A lesson in saving

One of the tasks we needed to complete while we were on vacation was opening a savings account for both Julia and Andrew. Mimi and Pops made Christmas super fun giving each kiddo 100 dollar bills in their stocking and gave us the extra push we needed to open the accounts. Julia was very interested in the process and thought it was super fun to sit at the bankers desk as a customer. She especially liked going to the teller line to make the deposit.

Starting in January we are starting a weekly allowance for Julia, she was not mature enough for it until now. She has 6 chores she needs to complete each week
1. Set the table for dinner
2. Clean the playroom before bed every night
3. Toys from the living room need to be in the playroom
4. Fold towels
5. Dressed in the morning and brush teeth without help.
You can tell that these are very tailored to her and the areas we need her to show some responsibility. The good news is they can always be adjusted if it is not working, I am looking forward to the day that unload the dishwasher makes the list. On Sunday nights she will visit with us to review the week and get her $10. Hopefully this is the beginning of teaching her about money and healthy spending habits, cause the girl likes to buy new things.

Andrew's First Christmas

First School Christmas Party

This year I am the home room parent for Julia's class. The Christmas party is one of the main events you have to plan. We decided to do a book exchange, do a craft and have snacks. It was a quick 45 minutes and the kids had a blast.

Christmas Dance Recital

Julia has been taking Jazz, Tap and Ballet this fall. The studio she goes to has a small recital in December. They perform 1 routine and this time it was Tap to a song called "I'm Gonna E-mail Santa." It was a really hard routine and she did great.

Dress Rehearsal

The Recital

Main Street - round 2

We go to Main Street . . . ALOT. This time we went with the Butts. We had a great hamburger dinner at Jake's then went to see all the lights. This time we got to have our Valerie with us and Grandma and Grandpa.

Breakfast with Santa

Julia's school has the most amazing PTA. They do a ton of events for the kids and families. I think Breakfast with Santa was my favorite this year. Jeff got to the school super early at 6 a.m. to help the Dad's Club with set up and cooking pancakes. We got there when the event started. We had a delicious pancake breakfast. Then Santa arrived in a helicopter. Finally the kids got their picture with Santa. Since Mom works the Santa line we got rockstar placement in line. It was such a fun event.

Making Reindeer Food

Coloring a Christmas Picture

Following the Candy Cane Path to Breakfast

Julia and her BFF Audrey

Santa arriving in the helicopter

Grapevine Christmas Parade

The Grapevine Parade of Lights is a Christmas tradition. We have been attending since I was a little girl, then we were in the parade from middle school - high school and Jeff and I came when we were dating. Julia LOVES this parade. Kindergarten has made her super tired and she feel asleep half way through and so did Andrew. Maybe next year they will both stay awake.

Matching Clothes

I can only dress them alike for a little while. With their difference in age and the selection in clothes, I need to take advantage while I can. I could just eat them both up in these outfits!

Santa Clause

Santa is a big part of our Christmas season. We talk about him all the time. Where he lives, how he delivers all the presents, what he eats, how the elves work, etc. It is a big topic of conversation. We write him a letter every year and get a response straight from the North Pole. It is so much fun having small kids at Christmas!

Main Street Grapevine

One of our favorite things to do is go to Main Street Grapevine and look at the light and do the activities. We enjoy our family time there. Jeff will take Julia at least once a week to go downtown to look at the light and dance on the gazebo. I like to say Julia was the first to dance on the gazebo. 3 years ago she was dancing her heart out and was the only kid up there, now it is so popular she has decided to dance on the sidewalk.

Family time, just the 4 of us!

Decorating the house

We love Christmas time. We always decorate the house the Friday or Saturday after Thanksgiving. This year Julia is big enough to help with all the decorating, and Andrew was mesmerized by the lights.