Christmas Eve

Today, we began a new Christmas Eve tradition that I hope we'll continue for many years to come.  We named it our acts of kindness day.  

We made little treat bags to spread all over our community.  We left these on vending machines at our local hospital.

We left bags with popcorn and candy on our local redbox.

This one went on a police car

Quarters for the car wash

A treat taped to a post at the Dollar store in the toy aisle

This was definitely my favorite thing we've done this Christmas season!  The kids loved the thought that someone would come along and find this surprise. Jamie and I love the thought that our kids are learning to give and bless others.  Such a great day!

We had a beautiful, candlelight Christmas Eve service at church followed by some homemade pizza and opening Christmas jammies.

And just for fun...because I want to remember Cooper and his amazing ability to go completely cross eyed...

Merry Christmas!  So excited for the big day tomorrow!

December happenings

The month of December is full of fun for the O'Dell 4.  I love every minute of it.  It's always busy, especially in years past, but this year I really worked with our December schedule to try and keep it balanced.  We love our cozy, at home movie nights as well as being out and about enjoying the season.  We're enjoying it so much.  

This is our first year to welcome an elf on the shelf to our home.  Clemmy arrived on the first of December and has brought a lot of fun each morning.  She is an ornery elf!

We saw a Christmas play with some good friends from church called "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever."  It's the sweetest story.  We enjoyed it so much we're reading the book now.  It makes us all laugh.

I love this picture because when we bought our mini van, this is exactly what I pictured in my mind.  A van full of our kids and their friends.  Makes me smile 😊

We visited Santa and I'm in love with this picture they took.  So sweet.

I took my little ballerina to see The Nutcracker while the boys went to the movies to see the Good Dinasoar.

This is a new tradition for us.  I called it the Christmas Light Express.  We got the kids all ready and tucked into bed then gave them a ticket for a hot chocolate and a ride to look at Christmas lights in our jammies.  This picture is the 4 of us in Starbucks in pjs.  I honestly don't think I've ever seen our kids so surprised and excited.  It was a really fun night and a tradition that we'll continue.

This is a house in our city that we visit every year.  It's unbelievable how many lights they have!

A local church has a drive through, living nativity that we visit each year.  I love seeing the story of Jesus birth come to life in our kid's eyes.  It gives us great opportunities to talk to them about why we celebrate Christmas in the first place. I want them to know and understand the true meaning of Christmas more than anything.  

I took Cooper to pick out a gift for Lainey.  They love shopping for each other and Cooper wanted to wrap it all by himself.  I think he's worked himself into a job!  I could use some help getting things wrapped.  I'm way behind 😁

So we have 10 days until Christmas and have some fun things planned.  I'm so excited to continue celebrating this wonderful season!

Savoring the moments

Every Tuesday Cooper and I have "Mommy/Coop time."  Tuesday is the one day a week that Lainey is in school all day.  I pick Coop up from kindergarten at 1:00 and we have all afternoon to do something just the two of us.  Some days we have a lunch date, some days we come home and play a game together, lots of days we go walk around Target together.  Cooper loves this time with just the two of us and starts talking about it the moment I wake him up on Tuesday mornings.  I love it too.  I treasure our family time together but there is something about one on one time with each of our kids that I value so much.  Yesterday, we were walking into Target to do some Christmas shopping and I looked down at his hand in mine and his other arm snuggling his favorite "doggy blanket" and I just had to stop and take a picture.  I know these are fleeting moments and I just don't want to forget how his precious, little hand feels in mine.

Thanksgiving at the beach

This Thanksgiving we decided we wanted a not so traditional celebration.  We are heading to Missouri for Christmas and that trip is way too long to drive twice in one month.  So naturally, we chose one of our favorite places on the planet ☺️ Destin, Florida.  Now, our very favorite spot is anywhere along 30-A in the Santa Rosa Beach area.  However, it was all booked up as this was a very last minute plan.  We opted for a beach front hotel in Ft. Walton Beach and soaked up the sunshine.  I didn't expect it to be so warm, but the weather was perfect.  We wore jackets as we walked along the beach early in the morning, but by 10AM we were decked out in bathing suits and sun block.  Our kids are such little fish that they swam for hours each day.  

They even swam at night!  Thankfully, the pool was heated.

My favorite way to start the day.  I'm pretty sure this is a small taste of what heaven will look like 😉

Checking out each other's shells

The beginnings of a sand castle

Thanksgiving dinner at Cracker Barrel and let me just say it was yummy!  I wouldn't choose it every year, but there was something really nice about not spending the day in the kitchen.  I felt like I had time to really reflect on thanksgiving and what it's truly about.

I took this picture because I wanted to remember these moments.  My favorite thing to do at the beach is to go for long walks all alone.  Jamie hangs out with the kids and I walk and soak it all in.  There is something about the sound of the waves, the smell of the air and the feeling of the wind on my face that makes me feel God's presence.  I love that I can walk and pray out loud or sing and no one can hear me because of the sound of the wind and waves.  It's honestly one of my favorite things in the world.  

Nothing more beautiful.  

One of my favorite days of the year...

We're getting a jump start on decorating for Christmas this year.  I know it's a little early but we all enjoy the decorations so much that we just didn't want to wait any longer.  After church, we loaded up and headed to Pike's to pick out a tree because there are no Christmas tree farms around here!  Georgia is too warm to grow frazier fir's so we opted for a pre-cut one.  It's beautiful and Jamie didn't have to lay on the ground and cut it ☺️

These two little monkeys were so excited.  They are way into celebrating Christmas.

It's always fun going through our ornaments each year.  The kids have their favorites and Jamie and I have ours.  This year I found myself drawn to one more than ever.  

It's been one year ago today that our dog, Bailey, died.  Goodness, I miss him.  The vet made this ornament for us the night he died.  They took his paw print in clay and I'm so happy we have it.  I would have never thought of it because I was a crying mess, but I'm so thankful they knew to do something like this.  He was such a good dog.  A big part of our life for 12 years.  The thing I hate the most was that in the last few years of his life, we were so busy.  He didn't get the time he deserved from us.  Makes me sad.  I wish I could do it over again.  I'm sure we'll get another dog at some point.  The kids are already asking for one.  For now, I'm just going to remember my sweet pup.  

Here is my big 8 year old with her favorite ornament.

And Cooper with his

They cracked up over something!  Goodness, I love these two.  They bring so much joy to my heart.

The cozy, finished product.  I'm ready to put my feet up and enjoy this night.