We were really late decorating for Christmas this year! We just couldn't find time to get a tree. By the time we looked, the high school band sale was sold out of trees. We ended up having to drive into Quakertown and pick up a tree at Country Junction. Here's a few decorating pictures:
This was unquestionably our worst Christmas program ever. The kids looked adorable, of course, and they tried really hard.
Unfortunately, we had two three year olds, and one cried all the way through the second rehearsal, so I couldn't help the kids correct their mistakes much. And then, a kindergartener threw up their green cupcake all over the party. By the next day, four kids were throwing up (including Faith, who had to go home and the actress playing Mary). Everyone was confused and forgot their cues. The program we picked was not the best either. It depicts a writer trying to rewrite the Christmas story and make it more modern. The funniest lines are the kids, though, and no one could hear them, or they flubbed and skipped big chunks of dialogue because we didn't practice enough and I thought it would be okay, since the writer was doing rewrites if they read off their scripts instead of memorized. It was a fiasco. At that point, I was glad that we are taking a year off from Sunday School and the Christmas and Easter programs! Maybe by the time we come "back" to Children's Ministry, we'll have fresh ideas.
The breakfast tables were cute though! The youth group decorated gingerbread houses. Here's Kairi's:
Didn't she do a great job??
Scott was sweet enough to sign up his nieces as well as his kids for this year's "Breakfast with Santa" at his work. He warns me that this may be the last year for the event due to cost cutting, but I told him anyone who comes to the breakfast would be more than happy to pay for it! It's really wonderful!
First, we checked out the gingerbread contest entries. Fortunately for the other entrants, this house isn't in the running! But we bought some raffle tickets hoping to bring it home. (No luck!)
Then, it was time for a delicious breakfast! Eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, muffins, bagels... the works!
Yes, we all wore red. We're that dorky.
Hoboken the clown made amazing balloon sculptures. His monkey in a tree (with bananas) was particularly awesome. The older kids opted out to give the little ones a chance since there was a huge line. (Well, after Kairi discovered he didn't know how to make frogs!)
Juli got a hummingbird... 
And Faith opted for a flower.
Of course, everyone had to see the REAL Santa. As Nicky will tell you, Santa's too busy to visit just anywhere, so sometimes people have to dress up like him. But he always makes a point of showing up at Daddy's work for breakfast. Even Cyndy said she'd never met the REAL Santa before!
Kairi is too big for the lap, but never too big for a picture!
Same goes with Nick - is Santa laughing at his tough guy hands in the pocket pose?
She didn't have a problem with the present he brought her, though!!
The brass choir was featured at this year's winter concert. Not only did they play the preludes, they joined the chorus to play a few songs while the rest of the band took a break.
Kairi is FIRST French Horn now, and her section really looks up to her. Well, they look up to her ability and leadership - as you can see, the sixth grade second chair is already taller than her!
We were also "proud" of Nicky - this is the first band concert we've ever attended where he didn't fall asleep halfway through! No, we didn't dress him up like Santa on purpose - he's coming from TKD and the hat was in the car.
Calvary Baptist presented "A Night In Bethlehem" this year. We were the directors and decorators, and our whole family had roles in the production. It was a blast, and everyone who went to the event really seemed to enjoy it and get a lot out of it.
Our first job was to decorate the church to look like an ancient Bethlehem marketplace (sort of!). We started by decorating each room as a different shop. For example, the herb and spices shop looked like this:
We also had a bakery:
The all important signpost:
The weaver even had a young apprentice to help some of the kids with their basket weaving. (Doesn't she look cute?)
The fun didn't stop there, though. Wandering around the Bethlehem streets were a variety of Bible times characters, including this ragamuffinly beggar.
You had to watch out for the tax collector and the Roman soldier! Don't they look like a scary pair?
The tax collector stopped at each shopkeeper for his due.
And best of all, the shephards gathered up groups of people to visit the stable and meet the new parents of Jesus. (The stable was supposed to be outside, but it actually started snowing pretty heavily - so we made a quick change!)
This familiar family certainly seems to be enjoying themselves!
The brass choir got to play at Barnes and Noble this year. They did a beautiful job playing Christmas carols to the shoppers. We were lucky that Jon and Laurie could loan us their car, though - ours was in the shop and we were supposed to pick up pizza and help transport the kids to the Promenade!
Here's a link to a video of one of their songs: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2726613812627414622&hl=en (Sorry for the bad quality - I've only got my digital camera for video!)
No, we haven't turned Nicky into a wooden puppet. By toy, I mean the lovely, shiny, RED Kitchen-Aid mixer on the counter behind him. I got the mixer in the middle of November, and have been churning out muffins, cookies, rolls, bread, brownies, whipped cream, meringue, pies, and anything else I can think of ever since. As you can see, the kids are loving it, too. Juli and Faith love to bake with Aunt Jenn, and Kai and Nick are just as happy to help.
In fact, when Grandma came up, she had this conversation with Faith:
Faith: We make everything in here [the mixer].
Grandma: Everything?
Faith: Cookies and muffins and brownies and cakes and everything.
Grandma: That must take a lot of ingredients.
Faith: [pointing to my pantry] All of the ingredients are RIGHT IN HERE.
Cute, huh? I better watch it though, or all of the ingredients will be going right to my waistline!
Situation Normal, All... you know how that ends, right? (I am trying to keep this site family friendly....)
To judge by the smiling faces in this picture, you'd never guess that Kai had been sobbing moments before. See, this was her first year playing in the brass band at Light-Up Night. And we missed it. (Except Daddy!) He took Kai over ahead of time, and good thing, too - turns out we had the wrong time! We showed up just as the lights were being turned on - well after the band played and the girl scouts sang.
Then we had to wait in a REALLY long line to see Santa because we didn't join the line until after we found Scott and Kai. And Grandma and Grandpa didn't really care about Santa, you know - they were there to see Kairi. *sigh*
And when we got to Santa, with two small girls in tow, what happened? Lots of tears, of course.
Worse yet, Nicky looked on the verge of tears after the fact. He finally explained - he had figured out that the helper at Light-Up Night is NOT the real deal. After I explained about helpers, he realized the REAL Santa comes to Daddy's work for Breakfast with Santa, so that's all right. (You can tell because that Santa has the real beard.) Phew!
But being us, a little drama can't keep us down for long. Not when there's Viennetta in the freezer and goofy children swinging from the chandeliers!
Can you believe it? I didn't take a single picture on Thanksgiving Day. I had eleven of my favorite people, all in the same room. I had a picture perfect dinner (the turkey was a work of art). But did I lift a camera? Heck no. We did lift thanks, though - and that's what's important!
Here's what I'm thankful for this year:
And that's just to name a few! Happy Thanksgiving!
The third grade turkey project is great. We didn't know how we'd top Kairi's hippie protester turkey (who was wearing tie-dye and peace signs and carrying a sixties style chant placard telling the farmer to go away). But when we're talking about Nicky, the theme was easy - and our cheese-headed turkey turned out great!
Does it make me a sap if I cried when the election results came in?
For the first time in a long time, I believe that things are going to be better for our country.
(But I better not let any of my students have this web address - they've been trying to figure out who I was going to vote for, but I wasn't telling!)
My own kids, on the other hand not only knew who I was voting for, but might have beat Scott or I with sticks if we had tried to push any other button. They're Obama supporters all the way!
