Tatum had a birthday! I can't believe I have a five year old. How did this happen?! We started out with the breakfast of her choice, french toast. And then I took her to preschool. I have to sign her in at a kiosk inside the front door every day. When I punched in our number it started playing music and showed this happy birthday message. Tatum was totally awed. How did they know?? :)
Tatum chose granola bars as her special snack to bring to preschool. We got chocolate covered chocolate chip bars. Why on earth would I think there were peanuts in that kind?? I sure don't know why. But apparently they do. So they couldn't pass them out until they brought the kids to the foyer for pick up. And announced my stupidity to all the parents. So embarrassing!
Next up we met up with Brennan at Capriotti's for lunch.
I had to include this picture just because of the way Declan is looking at Brennan. Too sweet.
Tatum got to open her present from Declan after lunch. Declan was so excited to give it to her and they were kind enough to strike this adorable pose for me.
Tatum got to choose our afternoon activity and she chose the Wii, which we just recently started using again. Here she is going for a run. :)
Sweet sisters.
The festivities continued in the evening with my parents and the Eskelsens coming over. Tatum chose white chicken chili and breadsticks for dinner.
She got spoiled with presents.
And Brennan made her the requested Trolls cake.
I love that we managed to catch her genuine initial reaction to a gift. This one was a Skye piggy bank from grandma and papa.
Blowing out the candles...
...and a little harder.
Building her new Legos with Brennan the day after her birthday.
We forgot to do pictures with the Happy Birthday sign so that happened a few days later.
Tatum at age 5 is delightful. Not always, of course. But she is kind, often to a fault when it comes to her brother. She is inquisitive. Sometimes her questions start to drive me bonkers, especially when I don't know the answer or the question simply doesn't have an answer. I try to remember her curiosity is a good thing. Tatum is intelligent and loves to learn. She is insanely good at cleaning up. She is funny, stubborn, crazy and we couldn't love her more. Happy 5th birthday Tatum!
The middle of December wasn't nearly as full of festivities as the beginning of the month...
...clearly. :)
On the Sunday before Christmas I dressed all the kids in their Christmas outfits and took some pictures before Church. I wasn't sure how crazy Christmas morning would be so I thought I should take the chance while I had it.
I love this next one. Declan cheesing it up and squeezing Emry too tight, and Tatum checking on her little sister. Very typical.
Tatum loves to try to hold Emry facing her and while standing up.
They're mine! :)
Declan enjoyed hanging out in a box with his friends "Dukey" and "Koalie".
Poor Emry had a cold for much of December. Most mornings she woke up with a real crusty nose but this one takes the cake for sure. Check it out - crusted from her nose practically all the way to her upper lip.
We started a couple new traditions this year. The first one is one we did a couple years ago but with Singapore we have missed it the last couple of years. We popped popcorn, changed into pjs and headed to out to see Christmas lights. This year we headed to a large display set to music in a nearby town. There was a bit of a line up outside of the neighborhood and they had Santa and and elf out there saying hi to all the kids waiting in cars and handing out candy canes. The kids loved that. And the light show was good too.
Waiting in line. Brennan will love me for posting this. :)
We let the kids get out of their car seats so they could see better since the lights were on the opposite side of the car.
We made sugar cookies and rice krispy peanut butter balls one day. The kids were all about wanting to help me. And then proceeded to bring a bunch of toys to the counter and inhale rice krispies while I did all the baking.
Pretty proud of his mess.
A rare moment of calm from Declan.
Horsey rides.
Emry continued to be as cute as ever through the middle of December.
Declan loves to put his Hawkeye hat on and then demand that we all watch him play football...or soccer...or run super fast. It's kind of cute, but eventually the demands to cheer for him get a little old haha.
The kids went to the Lowe's workshop with Brennan again this month. They had a couple of picture frame ornaments for them to make. Brennan made one with them there and had them bring the others home. I never get to see them in action at these things so it was a treat to build them with Tatum.
And some pictures from the event.
We took the kids to see Trolls. Emry was mostly cooperative and the kids loved the show.
This picture perfectly illustrates life right now.
My mom traveled to Texas to visit my sister so we had my dad over for dinner one night. When Papa is around, wrestling is always necessary.
Brennan took the kids sledding the day before Christmas Eve. They also played in their igloo in our yard.
There was a jump on the sledding hill and Brennan let Tatum try it. The first time she missed it and the second time she went off it and the landed on her face. She came home with a bit of a bruise but it healed quickly and she didn't seem too emotionally scarred.
