December 2022!!!

December was a lot of fun, except that Nora started the month out with an illness :(. Debbie and Joe came up to celebrate a late Thanksgiving since some of us were sick with the flu on Thanksgiving Day. We ate out and then went back home to make gingerbread houses which all definitely turned out perfectly ;). We visited the crazy Christmas lights house over where we used to live and visited with Santa at our usual spot. We also got to see Ben's winter program at his school, which was adorable. I can't believe they get that many 5-6 years olds to follow instructions! We also went to a big, drive through light display where we got glasses that made the lights look like candy canes. We even took Vincent to look at Christmas lights in our neighborhood. He actually seemed to really enjoy looking at all the houses :)

Craig was in Chicago for a few days and got to try a gluten free Italian beef sandwich - I think it might have been the highlight of his year. While he was gone I had the kids try all kinds of glutenous treats like soup dumplings and gnocchi (YUM!). We had the front windows in our house replaced, which meant that Ben had to sleep in Nora's room for a few days while we waited for the smell of the caulk to dissipate. They had sooooooo much fun sleeping in the same room that we're thinking about getting bunk beds.

The kids had a great Christmas. Craig and I forgot to buy stocking stuffers for each other, so I think Ben thought we must have been pretty bad this year ;). Ben is pretty skeptical of Santa's existence - he did put out milk and cookies, so clearly he enjoys the tradition anyway. Ben started soccer camp and chess camp after Christmas - he had a lot of fun and learned tons of new skills. For New Years Eve we got sparklers - a first for both Craig and Ben! Nora wanted nothing to do with them and Ben took his time trying them out (neither are risk-takers LOL).