This past Thursday afternoon Cole and Jackson had their most recent karate belt graduation. The graduated up to a level 2 orange belt! These two boys have worked very hard over the past few months at karate. Cole really loves going to class and practicing at home. I honestly was not sure when we started this sport if Cole would want to stick with it. He has never done anything like this before. Karate is very structured and very disciplined. Even though he and Jackson are the best of friends they are not allowed to talk or goof off in class....and they don't. They listen to their teachers and pay close attention every time. I am so very proud of all they have learned and how hard they have worked. It has been a lot to remember but they try their very best every time. It is really cool to see them be rewarded for working so hard at something.
On a very cold weekend in the middle of December we headed to Branson for an overnight getaway with the Stearle family. It was SO MUCH FUN! We rented a townhouse in Branson and enjoyed movies by the fireplace, games in our pj's and lots of just fun play time. My favorite thing that we did had to be Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede. I am not a "Branson person" at all but I have always wanted to go to this particular show and it did not disappoint. The kids and the grown ups absolutely loved it!!!! Our plan was to enjoy the lights at Silver Dollar City after the show but it was freezing cold and raining so we opted for an indoor put put golf game instead. The next day we hung out at the townhouse until check out and then had some fun at an indoor arcade and play area. Cole hit the jackpot and won 1,000 tickets! He was so excited!!! I think all of the kiddos passed out from all of the fun on the car rides home. It was such a nice break from our normal routine and something we will definitely be doing again in the future!
This past week Cole, Lily Kate and I hosted our 4th annual cookie decorating party. We have had to trim down the guest list a bit each year because our group of friends keeps having babies!!! We love that but we are simply out of space for a big party so we kept it cozy and still had a lot of fun! Since the kids had been stuck inside their houses for a week they opted for more play time than cookie decorating time which was just fine. They loved being together and they did enjoy decorating a few cookies and eating a few snacks in between playing and running around. The moms had a very nice and relaxing time catching up and talking as well. We cherish these friends and these memories.
We tried our best to stock up on fun activities before the snow hit because we knew we would be stuck at home for a few days. One new thing we tried this year was decorating Gingerbread Men. The kids had a lot of fun and were able to spend some good quiet time decorating their own huge cookie!
