Keeping up with the K-Bashes: December 2016

Saturday, December 31, 2016

2016: A Year in Review

2016 was a pretty great year in our household. No big life changes occurred (like they did last year...), I figured out things a little bit more, and we got to go on some fun adventures. Most importantly, we all stayed relatively healthy (though I have been cursed with strep throat twice in 6 weeks with a bad cold in between... but I will count my blessings!).

Here are the highlights of our year!

Places we visited:

Dahlonega, GA (2 times)
Seattle, WA
Portland, OR
The Mountain House (3 times)
Waycross, GA (2 times)
Lake Oconee, GA
2 family weddings in South Carolina

Notable events:

Celebrating 11 years of marriage!
Sydney turned 8
Taylor turned 6
Parker turned 4
Me starting a little business
Me getting off Facebook... maybe for good? Time will tell!

Home improvements:

New roof
Laundry room makeover
Bathroom makeover
Kids' bath makeover
Garage makeover
Baseboards/Door repainting job

Fun activities for the kids:

Taylor lost her first tooth! (and her 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and finally the 5th on New Year's Eve!)

Parker started a new school

Sydney's first 5K

Soccer

Several visits to Stone Mountain

Six Flags!

A couple of White Water visits

Several books were read by me, many steps were taken, much less phone time occurred. I've taken on some new roles (Room Parent Coordinator at the girls' school, working with the KG kids doing AR tests weekly, HOA secretary, personnel team at church) and will continually work on keeping a good balance of life. I have simplified our household a TON recently- lots of donations, lots of organizing. I hope for 2017 to keep a simple, consistent, balanced routine in life.

Happy New Year! Here's to a great 2017.

Friday, December 30, 2016

Christmas- Part 2

After spending a few hours at home putting together the new presents, having some play time, and other time for yours truly to pack...

...we headed up to my sister's house. It's about an hour and fifteen minute drive, but thankfully there was little traffic on the roads. We made it safe and sound, followed shortly after by my parents and my aunt from Florida, and a few hours later by my brother and his fam from Nashville.

We hung out, the kids walked to the park, we ate a delish dinner, and then hit up the tree!

We got to hang out and chill the rest of the night, as well as the next morning. We headed back home around lunchtime.

It was a Merry Christmas, indeed!

Tuesday, December 27, 2016

Christmas- Part 1

We all woke up at a decent hour on Christmas morning- maybe 7:15ish. I made the kids promise they wouldn't sneak downstairs early, and they thankfully obliged! We all headed downstairs together to see if Santa had, in fact, come to visit.

Yay, he came!

He got his Hot Wheels Garage!

After seeing Santa's loot, we took a pause and ate breakfast.

Then, we hit up the tree!

We hung out at our house for a few hours, giving the kids a chance to play with their new gifts (and to allow mama to pack!). We headed to my sister's house mid-afternoon for Christmas, Part 2!

Christmas Eve

Another Christmas tradition we've enjoyed the last few years is having our friends over on Christmas Eve day. We eat lunch, decorate cookies, exchange gifts, and usually play a game or two.

We then headed to the Christmas Eve church service.

The sky when we left church.

There was even a cross!

We then headed out to dinner with a group of friends from church. It was a blast.

When we got home, the kiddos opened one gift of their choice, they sprinkled their reindeer food out on the lawn, we got Santa's milk and cookies out for him, and they headed to bed.

We have a big day in store for us tomorrow!

Gingerbread House... ish

Our Christmas tradition of decorating a gingerbread house continued this year... kind of. With the girls getting out of school only 4 days before Christmas, we had a lot to do in those 4 days... and I totally had to wing our house this year! So, instead of a house, I give you our 2016 Gingerbread (ahem, sugar cone) trees.