we are back

We got back from Germany a few days ago. We had a wonderful time! I'll post pictures once I gather them all together. :)

The past few days have been sooo nice and relaxing for me. We have stayed at home, occasionally venturing out to run errands, which has been just what I wanted as a way to finish our Christmas break.

Our first errand after being back was to Walmart to restock our fridge. Kendall had some leftover Christmas money and was excited to use it. Cameron, after an unfortunate incident (involving his old fish, walking across the street and dropping said fish) was excited to get a couple new goldfish.

Jetlag has been a bit of a beast only in that we wake up super early each morning. Yesterday we headed to Starbucks to work on our thank-you cards. 

I got my usual (Grande-soy-skinny-hazelnut-latte-190 degrees-or "as hot as you can make it") and I let the kids get a donut from next door. I love how Kendall is seven years old and still eats the frosting off her donuts. :)

The last few days have also included the addition of two extra kids at our house. :) The quad girls have been over almost 24/7, even accompanying us on errands.

Wienerschnitzel after some shopping.

Today will be another low key day with a few errands mixed in. We will head out to Orange County on Sunday to celebrate Christmas with Chris' side of the family.

christmas cards

*The kids' school Christmas performance was this past week. Cam played the role of Blitzen and did awesome! If you had told me 8 years ago that he would not only have wanted to try out for a role, but then would love performing, I wouldn't have believed you. He's come such a long way and we were so proud.

*Yes. We are happy to have great insurance through my job and not have to pay it out of pocket like we have for the past 11 years. No, It doesn't mean everything goes flawlessly. For instance, Chris was told over a month ago that he DIDN'T break his hand (after sliding into second during a softball game). Yesterday, when he finally got an appointment with a specialist, they told him he should have babied his hand more because, in fact, he HAD broken it. Wow. 

(the tiny arrow is pointing to the floating piece of bone)

*The kids have to complete a certain number of community service hours each year for school. Yesterday, we went to a convalescent  home and they sang, read books, and passed out Christmas cards (we went with their two buddies). They really enjoyed it and it was neat for us moms to see how sweet they were to the patients.

*Yep...totally shirked on my sending Christmas cards responsibility. Hopefully next year...

*I bake much less now that I'm working. However I always make time to bake one thing on the weekend that I then take to work on Monday. This past week was, by far, the biggest hit.

Mint Oreo Cookie Truffles

24 hours from now we will be heading to Germany to spend Christmas with my whole family!! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

tooth

*Cameron has REALLY been into researching our family tree. He has probably spent a couple dozen hours total over the past few months. He was beyond excited when my aunt, from Texas, sent him some information this past week. :)

*Last night we drove out to have dinner with Chris' family to celebrate our niece's birthday. After dinner we took a few pics out by the Christmas tree.

*Today I took the kids and the quad girls to the library for a Christmas Marionette show. Sadly the marionettes were a no show, but the kids got a free book and jump rope and didn't seem too disappointed. :)

*A friend of mine is so thoughtful in sending pics of Kendall during class events and field trips. It's a little hard for me because it's a reminder that I'm not able to attend school functions anymore (but in the spirit of full disclosure...I was never a fan of chaperoning field trips...ha!). Anyway, it made my day yesterday to get this pic of Kendall on the bus...right after she lost her tooth!

cell phone or hair flip?

*Yesterday morning's advent was to decorate a gingerbread house.

*The kids love eating any meal by the Christmas tree. Last night we ate dinner....so did a fury friend. :)

 

*When we were all in Carlsbad over Thanksgiving, we had quite the family debate regarding this picture from an L.L. Bean catalog. We were split half and half as far as whether or not the girl in the picture is talking on a cell phone or flipping her hair. My claim was that she was on the phone. I thought it was simply a sign of the times that even on an outdoor apparel catalog, a girl would be holding a phone since nowadays people are NEVER without their phones, even in the glorious outdoors. Well, I actually called the catalog and...I was wrong. However I still maintain it looks like she is... :)

Look closely....doesn't that look like a phone??? :)

*After church today my parents came over for lunch. We recently got an early Christmas present from Chris' parents in the form of a new barbeque. Chris wanted to try it out and I think he is officially a huge fan. :) Here he is explaining it to my dad.

*Today Chris and I were talking about Christmas albums we listened to as kids. For me, whenever I hear songs from these albums, I think of my childhood because we listened to them a lot!!

scotcheroos

*Advent started today in our house. Basically each morning I put a 99 cent store trinket or note (explaining an activity they'll do or a special breakfast they'll have) in the kitchen for them to discover when they wake up. This is eagerly anticipated every Christmas. However this morning I realized an epic parent fail when Chris asked Cameron why we do advent. Cam answered that he didn't know. Yikes! We explained that advent is our way of doing little celebrations each day to lead up to the BIG celebration of Jesus' birth.

*Made these last weekend. I have not made them in years and forgot what a yummy recipe it is. I've never been a huge fan of Rice Krispy Treats, but these are completely different.

Scotcheroos

*We've started watching, "Kevin Can Wait". It's not the funniest show in the world, but Chris and I were huge "King of Queens" fans, so it's fun to see Kevin James in another show. 

*I finished the new Gilmore girls on Netflix. I got teary throughout and wasn't disappointed. :)