Hamilton Christmas

After a strange rash appeared all over Cadence following her bout with strep throat, we got the "all clear" from the doctor to head to Hamilton to celebrate Gracie's 10th birthday and Christmas with Danny's family.  I was nervous she had a weird reaction to her antibiotic, or even worse, Scarlet Fever!  Luckily, the doctor thought it was just some strange aftermath of the strep.  It would've broken my heart if I had to tell the kids that we had to stay quarantined in Columbus.

We headed down there after lunch on Saturday, stayed the night, and headed back to Columbus after dinner on Sunday.  We had a very nice visit!

I think we made 3 different types of cookies that weekend: the pan version of chocolate chip cookies (with raisins) that the kids love, oatmeal raisin, and peanut butter blossoms (ya know, the ones with Hershey Kisses).  At this specific point in time, Danny's mom and I had Lily and Colin's help.

We exchanged gifts with Danny's parents Sunday morning before the cousins arrived.

Danny's grandparents were also in town.  Nanny helped show Cadence how to cross stitch.

Another batch of cookies with Mamaw!

He's such a sweet goof!

Cousin time!

Cozy with Papaw

Cadence's Christmas Recital 2019

This year at Cadence's Christmas recital, she got to play Jingle Bells on the piano.  She did such a great job and I can't believe how much she's learned in the year and a half she's been playing.  I'm looking forward to hearing what she plays for us at the spring recital!

The Lex Center posted some "behind the scenes" pictures.  Here's Cadence waiting her turn to perform.

I'm always impressed how she's able to get up on stage and play for a large crowd made up of mostly adults!

Perfect backdrop for a family photo

The deer is back!

Awwwwwwwwww

Grandma and Poppa came to support the Peanut!

Curtain Call

The kids had fun with the "photo booth"

Pure Randomness

Again, another blog post without a "theme" per se - but includes things that are still worth sharing!

One day over the weekend, Danny told me I had to take a picture of the trees in the backyard because there were so many colors.  Look how pretty!

The day after Thanksgiving, Danny and I met up with our college roommates for dinner and drinks downtown.  They usually come to Columbus for a Buckeye football game once a year and it's always a good time when we get together.  It's nice to catch up and also reminisce on the days of '01-'05.  

At school, Cadence had to create a living thing out of a pumpkin.  She chose to make a platypus.  This is the finished product (after it had been transported to and from school) - she was so proud of it.

Colin's teacher posted this picture from school.  I think he was pretty pumped about the Lego tower he built.  

Look below to see how goofy my kids are - all 3 of them!

Colin popped a ball that he was playing with in the basement - he decided to put said popped ball on top of his head like a hat!

After Cadence's dentist appointment we had to check her in at school office - the principal let her know that her class was awarded the Hallway Heroes for their behavior the previous week.  She got to bring the sign (the line leader gets to carry it for the class through the hallways as a way to show off) and surprise her class.  She was in a silly mood that morning.

Oh, and Scarlet...love that pooch!

Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Prep

Danny and my dad had the day before Thanksgiving off from work, so along with the kids, they headed to the Columbus Culinary Institute to help Fry Out Cancer (Fry Out Cancer).  The guy who started the whole event used to work with Danny, so that's how they all got involved.  He started frying turkeys in his back yard to raise money for cancer-related charities.  The event has grown so big that they had to look at a different location for 2018.  There were culinary students there this year, so they had a lot of help.

Danny, my dad, and the kids helped wrap the turkeys after they were fried and had a chance to cool down.  It was pretty chilly outside - Danny snapped a picture of the kids while they were taking a break.  I think their "break" was longer than anyone else's, but who's counting?

That evening they helped cut the bread so it could become stale for the stuffing!  They're becoming good little helpers in the kitchen.  

We had a quiet Thanksgiving at our house and Mom and Dad came over for dinner.  Mike and his girlfriend were in Dayton to celebrate with her family.  We had a lot of leftovers for the week!

Decorating for Christmas in the Schuerman household usually starts the day after Thanksgiving.  Since Danny and I get the day after Thanksgiving off from work, we usually spread the decorating out over the entire weekend (you have to fit the Ohio State/*ichigan game in there too!)  On Friday we put out some decorations and put up the little tree that is reserved for the mini-Hallmark ornaments that were handed down to us from Danny's grandparents.  The kids love this tree (and we do too).  It serves a dual purpose in that it is like a nightlight in the hallway near the kids' bedrooms.

I think the kids also helped me put the big artificial tree up - it's quite a process because each branch is an individual piece and it takes a lot of fluffing each branch after being packed away all year!  I spent some time after the football game putting the lights on so that we could begin putting the ornaments on the tree on Sunday!

After I snapped some pictures of the kids decorating skills in action, Colin confiscated the camera...

The finished product - I love our tree

I had to get a picture of the house with the lights on the bushes after the first snowfall

So pretty!

The kids' school has a morning for Pastries with Parents - poor Cadence came down with strep throat, so Danny stayed home with her while I took Colin.  They had quite the impressive spread for us!  Bagels and cream cheese, muffins, doughnuts, coffee cake, danishes...mmmmmmmm  

We were in continental breakfast (carb overload) heaven.

Snapchat fun!

The next day, Cadence had to stay home from school again, but she was able to go to her piano rehearsal to prep for the Christmas recital.  Everything was decorated for Christmas at the church, so we had to stop for a photo op.  She was a fan of the deer.

We had to squeeze in a trip to see Santa!  This year we took advantage of the 'Fast Pass' - it was $10 well spent to not have to stand in line for forever!  Colin acted like he had seen a celebrity - he thought the whole thing was so fun!  Cadence was an awesome big sis and helped keep the spirit alive.