Christmas Programs and Parties

So my goal, is to get this caught up before next Christmas, haha! We've clearly been so busy, I haven't had a spare moment to get the blog caught up. I am trying to commit to doing it, so that I don't let it become too far gone and just give up! The little ones had their Christmas programs right before school let out for the holidays. They always do such a great job putting together a cute show. Bradley had his program first, and Charlie was able to come watch.

A major change from the year before. Bradley was not shy, although not the center of attention either. He was very proud to be standing up there and singing. His hand motions were not always there, but there were no tears, so definitely a success. The front row, unfortunately, did not have the same luck. They peeled off one by one as they were a little sad.

Charlie waving to B!

The best view I could get of his whole class.

Partners in crime. Those two are inseparable....

Here are two short clips from a few of the songs

Poor little Jacob, just wasn't having it.

Little besties congratulating each other on a great show!!

Bradley is always looking for opportunities to pose with the ladies.

Love this sweet boy. Side note, the morning of the program, I came downstairs in my pjs and Bradley very sweetly asked me, "Mom are you planning to wear workout clothes to my program today?" Kind of anticipating where this was going, I just asked him why he was asking. He quickly responded with, "I just want you to wear a nice outfit, please!" At least he used his manners! The kid just really likes me to look nice, or better said, not in workout clothes (aka "my uniform"). For the record, he did approve this outfit.

    CoCo and B

The following day was Charlie's two year old class performance. He was pretty stoic most of the time, but there weren't any tears. Actually, none from his class, go figure. I was shocked! He stood there most of the time, but about 80% of the way through, he decided to participate a little bit.

Looking for me and my mom

Here comes the progression as to what most boys do when they are bored.....

....looking around to make sure the coast is clear....

.....lift the shirt....

...insert hands in pants....typical boy!

Singing two by two. Clearly we need some work on counting on your hands.

Trying to figure out how to make a 2 with his fingers!

Hold out until the end, you'll get a few claps!

Blowing some kisses to me!

This kid tests me beyond my limits daily, but it's hard to resist his sweet smile.

The best we could get of all three of us

That afternoon, we took the boys to the mall to go see Santa. Bradley was finally on board with wanting to actually sit near him and take a picture, so we had to capitalize on in it while we could. We got there and had to wait a minute because his lenses had transitioned and we needed them to go back to normal, haha! Not sure if it was a good or bad thing because it gave them more time to fret, but we did it anyway. B was pretty nervous, but finally worked up the courage and actually sat next to him and was excited. Charlie, on the other hand, was clearly not having it. Poor guy completely melted down, but rest assured it was only for about 10 seconds and I went in and swooped him up. The tears stopped quickly thereafter. B would NOT leave. He kept chatting and chatting with Santa and was not ready to go. We had to pry him away since Charlie wanted to get as far away as possible. He even told me later that we needed to go back because he forgot to tell him about a toy that he wanted, that he had just happened to see in a store!

We made promises of carousel rides and cookies after the pictures. As you can see, Charlie's mood quickly turned back to his happy self. He LOVED the carousel and was in heaven.

Funny story, we decided to walk to a few stores since the boys were in a good mood. We got into Home Goods, and B admitted that he had slightly pooped his pants. Mind you, this kid has been completely potty trained for over a year, with maybe 1 accident, ever. He said he ended up going a little while back in the parking lot on our way into the mall (which was about 1-1.5 hours prior to him admitting this). Not sure if the excitement and nerves of Santa had gotten to him, but that's the only thing I can think of that would've made this happen. Poor kid!

Here's a cute pic of Ryan on his PJ day at school complete with his reindeer ears.

Matthew, Ryan, and Ashley after school

That Sunday after school let out, we went to my Aunt's annual Mexican food Christmas dinner with the whole Hicks side of the family. Last year, My aunt Vivian started having the little ones act out some of the nativity scene, complete with costumes. We had 2 of the boys sick last year and B wasn't up for participating, but we got them all 3 to act in it this year while my dad read some scripture. It was pretty cute.

Porter and Charlie, the sweetest sheep you've ever seen!

Poppy and the boys

It's always fun seeing all of my cousins and their kids. They all have such a great time together. Such a fun time of year, next up Christmas lights hayride!