More December Fun

 Obviously part of getting ready for Christmas is getting a Christmas tree. I can't quite remember why we didn't get one the weekend after Thanksgiving like we normally did, but the following weekend was very wet and rainy and it didn't sound like fun to go out and hunt for a tree. So Kyle went and grabbed one from the local nursery while he was out running a few errands! Kim came over and we rearranged the living room and were all ready for the tree. 

The next weekend Grandpa and Grandma took everyone to a local theater production of Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer. It was really cute and everyone came over for pizza afterward. 

The girls were all in a Christmas Program at church. Lydia was a camel and sang Away in a Manger with her friends, Haleigh was an angel, and Annaliese was a 'wise-woman.' They both participated in a skit, acting out the Christmas story.

Haleigh is on the far left.

Lydia is second from the right. 

New Christmas Jammies

On the first day of Christmas vacation, we invited the cousins over for a pancake breakfast. Each kiddo invited a friend to come along! Kyle made pancakes and bacon on his new outdoor griddle and then the kids spent a few hours playing...they even ventured outside for some soccer despite the cold and windy weather!

As I was going through some of the girls' papers that they came home from school with, I came across this one in Haleigh's backpack. 

It's hard to read...

December...Part 1

 Here it is, the end of the month and I find myself once again trying to catch up on posting here. Despite my intentions of posting regularly, time marches on. Thankfully, I can scroll back through all the pictures on my phone and be reminded of the things we do, the way we spend our time, the people we hang out with, and the projects that we work on! 

December is no different...I had a birthday. The kids dressed up for school and I dressed up for work. Annaliese and Elias participated in a craft fair. We went to the Lighted Christmas Parade with friends from church. We decorated cookies. And in between it all, we decorated for Christmas, played lots of Skip-Bo, and tried to stay warm in the frigid cold temperatures! And this was just the first half of the month!

So without further ado, some pictures...

A chilly dark morning at the bus stop!

A 2-hr delay meant we had time to walk to the bus!

We spent two days making Christmas cookies...the first day was spent making the dough and cutting out the cookies. The second afternoon was spent decorating!

The decorated cookies!

We met up with friends from church to watch the Christmas Parade. They live right on Front Street so we were able to have a warm place to hang out in while we waited for the parade to start, and a fun place to hang out after the parade was done!

Haleigh made a macrame plant hanger for the craft fair.

Annaliese and Elias made Christmas cards, gift tags and macrame crafts to sell!

The girls made me a board game for my birthday!

Pajama Day at school and Santa Day at work

Red Day

These are my coworkers...we dressed up as presents!

Haleigh's class after their Christmas Party.

10

 Now that Annaliese has been 10 for several weeks, she's decided that it's not really that different from being nine. And yet, she's grown over two inches in the last year and when I look at her, I feel like she is growing up before my very eyes! 

 But it's still a big deal, maybe for us as parents more than it is for her. After all, ten years is an entire decade!! Every year I enjoy looking back at blog posts from the previous year and seeing how things have changed. 

This year, when I looked back, I realized there are a few things that haven't changed...and probably won't! Annaliese still loves reading and can be found curled up with a good book for hours on end. Current favorites include The Boxcar Children, the I Survived series and other mysteries. She recently ventured into the "tween" section at the library and has found some longer books. 

Annaliese likes playing soccer, having sleepovers, and working on solving/decoding puzzles. She makes us pancakes for breakfast and has caught on quickly to playing the piano. She and Elias recently made Christmas cards and macrame ornaments and participated in a local craft fair. It was fun to watch them create and sell their items! Annaliese has an incredible memory and memorizes things for school (like her weekly Bible verses) without any difficulty. It's fun to watch as she starts to incorporate English into her schoolwork. She corrected my English grammar yesterday! 

Favorite Food: Hamburgers. Pizza. 

Favorite Color: Turquoise. 

Favorite Subject in School: P.E. and Art