December was a hard month for us. Things just kept breaking, one after the other with no respite in between.
First our two oldest kids, Jared and Novalee broke. By broke I mean they got the stomach flu and puked everywhere. Which was just a week after they had gone back to school from Thanksgiving break. So they stayed home and I got nothing done while taking care of them for two days.
Then our furnace broke. By broke I mean it stopped producing heat. Thankfully it happened at the tail end of the frigid temperatures that hit during the first half of December. But it didn't get fixed for 5 days. So we all slept downstairs in the family room huddled up next to our fireplace, which equals little sleep. Add a newborn to that and a fireplace that needs to be attended to every 2 hours and it equals sleep deprived parents that really REALLY need a break.
Were we given one. Nope.
Both Sadie and Kinsley like little vampires sucked any remaining life from us by both deciding to be little mischief makers.
Sadie decided at one point, I believe the same afternoon the furnace was fixed, that she needed to use the whole roll of toilet paper to wipe her bum. She massively clogged the toilet and instead of letting me know right away just kept flushing and flushing. Finally when she had been in the bathroom longer than normal I tried to go in and check on her but the door was locked. That's when I knew something was wrong. I knocked and asked her to unlock it and when I opened the door she quickly went back to the toilet and picked up a towel she had been using to wipe up the toilet water from the floor. That part was actually really sweet, the pee water all over the floor not so much.
I tried the plunger, nothing. I even tried taking a metal hanger and pulling it apart and trying to snake it, nothing. So I locked the door and left if for Daddy to take care of when he got home.
Then the day before we were supposed to leave on our trip, when I was trying to run last minute errands, I stopped by my parents house to drop something off and at the same time Larry was cleaning up dog mess and came out with me as I was leaving with a bag of garbage. He walked past my car and said, "I smell antifreeze." Thank goodness the dogs made a mess and he just happened to come outside with me because I would have never noticed. After checking a few things out and having me turn on the car only to watch antifreeze pour out of it, it was determined that I couldn't even drive home but would need to wait until it was fixed.
Wesley had to leave work in McMinnville to come and get us. He said he would try and fix it that night after work. I got home in just enough time to walk to the kid's school to pick them up. Which then left very little time for me to pack and clean the house so we would be ready to go the next day.
Thankfully Larry fixed the car while Wes was at work and it was pretty much done by the time he went to pick it up.
About this time I noticed I wasn't feeling so well. I was getting a cold.
Then Friday when we were about to leave for the airport, the house is perfectly clean right on time and all I needed to do was keep the girls occupied for a little bit longer in order to keep it clean and Wes called to tell me the plane was going to be delayed.
Well, our flight that was going to leave at 9:15pm did finally leave, I believe at 1am the following morning.
But we made it. Safely too. Kinsley just didn't love the plane flight which made it not so great for anyone else either.
Once we were in Arizona though we had the best time. Wesley's parents took care of everything and we were able to finally relax. The weather was perfect. I was able to go for walks almost every day with the girls, they played on the trampoline and in the sandbox and we ate tangerines right off the tree. It was perfect. I should also mention that we had great food that I didn't have to make which of course is the best thing ever.
Here was our Christmas in Arizona.
Lighting luminaries, notice I'm wearing short sleeves. :)
Santa's helper all tuckered out.
On Christmas eve we went for a walk around the neighborhood to look at the lights and enjoy the luminaries.
I think the girls enjoyed the wagon.
This was Christmas morning. Both girls too tired to get up. Kinsley is brushing her teeth still half alseep and Sadie is looking like she fell asleep saying her morning prayers (she is totally too young to remember to say morning prayers but if she did it would probably look like this).
Kinsley got a dolly and Sadie was given Dinosaurs. Both girls were so happy.
All the big kids got these hats. I'm still not sure if it was a joke or if they were serious gifts. I have used mine once on a walk. I got funny looks...
When we came home we discovered Santa had been to our house too.
Someone got her first real bike. She was so excited.
That same day I took down the tree which was frankly becoming a fire hazard.
Seriously.
Santa brought Novalee a bike but for some reason this is the only picture I could find of her. :)
Santa brought Jared a 3DS. He looks a little excited.
This was my favorite gift probably because I bought it used at Goodwill months before Christmas and painted it in some places to make it look new and fixed the mobile. The girls love putting their dollies in it to feed, take baths and take a nap, as being demonstrated by Novalee with her "dolly" Kinsley.
Overall this was one of my favorite Christmas' yet which is saying a lot since it started out so crazy.
