December- Where Did You Go?

I have not posted ONCE in the month of December-

not ONCE!

That feels a little weird,

and yet when I look back on our month

here at The Fantastic Five,

I know why.

Life has been DELICIOUSLY and DELIGHTFULLY busy-

I am SO THANKFUL we had previously scheduled to take

the month of December off from homeschooling!

Here is a bit of what we have been up to...

I finished up performing in my first musical

since HIGH SCHOOL-

Oak Ridge Playhouse's production of 

Annie.

I had a BLAST.

Not only was I challenged again artistically...

...but I came away with a brand new group of friends.

I also fell in love with my husband

ALL OVER AGAIN

because he proved himself to be majorly supportive.

He would get off work early to take care of the kiddos,

he would get suppers ready,

go grocery shopping,

do LOADS of laundry-

really-

SO sexy,

right ladies?

:0)

I would love to perform again in the future,

but it will be good to take a break

and get our lives back to "normal..."

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Despite Annie craziness,

we were still able to get in some...

...Christmas crafty fun.

(My favorite Christmas Card that Little Wild Man

designed.)

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And somehow,

despite musical performances

and getting ready for Christmas travels...

...we WERE able to get a Christmas tree...

...and decorate the house for our Savior's birthday.

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Speaking of birthdays...

...Little Wild Man turned the big

0-8 on the 12th!

We celebrated with doughnuts

and balloons and Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer...

...AND by getting him glasses!

(I CANNOT believe how old he looks with his

new glasses...

*SIGH*)

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During December,

we spent time with our friends...

...both those who lived states away...

...and those who live near by...

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We spent the week before Christmas...

...with Nana and Papa...

...in the most magical place on earth-

Disney World!

Despite illness,

we managed to have a lovely time...

(I am telling ya,

they know how to "do" Christmas down there!)

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The illness we had to deal with

while at the Magic Kingdom was...

...the flu.

Yep.

The flu.

Thankfully,

only Baby Girl, Jungle Girl, and I

got sick,

and with the power of

Advil Cold and Flu,

lots of rest breaks...

...and lots of caffeine,

we soldiered on!

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Our elves, Chess and Jolly,

went to Disney with us,

as well as another elf...

...whose name is JJ.

JJ is our friends' elf,

and since they couldn't come to Disney with us,

JJ set up an Instagram account

so his kiddos could live vicariously through him.

 I think they may have had more fun than we did!

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On our last day in Florida,

we stayed next to the Gulf...

...and the kiddos were able to see a beach for the first time.

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We arrived home from our vacay

just in time for our church's Christmas Eve service...

My favorite part of the service is when the kiddos

dress up and model the nativity.

(Little Wild Man makes a pretty cute Joseph,

don't ya think?)

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Finally,

for Christmas,

we celebrated with gifties

and going OUT for lunch

(no cooking- yahoo!),

and seeing the movie Frozen as a family.

After that,

I have have been IMMENSELY lazy,

watching movies on Netflix

and staying in my PJ's all day.

Here I am with the gift my husband gave me for Christmas- isn't she pretty?

Now I have a lot of laundry and cleaning to do,

but it will all get done-

it always does.

Today I am just grateful for a fabulously fun December,

and a pretty good 2013.

I look forward to seeing what 2014 will bring,

and yes,

I do have plans for more blogging in the NEAR future!

Happy New Year!!!