the past two weeks

*Christmas cookies with the quad girls.

*A few times before school, I surprised the kids with breakfast in front of the "fire". Breakfast consisted of a fun pastry, like daddy's favorite college treat, Honey Buns. 

*I'm very sad to admit we only did our, "Christmas (light) walking" two times this year. :(

*Heading up north for Christmas!

*Christmas cookies.

*Lego invasion post present opening.

 *Wayne made each family a Wahoo board. Wahoo is basically Aggravation, but has been a family tradition since Chris was a little boy. LOTS of games are played whenever the families are together.

*Merry Christmas!

*On Thursday we got together with my friend, Jen. Her kids had brought their bunny, so it also turned into a guinea pig/bunny playdate.

Today we'll celebrate with my family and then Christmas will officially be over... :(

black belt

*On Friday night we took the kids to Robolights in Palm Springs. The kids and I had been a few years back. It's basically a huge backyard which the owner has transformed into a maze of spray painted junk, decorated with lights. It sounds odd. It is. But really cool (in my opinion). Chris was somewhat skeptical and it turned out our visit did nothing to dissipate his skepticism. ;) He thought it was a little too weird and to quote Kendall, "I thought it was inappropriate. There were random mannequin butts everywhere." Disclaimer: There was nothing inappropriate, just plain weird.

Red Robin afterward...

*This week we hit 200,000 miles on our Toyota!! Here's to 200,000 more! Just kidding. :)

*Yesterday was Cameron's Black Belt ceremony. It was really special. During the ceremony (based off Korean culture), Cameron washed the feet of myself and Chris, as a symbol of respect.

SOOO proud of our guy. The number of hours he has put into this is astounding and we couldn't be more excited for this goal he attained. :)

*Kind of nice when your kid is old enough to ride up to Stater Bros. and get us our Redbox for the night. The walkie-talkie added a nice safety component for me. ;)

*Lately we've been enjoying our Harry readings by the fire...aka Netflix. :)

bisconis

*Made these little nuggets for work (though mine don't look quite as perfect). I've always been a chocolate dessert fan above all else, however a good, buttery shortbread is pretty tasty. :)

Shortbread Bites

*I've always loved Christmas time in elementary schools. Our Special Ed office has really gone all out as well. We have a work elf who likes to hide places. We all take pictures with him and post the pics on one of our walls.

*My mom gave us the best book (Jotham's Journey) to read for Advent. We started a couple weeks ago. It has an entry for each day (it's one long story). She also bought us candles to go along with it. Each entry instructs you on how many to light. They are really enjoying it.

*Yesterday was a Costco day. We made out with just one impulse/totally-didn't-need purchase. We had bought these before and I couldn't resist because the kids loved them so much. They are cranberry orange "bisconis", which are a cross between a biscuit and a biscotti. :)

black belt

Saturday was a big day in our house. Cam performed in the second part of his Black Belt testing for Taekwando (and passed!). He was incredibly nervous and had worked SOO hard to get to this point. We were so proud of him, not just for his performance, but for his perseverance despite a few setbacks throughout the testing process. What a boy...

*Last week, after we saw Wonder with Chris's parents, we picked up some Gourmet Pizza on the way home. Yesterday as Chris was eating some of the leftovers, he announced that it is officially his favorite pizza (Brando to be specific). I must say I agree.

*Every year each of us writes down a list of things we are thankful for (at Thanksgiving). It's always fun to look back and read what we had written in prior years . On this year's list, I included our guinea pigs. Why? Because they truly have become such a fun addition to our family for both our kids. :)

*I made these to take to work . They were sooo good and they were almost all gone by the end of the day.

Pumpkin Oatmeal White Chocolate Chip Cookies

*On Sunday afternoon, the kids watched the Emoji movie. I got current with This is Us. SO GOOD.

*As I went to text the quads' mom to send Kendall home tonight, I laughed as I opened our thread. As you can see, she spends a lot of time there... :)

*I was very excited last week when I had to drive to Moreno Valley to observe a preschooler because it meant I had 20 minutes of podcast time. I later texted Chris a pic of what I was listening to, in case he wanted to also listen.