December Fun 2011

It's Halloween, then all of the sudden it is New Years Eve!  Here I sit, on New Years Eve, and can't believe how fast these months go. They are fun months, which is why they must go so fast...fun and busy. Anyhow, I don't want to start 2012 with a blog post about Christmas, so I'm doing it today, because on this day, the whole difference is summed up in hours.  Wait more than a few hours, all of the sudden you are in a whole New Year! I can't have that happen, so here we go:

Our Lights.

The scene inside. Decorating the tree.

This is really fun!

Now we wait..Christmas is on its way!

So cozy!

Decorating Gingerbread houses. This year we tried the Gingerbread village..5 mini houses, which we liked because they could each do their own..no arguing over creative differences!

Annual cookie making with Dad.

Santa came! And he left a note!!

Christmas morning.

Matthew's Guitar

Matthew just finished up his first session of guitar (10 classes).  He was happy to play us "Jingle Bells". I think we may continue on to the next session, since he is enjoying it, and it is very beneficial to him.
Take a listen...he just learned the song on this day that he played it for us.:



http://youtu.be/-bRYx-rP5bc?hd=1

Random December (and end of November) Things

Wow, I really am not putting much effort into my blog titles when I produce things like the title of this blog post! 
That's okay though, you are just grateful I am posting pictures for you, right??!!

Here are some things we have been up to lately:

Our visit to Alderwood Mall.  Our mission: Go visit the American Girl Doll Store.

Big smiles for this REALLY big horse outside PF Changs.

Let's Go Inside!

Dolls everywhere!!! Reagan was on a mission: find her doll from the catalog.

Here she is! She is on Reagan's Christmas wish list. 

She looks like Reagan, with raspberry glasses!

Alyssa left the store with this Ginger cat in tow.  On Alyssa's wish list? The American Girl Doll of the year (Kanani) and a pet bed for Ginger.

At dinner that night with the boys.  I still had my camera in my purse, so I snapped a couple photos.  We tried a new Mexican restaurant, it was just okay.

Snuggling in our new chair that we LOVE!


This is how we read our books at night. Britney thinks she is a kid, too, and fights for that good spot in my lap!:

And let's not forget about all the hats I've been making lately!!Here are a few new ones:

We had a great time a couple Saturdays ago on our trip to go see Santa:

Santa, I would like: an ipod touch, a snowboard and lego Winter Bakery, a pet bed for my cat and an American Girl Doll and a bed for her and all the Princessses.

"Rudolph with your nose so bright, won't you guide my sleigh tonight"

We got our tree that same day!:

Hot Cocoa and Candy Canes...yummy!  It was freezing outside, so this was the perfect treat to have under the outdoor heater after we selected the perfect tree!

To add to our ambitious day, we also went home and hung the lights outside!:

This picture is like a "Where's Waldo"? This would have likely made it on the Christmas card this year, but Alyssa was freezing by this point, and had perched herself on the window bench inside to watch.  See her in the window?  We tried to get her outside, but she was all done.

The Whirl of the Holidays

Once we get past Thanksgiving, doesn't it just feel like a snowball of events leading towards "The Big Day", and by that I mean, of course, Christmas!  I love Christmas, it just seems to come so fast.  There is so much to do and so little time.  Less than two weeks away?!  No way.  I'm NOT ready yet!  I alternate calling it Christmas with calling it "Jesus' Birthday", and that's about the best I can do for right now. I want the kids to know why we celebrate Christmas.
Is that tactic working?  Well, one evening Matthew asked me, "If it is Jesus' Birthday, why are we getting all the presents"? I told him we are practicing the act of giving, just as the wise men brought gifts to Jesus to celebrate his birth. 
Over the weekend August and I went out to run a couple errands, and when I saw the man standing outside Fred Meyer with the bell and the red bucket, I pulled August aside and handed him a dollar to place inside of it.  I explained to him that the money the man was collecting would go to help those in need...not just of toys, but of clothes and food.  I want to teach my kids to give, and to have compassion, and to see that Christmas is not just about getting all the toys you've wanted all year. 
Well, later that night, we headed out as a family to go to dinner, and on the way home we were cruising through the neighborhood looking at Christmas lights, when out of the blue he said, "Dad, Mom gave me a dollar to put in the red bucket at Fred Meyer."
I knew then that he had been processing that simple act of kindness and giving.  Imagine if everyone who passed by a red bucket this year put in a dollar, or even a quarter. How great such a simple act can be.  Maybe you just place the dollar in and move along, but maybe someone else witnesses you doing that, and you inspire them to donate a dollar, who inspires someone else, who sparks a conversation with their accompanying child, and so on.
I have visions of taking my kids to go and donate food to the food bank, of donating new toys to those bins you see around in Starbucks and outside Toys R' Us.  Please let them grow up to know how to give and have compassion.  If they do, I'll have done something right:-)