December 1-7

Sunday, December 1st:  The first acceptable day to break out the Christmas celebrations! (Let's be honest though, I've been listening to Louis Armstrong Christmas station on Pandora since October 1st. Come on, Halloween, know when you're outstaying your welcome.) Tyler passed off the first article of faith in Primary today. He'd been practicing for a long time, and he finally did it! In our ward, our Primary president makes a cute little paper award to go with a little treat or toy, and he chose a sticky hand, the award of choice in our Primary. I was feeling sick, so I went home early, and those two hours of peace and quiet were enough to get me through the rest of the day. Our Elf on the Shelf, Lightening McQueen made his first appearance tonight. He knocked on the door this evening, and when the kids answered the door, he was hanging on the doorknob, suitcase in hand, ready for his month long stay :)

 The Christmas Tree box is the best part!

The Hulk costume is a must for hanging ornaments.

Tuesday, December 3rd: I was pretty much MIA today with studying furiously for my final on Saturday. McKay took Jamie up to Frisco for her preschool at the Murdocks, during which he got a haircut, and then played around at the IKEA up there. After he picked up Jamie, he took her out for a Daddy Daughter date to Brooklyn's Pizza. They had a really fun time together, and got some really cute pictures. Jamie loves being the only kid while Tyler is in school. I think she was meant to be an only child :) She really comes into her own with one on one time. We sure love that girl. After they picked up Tyler from school, they drove by my school and left a sweet note for me in my car in the parking lot.

Jamie's gingerbread house from school.

Thursday, December 5th: Still studying mostly (my poor neglected kids!), but an ice storm was starting to loom over us, and our cupboards were looking pretty bare (my poor neglected pantry!). I took the kids shopping to stock up in case we were iced in for a few days, and it seemed everyone else in Dallas had the same idea. There were some shelves that were completely bare, like water bottles. Crazy! It started sleeting as we drove home, and the temperatures were dropping fast. We wrapped up in extra blankets when we went to sleep, and even tucked a heating pad into Tyler's bed, just to be sure.

Friday, December 6th: Sure enough, we woke up to sheet of ice an inch thick covering EVERYTHING. We couldn't go anywhere. Everyone outside of Texas laughs at us when they have feet of snow outside, and we just have this little sheet of ice, but you seriously cannot drive on this stuff. There's zero traction, you can't even walk! It's actual ice! Tyler woke up early and peeked outside, and we could hear him across the house shouting for joy at the winter wonderland outside.  McKay got to work from home (thank goodness), and we tried our best to stay out of his hair. Tons of people lost power, including Kevin and Cindy (who managed to rig up their fondue pot to cook their breakfast in), but luckily we were fine. It's funny, considering we live in the older part of Dallas, and they live in one of the nicest cities in the metroplex.

Saturday, December 7th: I got an email early this morning postponing my final for Monday because of the ice storm, which was sort of nice, and sort of not nice. I kind of just wanted to be done with studying and take a mediocre grade. Since it was a stuck inside the house day, I made special Cinnamon Roll pancakes (thanks, Pinterest!). McKay got to work form home again, and after he was done, I left to study again. McKay and the kids made yummy wassail.

 Cabin fever!