Oh brother...

The system has clearly broken down!!!  No blogging for days?!?!  Oy.  Okay, here goes....

Dec 15th, I painted both of their hands and stamped them on a huge ornament.  I have 9 big ornaments hung from the ceiling in the bathroom and I wanted to add one more personalized one.  It's very cute, even if it was a little messy to paint little Caroliney's hand.

Dec 16th, I took the girls to an awesome indoor playland and played with them for hours.  We then went out to lunch with friends for pizza.  That night, we each took one of the girls to a store to let them pick out a present for each other.  Lily was originally against this idea because she was convinced that Caroliney would pick out a baby toy for her!  That made me laugh out loud!!  Once, I reassured Lily that Daddy would help Caroliney pick out a good toy, Lily was all about it and spent time picking out the best present for her sister!  She also helped me to pick out a Christmas present for Harrison, as he was our last present to buy for Christmas.  AND she helped me pick out a little present for a friend who is having a baby soon.  Lastly, this was her first day back at swim lessons in 5 weeks!!!!  This is certainly not an advent activity, but it sure felt like a treat for her since she loves swim and hadn't been there in so long.

Dec 17th, we drove to Macon and saw Grandma and Granddaddy, Mary, Adam and Allison and Johanna, Chris, Anna and Harrison.  We exchanged presents with them, the girls played, decorated cookies and had so much fun!!!  We then drove back to these parts and went to an awesome tacky Christmas sweater party--so funny!

Dec 18th, I worked all day, but Bryan took the girls to Kai's birthday party and an indoor play place--a great time was had by them, I hear!  And, yes, the system has broken down so much that I actually used a birthday party as an advent activity.

Dec 19th, we did nothing.  **hanging my head in shame**  I had big plans for this day, but none of them actually came to fruition.

Dec 20th, we donated another toy to Toys for Tots.  Yesterday, I put the presents under the tree that we already have--those from my parents, our friend, Raul, etc.  None from us or from Santa, obviously.  Lily looked at the pile, which I thought was quite large already and made a comment about how there wasn't very many presents under the tree, which of course, set me off on my "You need to be grateful for what you have....some kids don't get any presents...blah blah blah" speech, which I mean every word of, but I hate having to say.  Lily then said she wanted to give another present to a kid who doesn't have any.  So, when we went to Publix today to get supplies for today's activities and for dinner, we got a Pillow Pet to toss in the Toys for Tots box.  Then, we made Chex Mix for Bryan.  Both my mom and his mom make it every year and they are both really yummy, though quite different.  We got some from B's mom, which we were thrilled about, but b/c we won't be going to my parents' house this year, we won't get any of my mom's, which bummed us out.  So, I made my mom's recipe today as a surprise for Bryan.  Lastly, we also decorated "trees"--another Pinterest activity!--we used ice cream cones, turned them over and frosted them with green frosting and then decorated them with M&Ms and sprinkles.  We have been doing lots of activities involving sprinkles--kids LOVE them!  We had 2 little boys over to play with us when we were decorating the trees--in my MOMS Club, we have a babysitting coop and can trade off watching each other's children.  It is awesome, in a word.  I had the honor of watching my friend Jackie's little boys--they are 2 1/2 and 1 yrs old and are super adorable.  Jackie is a super sweet friend whom I like a lot.  She is one of the few other working moms--works part time, like I do--and we frequently discuss our insane lives.  Being a stay at home mom is also crazy, for sure, but I certainly feel a little more stretched thin these days--working, and taking the kids to activities while also running the typical mom errands and trying to keep the house up, cook dinner, etc.  It gets to feel a little out of control, like I'm spinning and spinning, and I'm pretty sure this feeling never ends!!  Anyway, I really enjoy getting to see Jackie and her children!  Lily likes them a lot, too!!  So, Lily and Carter and Caroline decorated trees while Maddox watched on.  I guess I feel like I had to make up for my lack of activities yesterday by doing 3 today.  We are in the final stretch now!

Oh, and by the way, we can't find the camera charger!!!  So, no pictures at this moment.  If I can get them to upload from Bryan's phone, I'll post some.