Oh December, you came and went in a flash! We surprised Charlie in early December by meeting him for lunch. As we waited for the 1st graders to walk by on their way to the cafeteria, Lucy must have said hello to at least 15 little kids. Some of whom I recognized from their daycare/after-school program but a handful I did not. She's a social butterfly and I foresee a lot of parent-teacher conferences that involve discussions about her propensity to socialize rather than work.
Not a great picture but these two were pretty darn happy to be together for lunch!
Birthdays are always fun when family surprises us with an overnight visit. We missed Claire who had some basketball commitments but had a great time nonetheless!
I think Aunt Molly, Uncle Mike and crew did pretty darn well with Charlie's gifts...
And how do you make a 7-year-old happy with clothing? You make it a Star Wars shirt and all is right with the world.
The breakfast brunch on Saturday, Charlie's actual birthday. Charlie proudly wore the birthday crown that he received from his teacher the day before.
Happy with the Lego set from Mom, Dad and Lucy...
Not as happy with the Boy Scout uniform. I should have had them apply a Star Wars badge :).
Seven dollars in "real" paper money? He's rich!
I think that he liked the Army set from Nana and Papa...
Later that day Charlie had a basketball game and then his friend birthday party. When asked what he wanted to do for his birthday, his answer was swift - go back to Chow's Gymnastics because the foam pit is awesome! Done!
Waiting for the party to start with his good friend Mick.
Charlie and Mick are the self-described "funny boys" of their class, I can't imagine why. I think that SFA will figure it out next year and separate these two different teachers. It's just too bad that Lucy is so shy that she excludes herself from Charlie and his friends...
The whole birthday crew warming up for the festivities.
Said "awesome" foam pit.
Birthday boy in action.
First grade boys are definitely a rowdy bunch. Between wrestling and telling "bathroom-type" jokes, I had a hard time keeping up.
The only whining occurred when it was time to exit the foam pit.
One sweet little boy asked how I made Charlie's cake. God bless him to think that I would even attempt to do so. I know my skills and I am wise to outsource the cake-making.
Birthday song in action. I thought that it was sweet that both of them demanded to sit next to each other. They can certainly argue and Lucy knows just how to push his buttons but they really are good caretakers of each other.
Overnight, Charlie looked a lot older. His Christmas program was the following week and they were asked to dress in something elf or reindeer like.
It's a terrible picture but Charlie was right smack dab in the middle. He saw us right away and keep waving and giving the thumbs up sign. He did a great job singing and dancing his little heart out.
Christmas with the Gehl crew. I didn't take a ton of photos but we had a great day. Following presents a picturesque snowfall started and the kids enjoyed sledding and building a snowman.
The grandkids with Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Bill.
Waiting for her turn to open presents. She wasn't very patient that day so we ended starting with the oldest to open her presents as compared to our normal start with the youngest. I'm not sure that Lucy was taught any lessons, but we try.
Christmas with the Supple crew was on Christmas Eve. We started the day with a quick birthday celebration for BJ (40!) and Papa Steve (70!). There is always a risk that the birthdays get lost in the holiday shuffle but we do our best to recognize those important days.
Again, not a lot of pictures but the kids were so happy with their gifts. Nana, Papa, Aunt Jenn/Uncle Ben really knocked it out of the park this year!
We headed back home late in the afternoon on Christmas Eve and had a low-key day preparing for Santa's arrival.
The early AM scene checking out the loot from Santa.
Santa brought a lot of Legos, which is great except some require A LOT of help. Thankfully Charlie stepped up to help Lucy for a bit and BJ spent a lot of time helping Charlie with certain sets.
That early AM caught up with all of us so we spent the remainder of the day being lazy and playing with our new gifts.
We finished off the year by attempting to organize some closets. When I told Lucy that the suit that she loved was still a bit big, she dashed off and came back to show me that it fits perfectly. Maybe she'll start a new trend - swim while fully clothed with your swimsuit over your outfit.
Aunt Jenn may have thought that she was purchasing a simple Ninjago sweatsuit for Charlie but little did she know that he becomes Ninjago when it's on. Lookout!
Christmas break has been fun with a healthy mix of activities and some downtime (a/k/a Kindle time). It's a great day when they both agree to wear their headphones.
We finished off 2016 by taking our friend and neighbor Max to a party at Pump It Up. Between the lights, the music and the glow-in-the-dark room it was a bit overstimulating but the kids had a blast.
2017 here we come!
