Christmas Season Fun

This has been the story of our holiday season.  First the flu, then whatever virus I had that ended up lasting a month.  It took a Z-pack to finally knock it out.  The cough was so hard and painful.  The best place for me was in bed, not moving around much.  That was the only place I could find comfort.

Silly, drama girl.

Gingerbread house time! This is pretty typical for her.

They ran into Santa, and somehow Marc convinced Brooke to sit and have her picture taken with him.

Kayla had a birthday party at the mall, so we had some time to kill.  After a big Italian dinner we surprised these two with dessert from the Cheesecake Factory.  Macy has this thing for cheesecake. Brooke has this thing for chocolate cake, so it was a win for everyone!

Dance class party in pajamas.

This totally caught me off guard leaving a restaurant one night.  My car door was right next to this driver.  It didn't budge and was totally focused ahead.  The one in the passenger seat was sitting the same way until I walked by.

Chinese Lantern Festival

We headed down to Atlanta for a fun little adventure.  We took the girls to the Chinese Lantern Festival, and it did not disappoint. 

The Olympic water rings were a slight tempation for this one. 

It was a cold night, but the lights were spectacular.  Because it was a Thursday night the crowds were super light.

The girls loved these light up O swings. 

The performers were pretty amazing too.  

We were all quite chilly by the end of the night and ready to get back into the car, but we really enjoyed our little adventure down in Atlanta. 

Miscellaneous November

Macy attended the middle school square dance with her friends.

This cutie was proud of the outfit she pulled together for church.  It's usually a battle of her wanting to wear leggings and a too-short top, so I was pretty proud of her too. 

Kayla's normal position for sitting on stools. 

Apparently she was bored one day and gave herself a "henna" tattoo. It was actually pretty impressive. 

Nothing really to say here.

The girls (especially Brooke) have this new found love for crepes. They were pretty excited to make them at home. 

We'll take a warm sunny day anytime we can.  Even if it means dragging blankets outside because it isn't quite THAT warm. 

Brooke almost always pulls her clothes out the night before. And she always lays them out on her floor in the way she will be wearing them. 

Creation Museum Trip

The 7th graders at our school take a trip to the Creation Museum and the Ark.  Macy was so excited to go on this trip with her friends, and she had the best time.

 When we picked her up we realized she had lost her voice.  Apparently it had been gone for most of the trip, but she was full of excitement and energy. The next day she was tired and didn't feel great, but we just assumed that she was recovering from her trip.  She started battling a fever and felt icky.  I knew that several were sick on the trip, so I assumed that she picked up some bug.  Never did I ever think she had the flu! It was only after Kayla started getting sick and running a fever that we decided to take her to the doctor.  I assumed she had strep.  Nope. She had the flu, so we knew that Macy had fought off the flu too. She did it with no medication whatsoever.  A few days later we were back at urgent care with Macy for ear pain. The nurse and doctor did a double take, so Marc had to explain he was back with a different child. Macy had an ear infection as a secondary infection to the flu. Like clockwork, Kayla ended up with an ear infection after she was done fighting the flu. You know it's bad when the doctor looks in the ear and says, "Whoa." Thankfully we isolated Kayla enough that  no one else got sick. Thanksgiving looked different for us this year as it was just the 5 of us.  I was prepared to cook for 14 people, so we didn't go hungry.

Riley likes to help take care of those that are sick.  Actually she just likes being lazy, but the girls like her snuggles.

Clearly we had plenty of food, and there were two girls not feeling their best. They both wanted to come out for Thanksgiving lunch though.

It was a short, slow walk, but we got everyone out of the house for some fresh air.

I'm thankful for this time with family, but also thankful that everyone is on the mend.

Fall Fun with Friends

These three can get quite wild and crazy when they are together, but they have the best time.

Riley loves a good leaf pile. 

Teenagers doing what teenagers do best. 

We were so happy to have all of these girls back together when Aubrey returned to town.  She has been greatly missed.  This bonfire didn't start off that great.  Marc decided to add a little gasoline to get it started, and that backfired on him a bit.  Thankfully he was ultimately okay. The area smelled like gasoline for a little while, but the girls enjoyed their time talking and roasting marshmallows. 

Fun with Birthday Presents

We gave Marc some Nerf guns for his birthday.  He always enjoys getting outside to play something with the girls.  On this day they opted for a Nerf gun battle of a different sort.  A wasp made it in the house, and so they were all trying to shoot it.  Marc finally made the shot, but after the wasp fell we had no idea where it landed.  We couldn't find it at all. That was a little unsettling.

Two peas in a pod...

 

Outdoor battles have been enjoyed as well.

Marc decided he wanted a trailer for his tractor.  The girls had fun helping him put it together and then getting some joy rides around the yard.