My Most Favorite Christmas Tradition

The "Advent Calendar" is my favorite Christmas tradition. It's something my mom did every year while I was growing up, and now I do it for my kids. Each day of December (leading up to Christmas) there is something fun on the Advent Calendar for each of the kids. It can be candy, small toys, pencils, etc., and some of the days there is a tag that says something like, "today we will go see Santa" or "Today we'll bake Christmas cookies". It's so much fun. I remember looking forward to it each year as a kid, and my kids really enjoy it. Isaac has been counting down to the start of the Advent Calendar. He knew when he went to bed tonight that it would be up in the morning. :) This is my first year doing it for all 3 kids (last year Emma was to small to care), and I've gotta say, I think I need something with bigger pockets! :) It's so hard to find things small enough to fit!

Done!

As of tonight I am officially done shopping for my kids (stocking stuffers and all! ). Feels good. Now I just have to shop for everyone else on my list! :)

I've been tagged . . .

So, Rebecca tagged me to tell 6 random things about myself. Here they are:

1. I love getting packages in the mail. It's so much fun to look outside and see a package on the porch! I get excited every time (even when the package is something I ordered, and I knew it was coming). Today was a great day because I got 5 packages (one was stuff David's mom ordered for him for Christmas, one was something I ordered for David for Christmas, one was something for Isaac and Noah, one was a present for Emma from Santa, and one was a present for Emma from my mom). So, even though none of the packages were actually for me, they still made me happy!

2. I HAVE to go into my kids' rooms every night and check on them before I go to bed. If I get in bed without checking them, I always get up and do it. Sometimes it wakes them up when I come into their rooms, but I just can't go to bed until I know they are alive and breathing.

3. I LOVE to sleep! I would take a nap every day if I could (and a lot of days I do). I can sleep any time of day without any trouble at all (I think the only time I ever have trouble sleeping is when I'm pregnant). When I was in college I would sleep outside of my classrooms on the floor, in the library, and pretty much anywhere else. When I'm feeling sad or mad, the best medicine for me is to just go to sleep. If I don't get enough sleep, I'm a TOTAL crab. So, yeah, sleep is pretty important to me!

4. I love to browse around stores (especially when I have no children or just Emma with me). Whenever I go to Target after the kids are in bed ("just to pick up some dish soap or something"), David knows that I won't be back for a while. I just like walking all over the store looking at stuff. It's relaxing to me. I also LOVE looking through the ads in the Sunday paper, as well as any random magazines (Lillian Vernon, etc.) that come in the mail. I can't throw them away until I've looked at them (even when I know I don't want anything in them).

5. I really wish I had musical talent. I love to sing, but I'm horrible at it (my poor kids have to listen to me anyway). I also really want to learn to play the piano. When we can afford to get a piano, I really want to take lessons.

6. I hate making phone calls. I don't know what it is, maybe I'm scared, maybe I just don't want to bug people. Actually, it's easier for me to call people I don't know (like the cable company or something) than to call people I know (except for family members and people I feel REALLY comfortable around). I have a hard time doing visiting teaching because I'm nervous about calling my companion or the people I teach. I will almost always choose to e-mail someone rather than call them. It's not that I don't like to talk on the phone, because I do (if you've ever talked on the phone to me, you know that I will go on and on), it's just "making" the call that's hard. I never know if the person is in the middle of something, or maybe they don't really want to talk to me, and I'm wasting their time . . . whatever it is, it's hard for me to call people.

So, now I get to tag a few people! Amy A., Stacie, and Nicole - blog 6 random things about you!

Frog

This week was Children's Book Week, so each day of the week they did something special at Isaac's school (like a visit from an author, etc.). Today they had a literary character parade. Each child was asked to dress up as their favorite book character, and to bring the book with that character to school with them. Isaac decided he wanted to dress up at Frog from the "Frog and Toad" books (which he loves!). I had fun putting his costume together. He was really excited to wear it to school today!






It was especially fun because his class performed at Friday Morning Live this morning. David, Noah, Emma and I went to see him sing and got to see all the kids dressed in their costumes. Parents were allowed to stay for the parade, but by that time Noah and Emma were sick of sitting, so I didn't stay. :(

Soccer Trophy!

Isaac's main reason for wanting to play soccer was to get a trophy. Yesterday was his soccer party (at Gattitown), and he got his trophy for participating in the Frisco Soccer Association. He was thrilled!! Although, he was a little bothered that the trophy didn't look like a "traditional" trophy. It looks more like a plaque, and he thought that was pretty weird.

Soccer was a very frustrating experience this year. Isaac's team lost every game by a LOT of goals. It was usually probably 20 or so to 0. The coach and all the kids on the team were really nice, but I think the coach was probably TOO nice. He always told the kids they were doing a great job, even when they weren't trying. I'm not sure what we're going to do next year. If Isaac wants to play soccer again, we may not sign up for the same team. It was just so discouraging for the kids to NEVER score! I guess it all ended well, though, because Isaac got his MUCH desired trophy!!!

Outdoor Play and LOTS of static!

I really like Fall. The weather is great for the kids to play outside. The other day when Emma and Noah were playing, they went under the play structure and Emma's hair was "attracted" to the plastic above her head. Pretty fashionable! :)

Birthday Fun!

David's birthday is November 1 and mine is November 2, so it's always fun to celebrate our birthdays together!

On David's birthday, the whole family (David, me, Isaac, Noah, Emma, and Grandma Hoyle) went to Applebee's for dinner. Isaac made his dad a special birthday hat! He loves to make hats for birthdays!

Then on the morning of my birthday, I got a special treat - The First Grade performed at Friday Morning Live. Every Friday morning Isaac's school has an assembly/pep-rally where they sing the school song, awards are given, and one of the grade levels performs. Parents are always welcome to come to FML, but this was our first time attending. The First Grade sang two songs (In the picture, Isaac is on the top row, 3 over from the left). Then on Friday night, David and I enjoyed a nice dinner date at Olive Garden. All in all, we had great birthdays!

Halloween Night

So, I know I'm WAY late blogging this, but I didn't want to skip it! The kids had a great time Trick or Treating on Halloween Night. Grandma Hoyle came to visit and Trick or Treat with the kids. Haley, Stefani and Quentin also joined us. It was a fun time. Emma was really excited and ran after the "big" kids to try to keep up. Then both she and Haley got worn out, and I carried Haley while Emma rode in the stroller (Haley is just too heavy for pregnant Stefani to carry!). After we were done, the kids had fun laying out all their "loot" to see what they got! I love Halloween!