First Day of School...Third Time Around

I just had to post this for the memory of it all!
Today, Harper went back to Kindergarten with her THIRD brand new teacher!!! Yep..that is right...3rd!
Her first teacher stayed the first few weeks and had a baby. Enter the second teacher who stayed until the first teacher was to return from maternity leave in January (really long maternity leave if you ask me). Second teacher gets another job because she is expecting first teacher to come back. Well...first teacher decides to stay home full time, at the last minute. Enter...THIRD teacher who started TODAY.
You know when you look at your brand new baby in the hospital and imagine all the firsts that are yet to come...Kindergarten is one of them. However, this just really isn't what I had pictured. What it boiled down to last semester was a trip to the district office to pick up Math and Writing Curriculum and a Hooked on Phonics Kit purchase and 30-45 minutes a night of me teaching Harper Kindergarten skills. Who knew that a high school principal was trained to do that. I learned a ton! God Bless the teachers that do teach Kindergarten!
Here's to hoping that the Third time is the charm! Harper came home today happier than I have seen her (about school) in a long time and my heart smiled!!!

Christmas Eve & Morning

It always amazes me at how excited Harper gets on Christmas Eve and then to see her face on Christmas morning. Owen was even super pumped when he saw his Santa gifts this year.

We started off Christmas Eve with Mass at our church. It always decorated so beautiful and Harper loves to go see Baby Jesus after mass. This year, she took her brother over there to see to. I didn't let him stay long...after he started brushing all of the hay to the floor.

Harper made Reindeer Food at her school this year. It consisted of an oat and sparkle concoction, which came with instructions for sprinkling on the front lawn on Christmas Eve. It was cold, but the whole family went out side to witness the glory of running around in the dark, sprinkling oatmeal and glitter on your lawn...as your neighbors hopefully don't watch!

Christmas morning was filled with just what Harper and Owen had asked for. Harper got a laptop, unicorn pillow pet, and a donut maker. Owen got a train table, car race set, and a monkey pillow pet.

I can tell each Christmas will be more and more magical as seen through the eyes of my children!

Branson Christmas Trip

For three years in a row now we have traveled to Branson to spend some time at Christmas with my family. This year we left Christmas Day and stayed for 3 nights in a really fun log cabin at the Silver Dollar City Wilderness Campground. When we arrived on Christmas Evening, there wasn't anything open to eat, so we brought along some PB&J sandwiches, microwave mac & cheese and soup. It was an unusual Christmas dinner, but still super yummy.

The first morning we hit the outlet malls for some After Christmas sales. Tons of bargains! That night we went to the Dixie Stampede Christmas Show. Harper and Owen were in awe! They loved the show...but most of all the horses. Everytime the horses would leave the arena, Owen would yell, "Neighs! Neighs!" Owen ate like a champion too. Harper was still slightly disgusted by the entire chicken laying on her plate. She did all of the fixins though. That night was when the fun began. Harper and Owen ended up sleeping in the bottom full size bunk with me, while Richard slept up top in the inferno. As we were going to sleep, the two kids would not stop tickling, kicking, laughing, etc. Finally, I told them to stop. Then they did something that cracked me up and Harper said, "Mom, your breaking your own rules!" Where does she get this stuff? Then later on, Owen said, "Not funny Mommy! Not funny!" Needless to say after about a ten minutes of this, Harper ended up sleeping the last two nights with Grandma and Boppy in their bed.

The next day, we headed to Branson Landing for some more shopping and to see the "fishy store" (aka Bass Pro). We got to Silver Dollar City right as it opened that afternoon and stayed the rest of the afternoon/evening there. Harper and Owen got to ride a ton of rides...really cold rides. We also had a front row seat to the Christmas Light Parade. It was a wonderful, relaxing trip!!!

Family Christmas Extravaganza

This year we celebrated Christmas with my parents and sister/brother-in-law in two segments. My sister is doing her first year of family practice residency and had to work Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, so we came up with a new plan. We decided that we would celebrate Christmas on New Year's Eve Day. However, at the last minute she was able to get off work for a little bit on Christmas Eve, so they were able to come to Mass with us. After that, my mom made a super yummy pork roast and we all ate and opened presents from each other. It was a lot of fun! Harper and Owen both put on their PJ's after church and were so tired, they were slap happy the entire time. Funny!

{Deciding which one to open first}

{Boppy opening their new Flagpole from Cole & Mel}

{One of our favorite presents!}

{New Christmas PJ's for everyone!}

{Owen was upset because I wouldn't let him open Everyone's Presents}

We got back together on New Year's Eve Day to see what Santa had brought to Grandma and Boppy's house. And boy did he bring a load of goodies...the look on Harper and Owen's faces was priceless. They were very excited to get some really fun stuff. So were Richard and I...what a wonderful Christmas!!!

{Owen's First John Deere!}

Before we left my parent's house that day, Harper had to try out her new pottery wheel. Aunt Mel led the activity as she had done it before with one of her other nieces. I don't know who had more fun, Harper or me! But wait...she also had to try out her new cupcake maker. It is like a cross between a sandwich maker and an easy bake oven. And they actually turned out! She was so excited for all of her new activities!

{Owen was cleaning while we were making pottery!}

Thanks for a GREAT Christmas Grandma & Boppy!