Weekend Spin

The weekend went by way too fast, I wasn't ready for it to end.  On Friday we doubled up on school work to get ahead and it went great.  So great that we even threw in an art project at the end.  Sterling chose the project and she picked out a gingerbread holding their names.  

Saturday morning we had our last clay class for the year and it was perfect.  I didn't want to go to be honest.  I'd just washed the van and didn't want to drive in the rain.  But, we went.  And I'm glad we did because we painted our creations.  We'll go back after the new year to pick them up.  They are so pretty once they are fired.

Some of Xander's stash

Some of Sterling's stash

After class, since we'd already gotten the car dirty from the rain, we headed out to finish our Christmas shopping.  It was madness and decided to end early and try again today while everyone was working.  Did you brave the crowds this weekend?  

Our town has the cutest little shop and I've always wanted to stop in.  After dropping off some donations, we went across the street to check it out.

I really should've bought this for Xander's desk.  It's fits him so well!

I may have laughed a little too loud when I read this one.  I saw signs I wanted to buy every one of my siblings.  I didn't, because I never know how well that would go.

That night, I wrapped gifts.  I'm waiting on one more for Xander, and still have to shop for three grandparents.  They are hard to shop for!  The red bag is Santa gifts while the white bag is elf supplies.

Lulu was my sidekick.  She kept bringing me her ball to throw.

Yesterday was cleaning day.  A few weeks ago, I'd asked the kids if they wanted to break the cleaning up into everyday do something little, or take one day and do it all.  They both quickly responded with doing it all in one day.  So, after a few weeks of this method, we'll be switching to my preferred method.  I hate taking an entire day to clean (and they've also discovered that it's not fun cleaning for hours, ha!).  I'd rather clean for 30-45 minutes every day than spend an entire day getting it done.

Sterling mopped and then I waxed the floor.  We've all been having some pretty good teamwork lately.

While cleaning, we dumped all the candy from Halloween.  There was still a lot left, but we just weren't eating it.  So, instead of the temptation to have a binge day, we tossed it.  Felt so good too!

Happy Monday!

New Haircut and Yummy Treats

We have Professor Xander back and we're both so excited.  The curls were growing on us, but his short hair is what is easiest for him to maintain.  And, he likes to slick it down to the side.  No worries, we talked to Nick yesterday to make sure he was okay with it, since we made a deal of no haircuts.

     

Acting goofy while waiting

We received our package Nick sent us.  It was from London, Fortnum & Mason.  Nick was telling me how good their chocolate biscuits were, so I was excited for some biscuits to arrive.

The kids received chocolate truffles filled in an ornament

I received some good smelling soap

Champagne truffles...which really do taste like champagne.  For some reason I didn't put it together until I took a bite and it was powerful.  But good!

A cookbook...and no chocolate biscuits 😢  We still loved our gifts though!

Lulu needed a nail trim, like crazy bad.  So we finally took her over to Petco to get them done.  She did so well.  Her tail was just a wagging!

Xander started hip hop last night.  Because we have an hour at the studio, then a half hour break before going back to the studio, we headed to Subway to eat a quick dinner.  And he loved hip hop!  He didn't stop talking about it all through dinner.

My blog writing buddy.  She's been the sweetest to me this week and I'm loving it.  She's also been a really good puppy.  Holding her potty all night is a big step and I'm so glad we're finally there.  Puppy training is hard work!

We also deep cleaned the van.  It was in desperate need of it, so after we washed it, we got busy inside.  With everyone on deck, it didn't take long.  And now it looks brand new again.

We had a great day.  We don't usually get two in a row, so pray for me!

Lately

In gymnastics this week, I watched the most determined little girl in her class.  I never expected Sterling to do so well in gymnastics.  But, she's a strong girl, so I should've known.  She's excelling and loving it so much.  I just wish we would've signed her up back in August when we did a trial class.  I love watching her.  She may ask a million questions, but she only wants to make sure she understands the instructions properly.  Her determined soul makes sure she's doing everything in proper form at her best abilities.  She also conquered how to get on the high beam without assistance this week.  We practiced on her beam at home, so she was ready!  Now, she wants a bar at home so she can practice pull overs.

Xander's doing awesome as well.  This week he mastered the pull over by himself, paused, and did a front flip on the bars.  He has been listening so well to instruction and picking up quickly to whatever his instructor is asking of him.  He's still the team example setter, so he's always proud to show everyone the right moves.  He's good guys.  I can see him going far if he'd want to.  It's fun watching him get something and the smile that immediately ensues.  He's also wanting a bar at home so he can practice his swing pull over with front roll.

I wrapped gifts from the kids' grandma this week.  Now that they are under the tree, the kids are begging to open them.  We'll open them early, but not this early.

The kids and I have also been on healthy smoothie kicks lately.  This is our favorite combo this week.

1 cup Greek vanilla yogurt

16 oz cashew milk

package of blueberries

package of strawberries/bananas

1tbsp flaxseed

1 tbsp chia seed

2 large handfuls of spinach

So good!

What's your favorite smoothie combo?

I signed Xander up for Hip Hop classes.  He's been asking, so I figured why not, what's one more thing?  Then I also signed them both up for ice lessons.  I've lost it.  I've really lost it now.  They are so excited though.  So now our school schedule will change a bit because we have 5 activities in one day.  It would be impossible to do school, activities, and not go crazy.  So we'll adjust our days off and make this heavy activity day an off day.  I'm also planning to do some of our lessons a bit differently after the new year.  I'll be busy over Christmas break fine tuning our new lessons.