December was a BUSY month and it seemed as though we had somewhere to be and something to do nearly every single day. I love the holidays but I always feel like I've just been hit by a truck by the time we actually get to the end of the month. Nonetheless, we loved every second of the busy weeks leading up to Christmas!
We put our tree up much earlier than I had wanted to this year, for the simple fact that we had to squeeze in time whenever we could! Also, with us being out of town for the last two weeks of the month, it makes more sense to do this so that we can actually enjoy it for a little while.
The layout of this house is much different than our house in Tennessee and we quickly realized that our next investment needs to be a much taller tree!
We have this random little window ledge that really serves no purpose so Kyndall suggested we put a small tree in it. It looked really pretty from the outside!
Kyndall picked the perfect spot for her pink tree. Because I'm a bit OCD and like my own tree decorated a certain way, this has always been a good option for allowing my creative little artist to have her way without pushing me over the edge with her "whimsical" ideas!
With the beginning of December also came the return of Candy Cane, Kyndall's elf. She showed up like this, hanging from the chandelier in her bedroom one morning....
Upon her return, Candy Cane also brought a very special gift in form of these Pikachu pajamas. I thought Kyndall's head was going to explode with excitement when she opened them up.
Throughout the next few weeks Candy Cane showed up with a few more surprises so in return, Kyndall bought her this tutu and some ballet slippers which she proudly wore.
Thankfully Candy Cane is not a naughty elf and doesn't make messes like some of the other elves our friends have. Mama would have to send Candy Cane back to the North Pole for good if that was the case. She's funny, though and we found her doing silly things much of the time. Here she is hugging up on Santa the salt shaker....
This is about as naughty as Candy Cane gets. Kyndall thought this was great!
She left a note one night suggesting that Kyndall make this pink gingerbread house....
The next morning, this is what Candy Cane's face looked like
Kyndall's class had Polar Express day at school and they were able to wear their favorite pajamas and the teacher gave them hot chocolate. I'll give you one guess which pair of PJs Kyndall chose to wear....
That same afternoon I had to run several errands right after picking my little Pikachu up from school. There was no time to run home and let her change and I can't tell you how mortified she was when she found out she'd have to walk around in public in her pajamas! Ha! I told her "don't worry....It's just Wal-Mart....even grown adults wear their pajamas in there." She did NOT think it was funny, and you can see that for yourself in the picture I forced her to take!
During our time in Tennessee, one of our favorite Christmas traditions was to visit the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville every December. As it turns out, there's a Gaylord Texan just up the road in Grapevine, so we took a little Saturday road trip to check it out.
We ate dinner inside the hotel and the restaurant we chose just happened to be a sports themed restaurant. Matthew was pretty happy about that.
Ever since we've been in Texas we have been hearing about something called Frito Pie. Personally it sounds disgusting to me, but Matthew decided to try it and he loved it.
The Gaylord Texan was beautiful but it wasn't even a third of the size of the Gaylord Opryland and honestly I was a little disappointed. We still had a fun day and I'm sure we'll go back again next year.
No Hughes Family Christmas is complete without a trip to Bass Pro Shop to see Santa. We took a Saturday and braved the crowds and the ridiculous line in order to see the big man in red.
Of course, while you wait you have to check out the toys.....
Who is the kid and who is the adult here??
Our little sharp shooter has pretty good aim! Spoiler alert--She actually ended up getting a pink BB gun from my parents for Christmas!
She wrote a letter to Santa and jotted down her wish list while she waited....
That says...."Pikachu, Sewing, Drone, Slippers and Crafts"
Daddy made his wish list known too....
Finally, her moment with the man in red....
Why does she look so BIG sitting on his lap?? Ugh!
This was Santa's face when she told him she wanted an iphone for Christmas!
Dinner after our visit with Santa
Our neighborhood also hosted Santa and Mrs. Claus for an afternoon of cookies and crafts up at the clubhouse
On the last day of school her class had a "holiday" party but it was also her teacher's birthday so I picked up a cake and some flowers and turned it into a birthday party
Singing happy birthday to Mrs. T...
I stayed after to help Mrs. T and one of the things she asked me to do was load up all her gifts and take them to her car. It's good to be a teacher at Christmas time!
We gave her a basket full of her "favorite things" as our gift
Once school was out for winter break, we had a few days of downtime before we packed up and headed home for the holiday. Kyndall and I enjoyed some sweet lazy days together watching Christmas movies, baking Christmas cookies and just enjoying not having an agenda.
Forney had some great Christmas light displays so one evening we grabbed a cup of hot chocolate and went on a family adventure to find the best ones
Since this Mama doesn't take her child out of school for anything, we had to squeeze in a few check ups during the break. First up, the dreaded flu shot...
There were tears and shrills and some kicking but it was actually better than last year! She was treated to some fro yo after all the torture was over....
Less traumatic is always the visit to the dentist. She never minds this one, which makes this dental hygienist mommy very proud! She's still cavity free and losing teeth like crazy!
Kyndall takes a weekly private art class and she painted this as one of her Christmas projects. To date, it's my favorite piece that she's ever done!
Before we could travel home for Christmas I had the dreaded job of picking out paint colors for the entire interior of our house. The painters would be here the day after we returned from Florida so the decision had to be made before we left. I don't think I have stressed this much about a single decision since naming my child. I was completely overwhelmed and did not find this to be a fun task in the least!
We had a picnic in the park....
And lots of lazy time on the couch in our PJs. Even the dogs knew this was our down time.
Two days before Christmas we packed up and made our maiden voyage from Dallas back home to Florida/Georgia. Even though it was a good 14 hour ride, it really didn't feel that much longer than our usual 10 hour drive from Tennessee. Thankfully Kyndall has been a road warrior all her life and therefore she's a wonderful little passenger.
Now that we were home, Christmas could officially begin!
No comments:
Post a Comment