and decorate and I brought the littles and the meats when I came. the Christmas party was a sit down dinner with no formal program... just musical performances as [mostly] background music. it was perfection... I liked it way more than years past and it was a lot of fun.
every day recently I've just been so surprised at how much I'm enjoying myself this Christmas season. last year when I was pregnant, I just hated Christmas. everything about it seemed like such a pain and I was just anxious for it to be over and the whole time was just wishing that it didn't even exist. this year? I'm totally digging my heels in because I'm so sad that we only have one week left until the magic takes off for another year.
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