What a crazy month December was! I think that 2021 ended the best way possible, full of love, family, friends, and hope.
We had the Blievernicht Christmas at my grandma's, and the kids got to meet Santa for the first time! Brady was all for it and sat on his lap with no qualms. Ashley was a little more hesitant and wouldn't sit on his lap without me. I'm looking forward to seeing what they think of Santa next year as well.
Christmas at Dan and Theresa's involved a bounce house this year, and I think all the kids were really enjoying bouncing and sliding around in there.
We were royally spoiled with so many gifts, I feel like people were opening presents forever. Brady and Ashley's favorite gift of the night was the Styrofoam that packaged some blocks. They had that stuff EVERYWHERE. I'm so sorry for that messy clean-up Dan and Theresa!
Christmas at my mom and dad's was a little more relaxed (because there are a lot less people ha!), but we were still spoiled rotten. I don't think that anyone but Brayden and Ashley opened a gift that day. If you had a present in front of you, one of them was coming to sit on your lap to open it up, whether you wanted them to or not. It will be fun to watch them open their birthday presents this year!
Our new Christmas Eve tradition is going to my Grandma Wolf's house to celebrate with her, and then we go through the Christmas lights in Effingham on our way home and attend midnight mass at St. Thomas. Last year was cake because the kids slept through the service. This year was little more hectic as they were up for everything this time and little more antsy than we would have liked. But we made it almost all the way through church so I'll call that a success.
Christmas morning was laid back and relaxed at our house. We stayed in jammies all day and enjoyed all the presents left under the tree. A clear winner for presents this year was these stepping stones. The kids like to stand on them and be "tall".
And for non-Christmas updates from December- first up is the house! The forms came off the basement walls and we saw our garage and basement walls and floors complete. The basement got framed up (it will remain unfinished), and we also got a subfloor put on. Eric mentioned that seeing the basement framed up and walking around down there really made the experience seem real.
Brayden and Ashley enjoyed all the warmer weather that we had in December. We also had lots of rain, which meant lots of puddles. So naturally we spent a lot of time playing outside, in the puddles. And thanks to the build, lots of mud.
When it's been too cold to play outside, we have enjoyed our time indoors as well.
We went to lots of basketball games, where I hardly get to actually watch the game, but one day that will come. For Fresh/Soph games we sit down by the court, but we definitely sit in the balcony for Varsity games- these two need lots of room to roam ha!
