Life with the Wallis Family: Chrstmastime is Here Again

The beginning of December started with lots of activities! Phoebe performed with her grade at the high school and did a fantastic job!

Can you pick her out? 2nd row up, 2nd from left. Next to Brayden. We'll mention Brayden again later...he's the one in glasses.

Westfield in Lights was also the first weekend in December. We made sure to bring our letters to Santa as they had a special mailbox we could drop them off at.

We waited a good 45 minutes to meet Mr. & Mrs. Claus!

So after a quick "train" ride, we didn't wait in line to meet Frosty or the reindeer.

Saturday night we attempted foam curlers for the first time.

You could say someone was NOT happy with the results.

So after an attempt to tame the curls and a fight about outfits, we ended up getting to church with straight hair and wearing jeans, cowboy boots and a plaid flannel shirt. Some days, it just isn't worth the battle. But it's real folks, the struggle is REAL.

The following Sunday we attempted hot curlers but Phoebe's hair holds curls like her mama's!

After a quick run to Kroger, Phoebe and I stopped at the church across the street to see their Live Nativity (and get hot chocolate).

Our winter started off VERY warm and wet. It was so weird to see a rainbow in December while at my desk.

I took a day off from work and drove to Ohio to visit my dear friend Amanda and her new baby girl, Avery Rose Lee. It was a perfect day with lots of baby snuggles and chats!

Phoebe went to Sky Zone for a friend's birthday party. You'll note that Phoebe is NOT looking at me but rather at a brown-haired boy with glasses. You guessed it, that's Brayden. He's in her class at school and apparently told Phoebe that he has loved her since first grade. I think she's smitten but if you ask her about it, she'll start crying and say she's not! Good thing he's also in her Sunday school class so she gets to see him six days a week!

They had lots of fun jumping and chasing each other around!

Maverick and I attempted to make spritz cookies and a large gingerbread boy all in one day. He had lots of fun with the sprinkles!

Can you tell which one is his???

He also prefers frosting over everything else and enjoyed getting the beaters all to himself!

Santa responded to both of the kiddos all the way from the North Pole! They were SO excited!

Our church had 15 Christmas Eve services between their four campuses and we ended up with tickets for Wednesday evening. It was a little weird going on a different date but it gave us a bit longer celebration, too. With all the rain we'd had, they moved the Live Nativity inside.

Hard to believe that while we were driving to church, a tornado struck 3 miles away. So grateful for God's protection (and a mother-in-law who believes in weather radios!!!).

Auntie was able to meet us at church for the service and we met up with

Uncle Steve for a late dinner afterward.

We went over to YiaYia and Papou's for dinner on Christmas Eve. Based on the pictures, we got a little wild and crazy...

The kiddos got to open their one Christmas Eve present (pre-washed jammies - yeah, I'm weird that way) and they quickly got changed.

We got out cookies, milk and carrots for Santa and Ryan read "The Night Before Christmas" and the scripture about Jesus' birth in Luke 2 from the Bible.

Tradition continues - the children are tortured at the top of the stairs for at LEAST five minutes before they're allowed to come down (so the parents can brew coffee in peace).

The big reveal after they opened balls and paddles - we are SO excited about our ping pong table! Ryan is in for some serious competition!

Maverick is a little dangerous with the paddles, or "bats" as Ryan has corrected me many times...

Maverick was in charge of picking out the cake for Jesus' birthday. He insisted on blue (yep, the cake was blue, too) since Jesus is a boy. There are obviously people lined up at our door to purchase my cake-decorating skills! Watch out Food Network, here I come!!!

We headed to GGMa's and GGPa's house in Anderson for a late lunch and time with family. Grandpa continues to share his wit and wisdom while Grandma sits and nods her head. We are grateful that as they turn 90 (Grandma just did in December and Grandpa will be in February) that they are still with us and of sound mind. Grandma even sat down at the piano to play carols for us to sing along with.

Auntie Kate's selfie stick came in handy. Maverick is in the picture on someone's lap, just hidden from view. It was too much of an effort to regroup after we realized his face was missing from this picture, but we know he's in there somewhere!

Sunday we had a visit from Granddaddy. We played a little ping pong in the dark with Papou's strobe light. Trust me, one can only do that for a short amount of time but the kids think it's a riot!

MUCH better with the lights on!

Maverick has become obsessed with Disney, Jr.'s show PJ Masks. Showing Alan the magic that is preschool superheroes.

I had to go in to work one day to close out the year and Phoebe came with me. We put her to work taking down all the Christmas decor and tidying up after we got rid of all the poinsettias! She is very motivated when cash is involved!

She also raided my cabinet and made me a delicious concoction of cranberries, cashews, pumpkin spice coffee creamer, cinnamon, salt and olive oil. To humor her, I took one bite and so did she! She's become much more daring in her food choices. Her typical response however, is "Eh, not my favorite." At least she's trying - we have to give her credit for that. Maverick is still quite limited! He prefers things like meatballs and chips & salsa.

We took them to Castleton so they could cash in their Build-a-Bear gift cards from Santa and their Elf, Chippey!

It was quite the decision making process which animals they were going to pick. Maverick ended up with a football bear AND a sloth. Go figure!

YiaYia invited Phoebe for a sleepover and she appeared to have packed for a week!

Auntie's dog, Gryphon was there and Phoebe had LOTS of fun playing with the pups.

They even tackled some sewing projects and Phoebe showed off her new apron helping make a pot pie on New Year's Eve! Adorable!

Our New Year's Day tradition of lunch at Shapiro's Deli downtown is always a hit! Phoebe tried Ryan's corned beef sandwich (he's not one for cabbage). The kids really only go for two things, however.