friday

we started off the morning at the elementary school. at the holiday sing-along.

it was the first time Lincoln had been back at the school. he saw his friends. and teacher. that was interesting. and hard for both of us, i think.

a good 30 minutes into it, i couldn't sit there any longer. all of a sudden, i HAD to finish the hundreds of christmas cards and get them in the mail. i needed that off my list. so...we left. and these 2 helped me stamp and label the cards. :-) and we took them right to the post office!

 i got to go to joshua AND bailey's holiday parties that afternoon. joshua's was incredible...they made cornhusk dolls, oranges with cloves stuck in them...all these "crafts" from american history. his teacher is so cool.

 when i walked into bailey's party she was READING the class a book! what timing!

clever, creative parents!

 it was such a gift for me to be able to BE there. i loved it!

crazy afternoon...got our gingerbread houses ready to decorate on saturday. we can't buy the kits for EVERY kid. too much money and they are so big!

i used this link to make the houses. i use hot glue to keep them together. WAY less frustrating than icing!

 

it was GREAT weather that afternoon...so we played a little baseball game outside...and kicked off our 12 days together :-)

then i got our house ready for our shepherd group christmas party. just adults. lots of yummy food. tons of laughter and fun. friends that know you, TRULY know you, are one of life's greatest gifts.  this was the only picture i got. i was too busy BEING there.