The week after Thanksgiving

I was purposeful in trying to do things this December that didn't require my family to run around like crazy people.  I said no to something at least once a week, and in the end we were able to enjoy, worship, and fellowship without feeling like we were suffocating.  I think I will try to tame down the social calendar even more next year around this season.  Try is the key word.

My buddy Dana turned the big 4-0 and we celebrated with food and friends.

Sweet Janet opened up her home and Shannon headed up all the details.

Leslie came even though the celebration was on her actual birthday.  So I got to celebrate two friends on their special day!

It was fun meeting new faces and catching up with old.

These cupcakes were amazing!  Wish I would have eaten more than one.  :-)

Happy birthday, sweet friend!

Two days later we celebrated Derek's 32nd birthday.  After a very quick opening of gifts from wife, son, and dog, we sang happy birthday over breakfast casserole.

That night we chose to do dinner at the Aquarium.

My boys

We obviously chose the place more for our son that the birthday boy.  He loved the tank.  If only I could manage to chew my food better then we would return more often.

There were some crazy sized fish in that tank.  So fascinating and such a great place for kids.

We finally had to pull away from asking what kind of fish were in there to leave.  The eel, sharks, and stingrays were my personal fave.

The next day Derek went with some fellas to Jacksonville to camp all weekend, and I stayed back to host Justin's entire preschool class.  Justin had been asking all year if he could have the whole class over.  So all but one classmate were dropped off after school Friday to enjoy two hours of fun at the Michaelis' casa.

Silly faces are always more fun.

I had to try and stay organized in that short amount of time.  Mommies were told to show up promptly at 2:00pm, so I didn't want to spend 30 minutes looking for that last pair of shoes.  So we stayed organized.

For the most part, we all prayed at the same time, ate at the same time, and everyone came back to eventually finish some sort of healthiness before the throngs of dessert.  Aunt Shani is always a sucker for dessert during special occasions.

I knew most of the kids but it was fun to watch how they all interacted.

They stayed outside for the most part which kept my house that much cleaner.

We played red rover (first time for almost every child there) and then classic duck, duck, goose.

Of the 12 kids in the class, there are only 5 boys.  Thankfully they all love to play with each other. 

Isabel was the last to leave, and these two had on one skate, one Cars house shoe, and an old batting helmet from Big D.  Love that these kiddos have stayed fast friends for so long!

Such fun times, and December has just begun!