Christmas Vacation Time!!

First off, we had a whirlwind of a week this past week. We had our Life Group Christmas party, I had 2 Fresh Spirit Christmas parties, Hudson had his Happy Birthday, Jesus! party at school, Conner got the stomach bug and missed his last day of school and his party, and we've had a few days to relax and enjoy. Really, vacation could not have come at a better time. We needed a break!

Thankfully I had the idea to get teacher gifts ready on Monday, so the boys decorated the gift bags with stickers and I put the gifts inside and wrote each teacher a personal note. Each of the boys also participated in a book exchange, so I had to wrap those, as well.

Our teacher gifts and books for the book exchange all wrapped and ready for school...

The boys played outside and got all muddy on Monday afternoon, so we had a nice warm afternoon bath to warm up. It was pretty chilly outside! Jason normally does bath time, so I definitely feel out of my element giving baths, but it was fun for them and fun for me to see them laughing and giggling together ... even if it means there was extra water on the floor ... and on me.

Tuesday was school and when I picked the boys up, we headed over to SuSu's townhouse for a fun afternoon of hanging out. We ended up going for a walk because the boys had so much extra energy (little did I know the extra energy was actually utter exhaustion and the beginning of Conner being sick). They did pretty well, and we all got a little exercise. We headed back to the townhouse for some TV time and then headed to Chick-Fil-A to meet up with our Life Group friends to support our friend Paige in her fundraiser for Crohn's Disease. Then Jason went to the movies with the guys and I drove home with the boys for the evening.

The next morning was a weird one. The boys woke up around 7am like every other day, but when Conner came downstairs he just laid on the floor in the living room for like 45 minutes. When he had woken up he coughed up some mucus/bile, and of course I didn't want to assume stomach bug, but didn't want to rule it out (it's the sickness he gets most often). So I started washing my hands and wiping down doorknobs and handrails, took his temperature (no fever), and suggested he go upstairs to take a nap. He didn't complain at all and that's when I knew he must be sick. Kids never want to take a nap, especially at 8:15am. So Conner pretty much stayed in bed for the rest of that whole day and night and woke up the next morning feeling so much better. Thankfully Jason was there after work on Wednesday to help with the stomach bug leg work. This pregnant lady was very grateful!

It did give me lots of time to cuddle with Hudson and enjoy spending time with him one-on-one while Conner was laid up in bed, so here we are cuddling on the couch.

Once I realized that Conner was actually sick and wasn't going to get to go to school, meaning he'd miss his special Christmas chapel that I was going to get to come to, and his Happy Birthday Jesus party ... this pretty much sums up how I felt... 

BUT, thankfully Jason was able to stay home on Thursday, so I could at least come to Hudson's Happy Birthday Jesus party that morning at school. It was so, so cute and definitely different than when Conner was that age. Both my boys have had Ms. Mary as their teacher (different Asst. Teachers), so it's been fun to really see a difference in their personalities and ways they handle school.

The party started out with story-time. Ms. Mary read a story about playing Peek-A-Boo, so here is Hudson "hiding" ...

Listening to the story...

Ms. Mary kept laughing about how far away everyone was sitting and how quiet the kids were because they normally participate a lot more. Hudson got up from my lap a few times to get up close and personal on story-time. (P.S. We LOVE Ms. Mary!!)

"Hudson, do you want to take a picture with Mommy??" ... 

The kids then did a little book exchange and it was pretty much adorable. Hudson opened his book and took in a deep breath and said, "It's my favorite book!" We've never seen this book before, so it cracked me up that he said that.

After the book exchange, it was snack time and Hudson ate every last morsel of his snack. Cupcake, goldfish crackers, and fruit ... in that order.

Mommy and Hudson - I just love this sweet boy so, so much!

After Hudson's party I headed home to a much, much improved Conner Bear, and let him open his stuff from his teachers that he would have gotten at his party. He loved it and it made him feel so special. He wasn't really sad about missing his party, but I'm not sure he really realized what that meant. He would stay home in pajamas all day every day if he could.

Conner was hungry and had eaten a great breakfast already, so Jason and I decided to take advantage of the special time we had with just Conner while little brother was at school and go to lunch. Conner picked McDonald's (surprise, surprise!) and since they serve breakfast all day, he chose a breakfast sandwich for his lunch.

