Tuesday tidbits

My second edition of Tuesday Tidbits. It puts less pressure on me than Tuesday 10.

Confession: Ryan got up in the attic the Saturday after Thanksgiving, like his does every year, and found no tree. A few minutes passed of us racking our brains and then it dawned on us that we had thrown our tree away last year. It had a dust on it that irritated my already dry, sensitive, irritated eyes and then the lights began malfunctioning. Apparently we didn't hit up the after Christmas sales for a new tree though. So we had been without a tree, until last Friday. The ceramic tree from my dearly loved Granny just wasn't cutting it for the kids,

totally understandable, and Brandon, who is all about giving unto others this season, really wanted to look at the local thrift store. The bigger trees there were less than appealing and the prices were sky high but Brandon saw a smaller tree and all at once, all 4 kids crowded it and begged for it. The stand was more than the tree and the tree only cost $2. I felt horrible so I texted Ryan and asked him what he thought. He said as long as they were totally happy with it to get it. As soon as I hung up the phone they all looked at me with anticipated expressions and asked if we could please buy it.

our own Charlie Brown tree and the kids couldn't be prouder

I asked the kids why they wanted it so bad and Britton replied, "because it's my size!"

While decorating the tree, which took far less time than usual, the kids all found their first ornaments. Blaine was born in 2006 and when he saw his little lamb he exclaimed, "I was born in two-thousand SIXTY!"

Ryan is sporting a goatee of which I am not a fan, but our children are split on the issue. daily, they take a poll of whether Dad should shave or not. It's pretty amusing because the boys' answers always change but Gracelyn's "no" remains steady.

Gracelyn got to practice on beam for the first time tonight! She's walked on a low beam but never done pivots or hops on the beam. She loved it!

At scouts last week, the boys earned their showmanship achievement by performing a puppet show for the moms. It was awesome! How could it not be when it had scouts, an Indian friend, Bigfoot and big scary bird.

During the performance a few of the puppets' heads fell off which was pretty comical. The boys did a great job keeping their composure and pressing on.

This girl absolutely adores Cinderella. On Saturday while we were all busy cleaning, we found her propped up watching "Rella."

Santa was downtown last week so I took the kids to see him. The kids see Santa every year but we don't emphasize him in our family. It's more of a photo op for us. When Santa asked the kids what they wanted for Christmas, they all looked at him like he was crazy because they don't look to him for gifts.
As it turns out, there was a Rudolph nearby the sleigh and they loved him much more than Santa.

Ryan's mom has a Christmas village and they kids just love it, it is pretty neat. I love the look on their faces when they are so captivated.

a little Christmas wonder

Monday nights are ice cream date nights with this dude

and every night we play a few rounds of Uno

This girl was somersaulting at 11PM. She is nocturnal.

Her appointment with the hearing specialist is Friday. Prayers for her cooperation would be greatly appreciated, so we can know for sure where she needs assistance

Have a fabulous week! I cannot believe it's 2 weeks til Christmas!