I think this week made up for last week's lack of festivities, as we had something almost every day that helped us celebrate.  Whether it was a Christmas party, visiting friends, or just putting together a Christmas puzzle, we had fun.

On Wednesday of last week, I got to go to Lily's school and help her make a gingerbread house.  It was so fun to be in the school at Christmas time and see all their great decorations.  It made me remember how decorated I loved to have my classroom at Christmas.  (I am not sure if you can read her door or not – sorry if it is too small.)

Making the gingerbread houses was quite the fun adventure, and began with us moms setting up each table with an enormous amount of candy for them to use, plus each child had their own tub of frosting.  You should have seen how big the kids' eyes were when they saw those tables full of candy :).  Lily did a great job on her house, and it turned out very cute.  After they finished, the kids got to eat all the leftover candy, and so Lily dipped everything in her frosting to make it "extra good" when she ate it.

That night we had a Christmas bowling party with Kevin's Company.  It was a lot of fun, although it may have been a little much for my back that was still healing.  We all had a blast, until Derek decided that he was too tired and went crazy on us.  (I am still not sure if Kevin has forgiven him yet for sneaking in and bowling one of his frames, which ruined what would have been a very awesome score for him.)  I was pretty happy with my score, as not only was it my first time breaking a 100 in 9 years, but it was my second highest score of all time at a 141.  Lily had to be the cutest though, as she kept doing her thing and bowling away, regardless of the chaos around her :).

We also made a trip to Halmark last week to let the kids pick out their ornament for the year.  Derek won over his daddy once more, when out of all the ornaments he could have picked, he chose Luke Skywalker in his land speeder.  Lily chose a Precious Moments Ariel, which she loves.  It will be fun, years from now, to give them all the ornaments they have chosen over the years.

Then there was our trip to Goldsboro to visit Rob and Angela.  It was our last chance to get Kevin and Rob together before Rob deploys in January, and so we made the most of it.  Besides all the games of pinochle, they also spent quite a bit of time playing their WCW card game and mocking Angela and I (their favorite pastime).  They also surprised Derek with a special early birthday breakfast, with presents, and even a candle to blow out. He was in heaven!

And then, the icing on the cake was that it snowed while we were there – just the faintest little dusting that didn't stick, but Lily still got to go out and try and catch some on her tongue :).  She has been dreaming of snow forever.  Derek, however, was not at all excited, which probably had to do with how cold it was.  Oh well, you can't please everyone.

When we got home on Saturday, I had to finish up my special treats and art project for my nursery kids.  I made them rice crispy treats and then we did the cutest ornament craft with them.  (My mother-in-law sent me the idea, and I was so grateful.  It was out of an old Friend magazine and was not at all messy, but still really fun and different.) 

And of course, since it was the last Sunday before Christmas, my kids had to dress up fancy.  I still can't believe that Derek let me put him in that vest, and I was very grateful to Lily's cousin Eden for passing along her gorgeous dress.  They looked adorable, and even though it was insane trying to get them to hold still for a picture, I think I captured them :). 

We had a wonderful day at church, complete with the kids singing in Sacrament meeting, and then we had the missionaries over for dinner last night as well.  It was the perfect way to end another great week of Christmas :).

PS. Stay tuned for Derek's birthday – which just happens to be today 🙂