 After lunch, we decided to hit up Petland in Frisco and look at the animals and specifically, puppies. We've been wanting a dog more and more recently, so we just wanted to scope out the process, selection, and try to get Conner to warm up to the idea. Conner is very nervous around dogs, especially big dogs, so it was good for him to have some special time with a sweet puppy. Jason and Hudson are the animal people in our family. Conner and I are more apprehensive. I grew up with a strictly outside dog who I didn't particularly spend a lot of time with because she had no training and didn't obey pretty much any commands. Jason really wants an inside dog ... so with my history with dogs, my initial thought is "heck, no!" BUT, he's assured me that we will teach our dog through training classes how to obey commands and he has also said he'll buy me a really nice vacuum (HAHA!!) because I'm also worried about my house smelling like dog. We have several friends who have dogs so I'm going to pick their brains about these things before we take the plunge. We also need to wait until baby girl is born and not a baby anymore so we're thinking it'll still be at least a couple of years before we really get serious about getting a dog.

Conner a little nervous about this cute little puppy... And Jason is in love...

She licked his face and this was Conner's reaction.

Then, HE got to hold her and he thought that was pretty cool.

Friday night, after Kylee got off work we got together and made Pioneer Woman cinnamon rolls. If you have never had these rolls, you are missing out on one of the most important things in life, man. They are so, so delicious. We made enough for 4 pans, so we each went home with 2. It's kind of a long process to make, especially since we don't do this often, so now that it's fresh on my mind, I really want to make some more for the freezer.

Saturday morning we were just so happy to all be together at home, relaxing with the fire going in the fireplace and Christmas music playing. Family time is my favorite time!

That night we went over to the neighbor's house for dinner and we had such a great time! Yummy food, great company, and an xBox dancing game to top off the night. Fun times, indeed.

Then Sunday rolled around and we had a great morning at church and then spent time with my parents. They came over to spend time with the boys (and us), and then they took us out to dinner at Red Lobster and it was delicious! The kids did great and we even got done with some extra time to stop by Petland again. Some funny things to note:

1. Conner called the hamsters, "smugglers." It was pretty hilarious. I have no idea where he got that from and he was adamant that it's what they were called.

2. Hudson saw a chihuahua and called it a reindeer. I laughed my head off at that one, too. These kids are full of hilarity in every day life and I love it so much.

Monday morning was quiet and perfect. We cleaned the living room and kitchen and listened to Christmas music while the kids colored. I feel like I kept wanting to pinch myself to see if it was real. Conner's gotten really good at coloring inside the lines lately. For the longest time he didn't like to color at all, but I'm glad he's finally coming around.

 And Hudson loved coloring with my pens. He uses pens any chance he gets, which isn't very often because I'd rather he used crayons! But look how serious he is about his picture...

Then mid-morning, or so, I was scrolling Facebook and saw that a couple of my friends liked a post about this girl selling her well-loved mini-van because she was finally getting something bigger now that her kids could all buckle their own seat-belts. Jason and I have been planning to get a van before March and were just looking at our finances yesterday wondering how we were going to make it work. Well, I clicked the link to the Craig's List listing and it looked like EXACTLY what we were looking for. We had already decided we wanted to pay cash for a car (after trading in the Civic) so that we didn't have a car payment anymore. We also knew that would mean an older vehicle than we initially wanted, but there really just aren't a ton of older Honda Odyssey's for sale at dealerships and Car-max. We immediately decided it couldn't hurt to take the Civic to Car-max to see what they'd offer us and see if the difference made sense. Long story short ... it did. We texted the seller and met him an hour later, and bought the car an hour after that. It was such a whirlwind, but SUCH a BLESSING!!

The newest addition to the Smith family...

...and all thanks to a couple of friends liking a post on Facebook! Crazy. MERRY CHRISTMAS, to ME!!!

So then when we got home we got into our comfy clothes and headed out for our annual trip to Deerfield to look at Christmas lights. We all wore our Santa hats, ate Chick-Fil-A in the car, and listened to Christmas music while checking out the awesome lights. The boys had so much fun and were OUT five minutes after laying them down for bed. So, what did we do? Went out front with the baby monitor and a DVD to check out the new car and figure out how to use the DVD player. I set my preset radio stations and got to enjoy the heated seats and sunroof at 8:30pm in my driveway. It was awesome.

Today we are planning to go get all the other stuff squared away (temporary license plates, car wash/detailing, selling the Civic, etc.).  I haven't even gotten to drive it yet (Jason test drove it yesterday and drove it home), but today is the day! Watch out, McKinney! Mama's got a MINIVAN!!