School Parties

The kids each had a class party at Pre-K and Kindergarten. Emma's was laid back with popcorn and movie. I helped coordinate Luke's class party of decorating graham cracker houses. Luke loved having both of his parents attend the party. Bryan helped Luke to construct a sledding hill out of gumdrops and frosting. I figured since I hit up every store in Castle Rock in search of gumdrops, I didn't feel guilty with him hoarding a few more. After the graham cracker houses were built and decorated, we played a few games. At one point, his teacher asked me to take over "Pin the heart on the Grinch." Well, in that 2 minutes, a fight broke out with the kids! It was so awkward, especially since all of the parents (including those that were involved) just sat there! Uhhhh...  Fight and all, it was a great time. :)

We love Mrs. Lapp!

Graham Cracker Houses

For FHE, we made the traditional graham cracker houses. We all look forward to this fun night. Myles gave me pretty steep competition for the amount of candy eaten vs. actually placed on the house.

Few things that help this to run smoothly with our family is 1) houses assembled ahead of time with hot glue gun, 2) each kid has their own assortment of candy that can be refilled and 3) ziplock baggies holding the icing are the way to go.

He's mastered "the cheese."

At least I'm looking and it's documented. :)

Disney on Ice

I took Emma on a date to see Disney on Ice. We joined with several other friends. We had a lot of fun together. She was excited to go without her brothers. :) They saved Frozen for last. I loved listening to Emma sing right along with Elsa and Anna. She was a little disappointed we couldn't go on the ice and skate with the characters, but once we were over that it was smooth sailing. Love this sweet and spunky Emma.

Love those curls.

Little stinker didn't want her picture taken...Elizabeth helped me out and snagged one at the end.

Family Date at the Zoo

Continuing on with our Thanksgiving Break, we headed to the zoo as a family. This was the first time that Bryan was able to join us in a loooooong time. The kids loved showing him around and a few of their favorite animals. It was a beautiful, crisp and sunny day.

Myles was tuckered out by the end and fell asleep on Bryan's shoulder. This never happens and was worthy of photo documentation. 

The Compassion Experience

Last year, Elizabeth told me about 'The Compassion Experience' that her family went to for FHE one night. It's basically a traveling exhibit of what life is like for other children in parts of the world. I thought Luke and Emma would find this interesting. When I learned it was coming to Castle Rock, I reserved a spot for our family. There were only a few spots that scared the kids (the narrator on the headsets was talking about a flood and the kids thought it was a flood happening right then).  Overall, we really liked it. A good reminder to count our blessings.

Library and Moana

As part of Thanksgiving break, Luke requested to go to the Castle Pines Library. We are spoiled with several libraries so close to home.

We made it to the movies to catch Moana. Doesn't everyone look thrilled to be going?!? :) Emma and Luke really enjoyed it. Bryan and Myles missed the last 30" as Myles decided his attention span was reached. We are enjoying listening to the music from it.

Star-Lighting

There is a star on top of "Castle Rock Mountain," as our kids like to call it. They light it every year for the Christmas season and make a big deal of it with a downtown festival followed by fireworks. It felt like so many people were there this year! I loved how our downtown was decked out. We could walk down the middle of the roads that were lined by trees adorned in white Christmas lights listening to live Christmas music. It was a chilly, but not too cold of an evening. After the fireworks, we stopped to pick up hot cocoa, but they were out so our kids opted for slurpees. More evidence that it wasn't too cold of an evening. We love this town and making memories as a family here.