The Spirit of Christmas

 There is a house right around the corner from us that every Christmas, they do it up BIG.  I don't know how or where this guy stores these 20 foot reindeer, but it is amazing.   They welcome people to stop for pics, milk and cookies.  We drive by all the time, but this past year was the first time that we stopped.  My pictures aren't great because it was dark, but the kids still enjoyed it.

Playing

 He was not in the mood, apparently.  (he had to have just woken up here or something.)

Christmas Play

Around Christmastime, both of the bigger kids were in the Christmas play at church.  Who would have thought that JAGGAR was the most excited about it?  He LOVED the stage.  He was so into all of the songs that were sung, and I got the best kick out of watching him.  I had video, but I don't think I ever uploaded it nor saved it to my phone. It wasn't amazing video or I wouldn't have done that.

There's Jaggar from one of the screens.

 Sage was on the other side, on the back row at the top, so I have very few pics of her that are even descent. 

 Look how happy.

 He was probably trying to check himself out on the screen here.  It is always so funny when a kid discovers that.

 At the end, the parents could go up and take pics of their children.  He was SO proud.  :)  I was, too.

Ice Skating

The same day we built the gingerbread house, we went to Leeds to go iceskating at the outdoor synthetic rink they had at the Outlet malls.  It was just a few days before Christmas, but the weather was like 70 degrees.  It was one of the most fun days we've had, and it stands out in my mind as that.  I loved everything about the day.  Excitement was high for Santa...the weather was warm, and Sage was finally getting to try what she had been longing to do. And let's be honest, I got to prove to myself and others that I was still awesome.  I don't know why this rink was only there for a limited time, but it was.  I just hope they bring it back.  So without further delay...on the way there because the food court at the outlet malls is a JOKE, we stopped at Chick Fil A in Oxford...and sent these pics to Heather...and then...crazy enough.  ;)  that happened.

 So at the malls, because it was Christmas, they had this beautiful tree we took pics in front of.

 I'm not going to lie...putting on those skates was scary, but we all held our own.  And there was definitely that learning curve that I had to overcome after it being SO many years.  I was a carhop at Sonic, and I roller bladed when I was 16, but that's been a minute.  And the kids were holding on to me as if I could hold us ALL up.  It was so funny.

 Looking at these brings me back to that wonderful day.  It was so perfect.  Look at Jaggar's face.

 A lot of this went on at first...until they realized that the wall was much more stable than each other or me.

 Every now and then we had to let Costner Bleu know that we were still there.

 We skated until dark.  Actually Travis and Jaggar took a few laps through the mall, but Sage and I burned up the rink for hours.

 Then Travis and I got our turn in front of the tree.  Even though it feels a bit cheesy, I like this picture.

 Being silly on the rocks

Here are a few videos of our fun.
Ice Skating



From the moment the radio stations start playing Christmas music, we are all over it.  I CRINGE when I hear people complain about Christmas music.  We NEVER tire of it.  Ever.  This was on the way to the mall.  I even remember the trip there, which is about 45 minutes, being fun.
Christmas Music


I don't remember if I mentioned it or not, but Travis got me the newest iphone for Christmas.  We got a deal on it on black Friday, but you had to activate it then to get the deal, so I got it early.  And that is a gift to all otherwise, we'd miss out on gems like this.  It has slow motion video, and this is slow motion at it's finest, folks.  You are welcome.  I love all of my beautiful hair blowing in the breeze.  ;)
Slo' Mo' Iceskating

We Built a Gingerbread House

So back around Christmastime...ha...we built a gingerbread house that I'm pretty sure was a gift from elves.  I've had these pics on my phone for months and always had it in my mind I'd like to share them one day because it's one of the best houses we've made to date...in spite of this thing in the middle of everything.  ;)

 And to think he's 3x as busy now than he was here.  He wasn't walking/running here.

 I think that the fighting was minimal on this day, too.

 Looks good, doesn't it??

 Yes, Jaggar does have icing on his nose.  Why wouldn't he?  (Does anyone ever eat these things, by the way?  I love most things sweet, but these things are nasty.  Nothing about them tastes good.)  It's crazy this was so long ago...Jaggar did ask me yesterday or the day before when it was Christmas.  It actually will be here before we know it.

Jaggar is 5

This precious boy...my baby turned 5 this week.  He is so wonderful, that boy.  He is loving and hilarious and simple.  It takes nothing to make him happy.  He is a lot like me (not in that aspect.  I won't deny my love for expensive things).  He loves sweets.  He loves being at home.  He loves his toys.  He is fine once he is out but he's usually more than ready to wrap it up and go back home and was more than okay to not attend in the first place.  That's me. Travis and I kind of went round and round about his birthday.  I would've done a big party if that's what he wanted.  Travis was out of town for the week before.  We asked Jaggar what HE wanted...presents.  So with the life motto of less being more...I opted for that.  I got him a bunch of presents of things I knew he'd like.   Oh, He "likes scary toys.  MEAN toys right now."  That includes things like Godzilla and Spiderman.  Then we decided to do lunch at Chick Fil A  with cupcakes on his actual birthday with his best friends, Hadley and Paisley.  We had cake with Travis' family last night, and we are going to Chuck E Cheese today.  We celebrate him ALL week.

Pretty Hadley

Paisley, who will be 5 in just a few weeks, is growing up, too.

Meanwhile, we have bruiser here, who earned a nice shiner this week, walking into Sage's table.

 
Isn't that lovely?

 

Jaggar's beloved cake.  It's from Publix, and it is amazing.

He was so thrilled.  He saw this cake in their book months ago, and he fell in love.

At the end of last night, this is what we found.  I kept calling him, and he wasn't answering, and this is what I found.  Precious boy.

Disappearing

Hi.  It's been so long, and for anyone that read this and cared, I'm so sorry.  I just couldn't keep up, and I'm not making promises that I will be able to continue at this point.  My laptop is dying a slow death, and that hasn't helped matters.  I took a chance and put my phone in it to see if I could get pictures (with the risk I could lose everything on my phone), and I was able to after a million pop ups.   I had to look at the blog to see where I even left off.  I think I'm just going to start with where I'm at...which is today.  I may backtrack.  I may take breaks.  I'm not sure, but here we are.

We Can't Stop

Sage wanted to get in on our rockstar status, so we made another video.  Don't be jealous of how cool we are. ;)

I'm in a Music Video

Two words for this:  You're.  Welcome.  

My friend showed me this app called Video Star, and you know what a bunch of narcissists we Spences are.   I can't watch this and not cry with laughter.