A Special Date With Daddy

Karis and Makena went on a special date with Daddy. They went to a father-daughter Valentine dance at a local church. They were so excited all week and could hardly wait. Karis wrote about it in her school journal. 

Friday night finally came! They finished dinner quickly and got dressed up. 

The dance was geared more towards older girls (dancing with loud music in a dimly lit room), but they came home with fun treats and loved their time with Daddy.

Apex Fun Run

There have been many fundraisers at the school this year, but The Apex Fun Run was quite different. It was a two week interactive program where the kids learned about leadership and fitness.  The themes were:

• Find Your Strengths! Identify strengths in you and also those around you.
• Be Brave! Doing what’s right with all your might.
• Stick Together! Working as a team makes you stronger. Never leave anyone out.
• Go Big! Go above and beyond what is expected of you in everything you do.
• Say Thanks! Be grateful and thank those around you.

Karis loved the program and although she didn't remember a whole lot about what they talked about, she was pretty excited about it each day. 

She made a video to ask her relatives to sponsor her and pledge a dollar amount for every lap (1/16th of a mile) that she runs. I wrote her a script and after reading it a few times, she almost had it memorized. We did about three takes and then she was satisfied with the video. Family members were very generous with their pledges, and she raised almost $500 (about 30% of her class pledges). 

It's been pretty cold here, but it warmed up a bit the day before the race. Thankfully they changed the run time from 9 am to noon. The weather was perfect that day (mid 50's)!

There were lots of parents, loud music and excitement!

The whole family came out to support Karis. 

Getting ready for the race.

Can you tell she was excited?

And she's off!

Karis sprinted most of the time. 

After each lap, each student got a tick on the back of their shirt to keep track of how many laps they ran. Each student would run 26 to 36 laps with 36 being the maximum number of laps. 

Karis ran all 36 laps!

Happy finishers with Ms. Carlton!

Makena and Kyle loved watching Karis run. Kyle wanted to do it again the next day. 

Class picture

Christmas Morning

I really enjoyed this Christmas season. There was a lot of anticipation of Christmas in our home. Early in December, Makena asked, "Are we going to see Jesus at Christmas?!" She was disappointed when I told her no. This little girl really wants to see Jesus. The other day she was complaining to me that Kyle was taking too long on the iPad. She said, "I've been waiting forever for my turn, just like I've been waiting forever to see Jesus!"

This was the first Christmas in two years that we didn't move in December! That in itself made it a more enjoyable season! But on a more serious note, our church did the Advent Conspiracy. It was about turning our Christmas upside down and instead of getting lost in the season, it helped us to focus on the following: Worship fully, Spend less, Give more, Love all.

For me, I was able to focus on the miracle and wonder of the birth of Jesus more so than in years past. Derek and I decided to limit our Christmas budget to the money I earned from my consulting job. I am thankful for the opportunity and its timing. It's been about three or four years since I last worked for them. That helped eliminate the financial burden of buying gifts, so we were more joyful in our gift giving. It also gave me a chance to be more creative with our gifts -- I'm always up for a good challenge.  =) The kids had fun making some homemade gifts that hopefully were more meaningful to the recipients. 

Here are some pictures of the kids opening their presents. It's always fun to watch their excitement!

 

There were a handful of things that Makena really wanted. She received all of them and was surprised by a couple more things like the horse outfit she's wearing in the pictures and pink horse slippers. She said it was the best Christmas ever (over and over again). She then asked, "Do you know what I love more than all these toys? Jesus!" 

The aftermath!

Then it was time to play with all their new toys! Karis started right away on her Lego Friends with the help of Daddy. 

Christmas Week

We started the week with the preschool kids singing in big church on Sunday. They sang two songs. Kyle knew the songs and the motions -- he's always singing them at home -- however, he chose not to participate. He was a little out of it. We were all a little off. I hurt my back and was in a lot of pain that morning. I would have stayed home if it wasn't Christmas Sunday. Karis slept in and that also added to the rush and our delay in arriving to church. Makena did great, but when she came down the steps she started to cry. She said she didn't want to do it (it was already over). She said she didn't like all the people looking at her! 

Later that day, we had Derek's staff Christmas party. It started with a service project in the afternoon at a church we partner with throughout the year. Derek took the kids while I rested my back. Afterwards, we went to the dinner party sans kids. Here is a photo of (most of) the church staff and office volunteers. 

We went to the family Christmas Eve service at church. Derek left early and I brought the kids later. I thought it'd be fun to surprise Derek and have Kyle dressed up like him. We all got a kick out of it!

 

It's been fun to watch Kyle participate more in the Christmas festivities this year. He is no longer a baby! He sat through the service and did great. 

These two on the other hand are trouble -- obviously not paying attention as they noticed I was taking pictures with my phone! ;)

Sweet Christmas Traditions

This year, I made gingerbread houses out of graham crackers. I bought a little bit of candy but also brought out leftover Halloween candy and our stash of candy the kids have collected from birthday parties, school, etc. It was a great way to use it all up! 

This was the first year Kyle decorated a gingerbread house. 

They had a great time and did a great job!

Of course a lot of candy and sprinkles were consumed in the process!

We also made our birthday cake for Jesus. I asked the girls what shape they wanted the cake -- square, circle, rectangle. Makena shouted out "Heart! Because Jesus loves us!" So a heart shape it was! They also wanted it to be green. 

Christmas Lights

We love our city. It is always so well-decorated during the holiday season. Every year, we spend an evening touring some of the lights in our pajamas. Our first stop is always this one house that has a great light show set to music. This year, we ran into some friends/Makena's preschool teacher. It made the experience even more fun for the girls. 

Another popular stop is a huge miniature city with three sets of trains running through it. It takes up half of the front lawn. The couple that sets it up is always outside chatting with the visitors and giving out candy canes to the kids. 

We then drove through a few more streets and then headed home for bed time.

More of Karis' Birthday Celebration

On Karis' birthday, Derek and I met her for lunch. We brought her lunch from Sonic and hung out with her friends.

Later that day, Kyle and I came back to bring a special birthday snack for the class. We passed out candy coated pretzel sticks with sprinkles and her friends sang happy birthday to her.

The night before we went out to dinner for her birthday since we had a Christmas party at our friends' house on her birthday (she picked Chik-fila for dinner). I told her she could choose a dessert and I would bring it to our friends' house. The kids had pumpkin pie for the first time a few weeks prior and they loved it. She chose pumpkin pie for her birthday dessert!

The next week, Miss Lindsay came home from college and picked Karis up from school. She took her out for a birthday cupcake. 

They went to her house where she opened presents, painted on canvas and got her nails painted (an American flag on each!). Afterwards they went out for pizza. Karis loved the one-on-one time she got!