What We've Been Up To

Warning: This post is a total photo dump. So much going on, so many pictures (and so many things I didn't take pictures of!)

Knitting group with his Mama meant sitting at Panera for a couple hours. One of my knitting friends ordered a hot chocolate, which it turns out is this massive bowl of goodness and Peanut started eyeing her drink and pointing and making little sounds at me, which I was able to interpret to mean, "Hey, Mom, I'm feeling shy around all these people, but I REALLY want that." And because I really wanted to keep knitting, I indulged him. He was a pretty happy camper for a long time as he worked on that bowl of chocolate marshmallows, whipped cream, caramel sauce, oh, and hot chocolate underneath all of it.

 Church nativity--the kids always love dressing up.

 Bug gets really into it.

 Bean had a friend come this year to hear her piano playing and they had a great time in the craft room after the music.

And of course there are the actual nativities. I love how many different types of nativities you can find, and how they come from all over the world. This llama one was from Costa Rica.

We love this annual tradition.

Tree trimming happened the Friday after Thanksgiving so we've been enjoying the lights each night.

And we actually put up lights outside this year! I think it's only the second time. It's a lot of work, but they are so pretty.

Love that we have a red door. I love it all year long, but it is especially nice at Christmas time. And one of these years, I'm going to do something with our wreath. We still have the same one I made while I was in college, or shortly after, so it's getting pretty old and has lost a piece.

Our annual neighborhood brunch. Bringing good food and good people together.

With live music. This year actually included a little piano and bongo drums to accompany the accordion.

Peanut loved the fact that the cheese plate was at his reach.

A few of the people we get to call neighbors and friends.

There was a snowman crafting station that Bean put together for all the kids.

And the guests of honor were this family, who started the whole neighborhood Christmas brunch, but then moved away a few years ago. We were so glad that made a quick trip up from GA.

The kids had a blast playing together all afternoon.

It's always fun to catch up with old friends. And get photos of them. Which I didn't do with me and Flori. Maybe I can snag the photo from their blog someday (hint, hint ;) ).

 McAdenville lights--We went to see the lights this year when Daddy-o went with the church youth group.

We walked it this year which was a lot of fun and didn't involve the usual headache of all the traffic.

Another little sister tagging along with the group.

Peanut loved it. I'm sure it's much easier to see the lights from up in someone's arms than when you're strapped into a carseat.

And there are so many houses and businesses that look like this. (Ignore the blurriness--I forgot my real camera, and as good as my phone usually does with photos, it wasn't handling the darkness very well.)

Love the lights around the pond. It was a perfect night for this--not too cold, but enough to bundle up and then enjoy the donuts and hot chocolate afterwards.

 It's been non-stop Christmas all month.

Things I haven't gotten pictures of--2 hockey games for Daddy-o which meant date nights for each of the older kids (and movie or game night at home with Mama for whoever got left behind), Bean's Christmas party with her Activity Days group from church where they caroled, delivered cookies, and made gingerbread houses, my church women's group Christmas dinner,  Daddy-o's work Christmas party, and his annual holiday bake-off at work. Plus a few movie nights, lots of crafting, and present buying, making and wrapping.

The kids are out of school and Daddy-o is off work now, so we're ready for a lot more Christmas fun and hopefully a lot of relaxing.

Piano Debut

These two kids got to play the piano at the Community Nativity Festival tonight and they did so great! They've only been taking lessons since mid-summer, so when their new teacher suggested they play, I wasn't sure they were really ready for this, but they both were excited (and nervous, too).

Bean started off because she was nervous and really wanted to get it over with (and I caught the first verse before I realized my camera battery wasn't going to make it through the whole thing, so I had to switch to the phone).

 

 

Here's the rest of hers and then  Abe's 3 songs. He was a little nervous beforehand, and then he said he lost track of where he was playing partway through, which threw him off, but we were so proud of him that he picked it back up and kept going.

 

 

And then they sang with their Daddy-o in Spanish. Ignore Peanut in the background making distracting laughs. I was having a hard time deciding if I should be going up there to stop him, or keep videoing--the camera won.

These kids always impress me with their willingness to perform in front of people. They most certainly didn't get that from me!

Nativity Festival 2013

This is one of our favorite Christmas traditions each year--the Nativity Festival at our church with hundreds of nativities.

This year, one family shared their Jerusalem village. It was absolutely in incredible and spread across several tables!

Bug was entranced by the miniatures.

It's always fun to see the variety--these were made from rolled paper,

and this bear one was so cute.

The kids loved it!

People have collected them from all over the world.

And made out of all different materials. I am a huge fan of the really small sets.

And then there is the dress up area.

Peanut was so cute with his donkey costume.

The room was really well done this year--loved the back drop.

The kids have so much fun in this room.

This is usually one of the first Christmas events each year and it's a fun way to start our celebrations and remind us of what this season is all about.

Nativity

 This weekend was the annual nativity festival at our church.  Along with hundreds of nativities from around the world to look at, they have this incredible dress up area, and that is where the kids spent the majority of the evening.

 The set up for them to come pose in is beautiful, and there are many costumes to choose from.  Bugaboo tried all of them on at one point or another.

Peanut only had one option in his size, and for the 5.2 seconds that he kept the hat on, he made a really cute little lamb.

This year was really fun because 3 of our neighbors and one of Daddy-o's co-workers came with us.  Daddy-o was singing with the choir and we've been telling them how beautiful all the nativities are--they really collect such a huge variety.  It was fun to share one of our favorite traditions with them, and at least one of the families plans to make it a yearly thing.

Gratitude

Today, I'm grateful for. . .

 Bean getting to go to a school we love, and with friends she has so much fun with,

warm enough December weather that said friends could go play in the backyard for an hour, giving us a little reprieve from the LOUD chaos during a 5 hour playdate,

 my boys.  Daddy-o took half an hour out of his work this afternoon to make cornflake "krispie treat" wreaths with all the kids, and Bug spent the afternoon playing with the girls (who were actually pretty nice to him).

not being stuck watching all the fun from behind a window,

this season when we get to celebrate Christ and Bug gets to dress up as a donkey.

Church Nativity Festival

 Every year, our church hosts a community nativity festival.  They have nativities from all over the world (loaned from various people) on display, as well as pictures and paintigs and wall hangings.  This year, they also had about 50 costumes to dress up in and a beautiful nativity display set up in one of the rooms.

 Bean, the wise man.

 Buggy of course wanted to be the donkey.  We realized the other day that he's forgotten how to make his realistic donkey sound that he's been doing for years.  It's a little sad, although tonight he finally got it back with some coaching.

They also had a craft room where they got to make a small manger with a swaddled baby Jesus in it and do some coloring.  The kids could have stayed in here all night.  Daddy-o and I took turns going back in to listen to the choir and look at all the nativities.