COOKIE TIME

In general, the holiday season stressed me out this year, and I kind of went rouge. I announced that I wasn't going to buy gifts for nieces and nephews and that I was really cutting back on gifts. I was just so sick of stuff and also found myself not wanting to make any plans. It didn't take a genius to figure out that I was reacting to Vivien being in the hospital last year. That whole event was so traumatic to me and was also a really good wake up call to what really counts at Christmas. I STILL and will ALWAYS believe that Christmas should be fun and doesn't need to feel like it has all these restrictions and rules about the true meaning of Christmas. However, I did feel like I wanted to take a step back and not make it such a big deal. It worked mostly. In the end I was surprised how hard the season was for me. I was so worried about Vivi getting sick that I could hardly bare to deal with anything.

Cookie decorating was one of those things. We have had to cancel so many times because of illness of one of the kids, but I love it so much and always want it to be a tradition we at lease try and make happen. We only had one time that worked out for all of us so we planned and hoped for the best. Vivi did get pretty sick the week before and it lasted up until the cookie day. She was coughing all over the cookies that she handled but I'm glad she felt well enough to participate and in the end didn't get anyone else sick. She really loved it.

I think my sugar cookies are the best in the land so it is always great to have some of those as well, and I am sure Santa enjoyed all of the cookies that were set aside for him.

A SILVER TREE? WHY YES THANK YOU.

NOVEMBER 30 PUT IN BOOK BEFORE DANCING

So last year our trusty old Christmas tree finally bit the dust so after the holidays I headed out and bought a new tree on sale. When I had Brent get it out of the box and set it up for us, he mentioned that the tree didn't have any lights! WHAT!? That is one of the main reasons I buy fake trees! So I make the choice to go and buy some lights because I don't want to waste this tree. Stella and I head to Wal-mart and discover that I could either spend $40 on lights or I could spend $60 on a pink silver tree. I've always wanted one of those wild trees that don't look real at all so I went ahead and bought it. It was one of the most right decisions I have made all of 2018. I wasn't really feeling Chrismassy and this tree really kick started the decorating in the house.

The girls helped me put on our lovely decorations on November 30th and the tree turned out divine. I loved looking at it all month. I snapped a few pictures of the girls being adorable decorating. Love my pumpkins.

CHRISTMAS HO HO HO DOWN

As a person who isn't the biggest fan of country music it has always been a concern of mine that one day it would be Stella's turn to be in the group that does the country music medley. I dreaded it, to be honest, but watching Stella do it made me like it a bit more than I expected. Her solo was darling and she was so cute throughout the whole thing.

Joining Good News has been a big step. She has long rehearsals, more performances and will be going on tour in June. She LOVES it. And she loves being with a more committed group of kids. She takes it really seriously. I'm so grateful that we found Clayton because it fits what Stella loves to do perfectly. Also, she loves dancing with her friends Cali and Aedan.

I love that the performance season brings out the joy in the holiday season. I love it too. We had to take Stella out of school early for a few shows, but it worked out fine. Thankful for all of the support that we get from family and friends that come out to see our girl.