December (or, at least, most of it...)

 I'm playing catch up... again. *sigh*

December went by super fast! It seemed like it was just one event after another, but, I like it that way.

We went to CB one Saturday to finish our Christmas shopping. It started to snow while we were there. It was one of those wet, heavy snows with huge snowflakes. It was so festive!

I'll always cherish the memories of those shopping trips...

The cows were looking festive too!

Life would be so boring without the comic side!

Abi's gift baskets turned out beautifully!

Making the last of the goodies for the baskets...

😳

Hey, yeah... Why do I live in Iowa?! 

'Cause I love it, that's why!

I was trying to finish up some last minute sewing before we left for Texas. You get a good taste of what it's like to be a mom when you babysit and try to work. 😶 It was fun, though. They played while I sewed. I wouldn't trade those little guys for anything!

Wore out lil' guy

Doughy ended up falling asleep with a stinky diaper that evening. We didn't know he was stinky until it was too late. I changed him, and man oh man! That was the most disgusting diaper I ever changed! 😷

Our first ice skating party of the season! The ice was perfect- smooth as glass and just as clear. It was almost unnervingly clear...

We had the littles over to help make Christmas cookies one afternoon.

The three stooges decorated cookies for Natalie Ogg, the lady that gives them horse riding lessons.

Abi took Talitha to get her hooves trimmed. They had this fascinating machine for the job.

Abi makes the best pork chops!

This poor unfortunate snake had found his way into our basement. I caught him and threw him outside. He froze harder than a popsicle.

The incorrigibles after riding lessons

This made me laugh...

Ah, it's that time of year again...

Leon and Emma and family welcomed little Kenneth David Zook into their lives on December 11 at 1:43 am. Congratulations, Zooks!

We frequent a little coffee place (Sweet Joy Shoppe) near us so much that the owner invited us to her daughter, Danielle's bridal shower.

We each got a ring for a game... If you heard someone say "bride", "shower", or "wedding" then you took their ring, and vice versa. The person with the most rings at the end won a gift.

The cupcakes they had were divine!

The shower was on a Sunday, which also happened to be the same day that Kenneth was born. So, we had Zook kids and also Ry's, Aunt Carol and Gram over for lunch and supper to have our last "Texas Trip" meeting. It was a pretty crazy day!

Somebody put some bloomers on Doughy's head and stuffed a pillow up his shirt. 😂

Cutie!

My thoughts exactly.

These elves that I saw at a cleaning client's house reminded me of Mom and Dad. 😉

How could you resist that face?!

Trust me, I know...

Face Times with Nate and Gin are so special!

This tiny female quail got into our basement somehow. She was so cute!

This girl is so precious!

More cookie decorating at Grandma's! 

I think there was too much die in the frosting...

I thought this was a cute picture.

This made me laugh... (Hey, I can't help it!)

I had fun playing "mom" one day. Everyone else was busy, so I watched the littles by myself. I needed to run to Walmart, so I took them with me. They were so good! I kept getting compliments. 😉

I want to get this to hang up for the boys!

Ebenezer Scrooge lives!

Mom and I ran to Galaxy Store for last minute shopping for some necessities for our Texas Trip. They had Swiffer dusters for extremely cheap! We bought all of them! 😏

Our church went Christmas caroling the Wednesday before Christmas. It was cold, but not nearly as cold as past years! 

How smart!

We took Grandma out to eat at Lansky's the Thursday before Christmas. It was great to see her again!

We piled our cleaning jobs up on Friday and Saturday before Christmas so that they'd be done for our Texas Trip. 

I had to endure this ear piercing sound for about an hour an a half while we cleaned this house. It was awful! I literally thought I was going to go deaf!

 We had a frost Christmas Eve. It was beautiful, but it made the roads super slick!

KK took these, by the way.

Dawse loves helping the guys. 😂

He snuggled up on Josh's back.

We opened family gifts on Christmas Eve. Sam got Abi this huge Reeses pb cup!

We invited Ry and Kels and Gram over for lunch so that we could give them their gifts. Aunt Carol and her crew came over later. The littles were bouncing off the walls after they consumed boat loads of candy! It was so much fun to stuff them! 😉

Brie gave Sam this cute little hook for Christmas.

Up next: Our Texas Trip!