Bring on December

 December started out a little rough. Wyatt got braces on December 1st. He did not handle it well. 

By the time the evening arrived he was really hurting and really sad. He didn't want to eat anything. We gave him some Tylenol which didn't seem to help him much. So he went to bed pretty sad. 

The next day we got to go to Dad's office to go see Santa and do some crafts and enjoy some hot chocolate. 

Brandon got to dress up in a lovely elf costume. haha 

Kayden was actually really excited to see Santa. It was pretty cute. He had the biggest grin and walked right up to him to sit on his lap. 

He then proceeded to tell him that he wanted an Audi R8 for Christmas. 

Emmett told him he wanted a baby chick squishmallow and Wyatt told him to surprise him. Ethan even said he didn't know what he wanted. These kids... haha 

It is weird having our boys get older and not being as into seeing Santa. I was glad that Kayden was as excited as he was and that Emmett even seemed a little in to it. 

The rest of the evening we enjoyed hot chocolate and the kids did a few crafts.

Nothing better than snuggles with Kayden on the massive bean bag chair. 

By this time Wyatt was really starting to complain about his braces. He said it hurt to just move his mouth. Poor Kid! 

It was a fun evening out. Before we knew it we were headed home to get the kids to bed. 

Friday morning Wyatt was the worst he had felt with his braces. He did not want to go to school. This was his face he was making while he was sobbing asking over and over again if he could stay home from school. I kept telling him no and that he just needed some meds in him and he would be good to go. He then cried and told me that the medicine didn't help at all and that he wanted to stay home. The hardest part about Wyatt in this phase is that he will repeatedly ask "Please" over and over and over again. It drives me absolutely bonkers. I had to tell him that asking over and over again was not going to change my mind. That he needed to take some advil and tough it out a little and he would be good. Eventually, we got him to take an advil while he cried in his bed trying to convince us that he needed to stay home. Then when we had given the medicine about 10 minutes to start working he got ready and we took him to school. The ladies in the front desk of the school were agreeing with me that getting braces was not a good enough reason to stay home. I told Wyatt that he had to give it at least half the day to see if the medicine helped. Lo and behold we never got a call from school from Wyatt. By the time he got home he was all smiles. So it worked! We then told him that he just needed to make sure to stay on top of his pain meds for a couple of days and then it would feel better. 

Then we went to Brandon's office to let the boys assist in re cementing his golf onlay back on. Ethan and Emmett were pretty excited to help their Dad out. 

With the start of December it was also time to read "The Last Straw" and start the process of drawing names each Sunday and doing nice things for each other to fill the manger. The kids enjoy this part of the Christmas season. It always seems to help the kids get along better as they are doing service for each other. Even Kayden did a little bit this year. Right after drawing names he was sitting on the couch next to Brandon. Emmett came over and asked if he could sit by Dad and at first Kayden said, "no". Then all of a sudden he changed his mind and say, "Uh, ya sure." He hoped off the couch and sat somewhere else so that Emmett could sit in that spot. I was so proud of him and told him he could put some straw in the manger which he was super excited about. 

The other boys always end up sticking to making beds for their act of service. I have tried to tell them that they don't always have to make beds to earn straw. There are other ways to do it like playing with each other or helping one of their brothers out with something. The sky is the limit. Yet they always rely on the bed making. haha It is quite funny actually! I am just glad that they look forward to doing it. It really does help to set the mood for Christmas. 

We got this cute Christmas Sweater for Kayden and had to take a picture of it to send to his cousin Harvey. Harvey is obsessed with dinosaurs. So we figured he would like Kayden's new sweatshirt. 

This time of year also brings about extra chores around the house to earn tickets to pay for presents for each other. I personally love this part of our Christmas tradition. The kids have to do extra chores that are worth a certain amount of tickets. They pick out toys that Brandon and I have bought that are worth a certain amount of tickets. Eventually they purchase those toys for their brothers for Christmas with the tickets they earn from doing chores. 

It is a lovely part of the Christmas season. Not only are they earning presents for their brothers but they are helping me out in the process. Even Kayden helped out this year and earned some tickets. I end up having to remind them that they better get going on chores otherwise they wont be able to give their brothers presents. That always seems to motivate them!