Ben’s mom goes to see the Nutcracker every year with his sister, and this time, she took us along for the adventure too. This was the girls’ first experience with a ballet and what a beautiful show to start with. Prior to going, they read the story with Ben’s mom, so they were familiar with the story line, and it’s always fun to compare and contrast the differences after. After the show, Soul said, “Where was the talking?” She didn’t quite get it, but she went on and on about the gorgeous costumes. I hadn’t seen the show since I was a little girl, but I remember falling in love with ballet after. It was special to be able to watch it with my own little girls many years later. They’ve since started recreating some of the dances from the show in our home (I totally knew this would happen). Thank you Grandmama for this special Christmas adventure!

We saw the show at the historic Majestic Theatre and I was wowed by the intricate details of that amazing building. They just don’t make things like they used to. After the show, we walked all along the San Antonio Riverwalk. I hadn’t been since Ben and I first started dating and this was another San Antonio first for the girls too.

The weather was completely wonderful while we were there. It was in the 80s and we had no need for all the bulky sweaters we brought. The girls had been itching to try out their roller skates from their Auntia (auntie + tia) Suzi, so we all headed off to a local park. The foam ground was the perfect surface to take their skates out for a spin. Ben held Brave’s hand, and I held True’s, and we instructed them to “step and roll,” and after many step and roll steps later, they got it. Soul and Glow didn’t get skates, so they ventured onto the playground and pretended they were Jedis. Soul definitely looks like a Jedi to me (she tries to copy Luke Skywalker’s style). Ben, Grandmama, Auntia Suzi, and I relaxed on a bench as we watched the girls have fun rolling (True and Brave) and climbing (Soul and Glow) all about.

I love San Antonio and how much more friendly people seem than in California. People still even put up their hand to say thank you when you’re driving (I’m probably one of the few, but pretty much no one does that here anymore). I love that their traffic isn’t really traffic, and how it’s such a big city, but with a small town heart. We’ve looked at the possibility of moving, but it doesn’t look like it’s in the cards for us right now, but you never know. For now, we treasure each time we are able to spend there, and always wish our time was longer and that Texas was a lot closer.

For those curious, True and Brave’s skates are adjustable (can be purchased here), which is great for how fast kids’ feet grow. We love them so far and haven’t had any issues, but we haven’t had them for that long. They also are wearing this pad set (size: youth/child), which guards the wrists, elbows, and knees (Brave forgot her wrist guards).

Hello 2017! We had such a wonderful holiday in Texas with Ben’s family. All our days were pretty chill and filled with lots of family time. For Christmas, the girls presented a Christmas show they planned, and Papi Claus came back to town (Glow has no clue that’s Ben). It has been 2 years since Soul and Glow had been back, so they were all wide-eyed exploring the house and having fun with Grandmama’s dogs. Soul is hoping that she will be able to join the older two in Texas this summer (we aren’t sure if she’s ready, so we will see). Grandmama always has matching pajamas ready for the girls when we get there, and they pretty much stay in pajamas most of the time because their most favorite thing to do in Texas is hang out with their Grandmama at home. We did do a couple of family adventures out, Ben and I snuck in a date day to Austin, and we spent time together watching some old classics (Fiddler on the Roof and Miracle on 34th Street), as well as lots of old family videos. Our time there goes so fast and I wish we were able to stay longer. It’s always so hard to leave, and the girls cried for for the first couple hours of our road trip home. They love their Grandmama and Auntia Suzi so much, and we wish Texas and California were a lot closer to each other.

I have California girls with Texan hearts. Well, Soul might be the exception, she’s a California girl through and through. When we’ve discuss the possibility of moving to Texas, she says, “I’m going to stay in California.” That’s our Soulie!

This week’s learned, links, and thankfulness…

We are so thankful for an upcoming week of family time!

My phone has not been working properly, so I’m excited to finally have the iPhone 7 (and Ben found a  good deal too)! It’s been 3 years since I’ve upgraded, so I’m excited to learn all the new features. I ordered this case to protect it.

I love shaggy cardigans like this, and found this one on sale.

I cried watching Tim Duncan’s retirement ceremony. #gospursgo

Inspired to make a hand quilted indigo jacket like this.

I’ve been happily wearing my ES FUI ring.

We’ve had a week off from school, but it’s felt so stressful getting ready for Christmas and traveling. I think I’ll need to give us a couple of days to recover before we officially start school again. #ohthejoysofhomeschooling

God Came Down and I’m so glad He did. He came to rescue me from my sin. All my good is never enough, so I trust in the sinless Savior who covers me with His redeeming blood. The sinless man became sin in my place. I celebrate Christmas because this is the day my Savior was born.

I’m also very thankful for all of you who have followed along here. Some of you are new and some of you have been following for a long time, and I appreciate the support and encouragement you all give. It’s been so much fun sharing family stories to crafty things, and all the other things in between. When I look back on old posts, I see so much of how I’ve grown and changed, and how our family has as well. This is not a blog goodbye at all, but I simply wanted to let you know I appreciate all of you who check in here, and that I still have fun keeping up this space. Blogging is weird and bloggers are weirder, so I’m thankful that you all like being weird with me here.

I have had some light blog posting weeks in the past, but I’ve never officially taken a week off from this space. I think it’s time to do so because I want to chill and savor all my family time (and I hope you do too!). I’m sure I’ll still be posting on instagram (@cakiesblog), so you can still see tidbits of things there. I plan to be back here on January 3rd, so until then, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year friends!

The girls have been working on this activity book for about a month; they wanted their own activity book to take on our road trip to Texas. True was the creative director and had each girl contribute pages for it. You can tell which are made by Soul and Glow because they spell think phonetically. They are a lot of pages (about 30!), so I didn’t photograph it all, but I think it’s obvious the love and creativity they put into this little book. They drew each page, made copies on our printer, then True sewed the books together. These books will fun to look back on one day and laugh at all the cute little things they created.

This is one of my favorite jokes True has come up with. I let out a big, hearty laugh when she told me.

Get the print out here for other little joke lovers. See more kid jokes here.

It’s a lot of the same decorations we put up year to year, but our newest addition is a little pink tinsel tree in Soul and Glow’s room. We didn’t have any fresh Christmas wreaths or garland up this year because we spend Christmas in Texas, so I try to keep things manageable. I like things manageable to put up and easy to put away.

The girls are the ones who decorated the tree. Ben and I put it up, but we let them have the honors. I had planned to move some ornaments around to spread them out more, but whatever, I just went with it. They were so excited to take ownership of the Christmas tree, so I left it exactly how they did it. They’re proud of it and so am I.

If you still have some time for projects, see how to make the dowel Christmas tree here, or make elf stockings here. Also, you can see what our house looked like for Christmas last year here. Most handmade gifts are done (the gifts love to make soooooo many things!) and we are about ready to relax and start family time.