Leave a Little Sparkle Wherever You Go

Another year has come and gone and in its wake we left some loves, lost some teeth, celebrated birthdays, survived a hurricane, explored our summer oasis, made new friends and many new memories and left a little sparkle wherever we went throughout the holiday season.

We issued in the last month of 2016 with a birthday celebration for Connor.  What better way to celebrate than with a Ninja/Nerf war party.  The kids, both young and old, had an absolute blast.  Connor even got to cut his cake with a real Ninja Katana sword!  When the party was over, all left a little sweaty and out of breath, while a sea of Nerf darts remained.

 
 

Even though we managed to keep all of our teeth intact after tackling the ninja warrior facility, the big kids wiggled them out before the holiday.  Corynn lost her first tooth, with the tooth fairy making a special trip with the pajama elves on Christmas Eve and Connor's wish for Christmas was for his two front teeth!

Bennett serenaded us in song by candlelight during his Christmas program.  His dapper looks and resounding voice left smiles on everyone's faces.

Between Thanksgiving and New Years, our trio managed to soak up all the fun these seasons bring, including: cookie baking, eating treats, visit with Santa, and family fun.

 

We also, or at least myself and some of my children, continued to celebrate the Cubs World Series win during the holidays.  Even if it doesn't ever happen again in my lifetime, I can still say it happened once!  Luckily my husband has let some Cubs paraphernalia enter into this Cardinal household.  And my hope is that as spring approaches, the glitter trail left behind by our beautiful Tinkerbell's flowing dress, will begin to subside in homes, couches, cars, washing machines, etc.  As the saying goes, though, it never hurts to 'Leave a little sparkle wherever you go'! 

 After all of Santa's careful planning and the Elves hard work, Christmas day had finally arrived once again.  The kids opened their presents one by one, oohing and awing after each gift was revealed.  Books, boots, boxing, Lego's, gumballs, the outdoor wonder wave and the kids very own Red Ryder.

   

They couldn't wait to try out the new haul of games and toys.  That included the big kid Ben who, while all of us were still wearing pajamas, donned a suit to show off his superior Ping Pong skills.  Also, for anyone who may have been worried, we were careful and managed not to shoot any eyes out with our marksmanship.


As we take down the decorations and reflect on this past year, I think a great motto for the family in 2017 will be:

 'Dream Big'

(because it never hurts to strive to be bigger and better)

'Sparkle More'

(because, it never hurts to be confident and look good)

'Shine Bright'

(because it never hurts to always be smiling and make the ones around you happy)