Homeward Bound

Yesterday was Caleb's Christmas party.  Lucky for us (parents), we only had to do one edible craft with them.  They made Christmas tree ice cream cones.  And, as you can see, Caleb is wearing shorts and a t-shirt on December 17th!

 All four of the first grade classes outside, making a giant mess!

 Eating his treat.

 Last night, our Life Group went on a hayride through a live Nativity.  

After the hayride, we decided to drive through our neighborhood one more time, to see the lights.  This neighborhood will forever be one of my favorites!  

I also had to take note of the weather at 7:30 at night.  

We're hoping for a little "cooler" weather in Indiana.

We are about to head out as we speak.  I am really looking forward to seeing The Biltmore decorated for Christmas.  

See you all soon!!

Amelia's Christmas Program

Today was Amelia's Christmas program at school. 

The older classrooms presented the Navitity to the Hallelujah song.  It was pretty cute!  Amelia was a cow:o)

Caroling at the Mall

Today, all of the 1st grade classes went to sing Christmas carols at a local nursing home and at the mall.  Caleb said he didn't want me to come, but I told him I had to "shop" there anyway, so I might just happen to be there at the same time.  He said that was ok, then.

 Santa even got out of his chair to come and watch.

After they were finished, they got in line to sit on Santa's lap and read him their letters they wrote for him.

 This letter is great!

Now, this was the last time Caleb has ever sat on Santa's lap!  

Seriously!  

So, I wasn't sure if he would do it today and even told him he didn't have to if he didn't want to.  

 But he was brave and walked right up to sit on his lap.  He's reading Santa his letter.

 Big hugs for Santa!!

Roller Skating Birthday Party

This past week is one I'm ready to be over with!

I had a sinus infection a couple weeks ago, which turned into something worse (at least it feels worse).  Long story short, I saw my doctor twice this week, got two nebulizer treatments, 4 medications - two of which are inhalers (and a use your rescue inhaler if you still need to) and a diagnosis of "mild persistent asthmatic bronchitis."  I hope I am on the mend from this because this is going to be a busy week and we are leaving town on Friday.  Annndd as I write this, Shawn has been in bed since about 6 (and on the couch for the rest of the day) from some sort of stomach bug.  He said it might be because he at like 6 pieces of pizza last night. 

We are praying this ALL goes away soon!!

Despite my sickness, we went ahead with Caleb and Amelia's Roller Skating birthday party last night.

They both wanted to wear white so when they shut the lights out and turned the black light on, they would glow.

 Some of our friends from down the street - Kyle, Carter and Ryan.

 Some of Amelia's friends from her class - Antino, Hunter and A.J.

 We had the entire place to ourselves, which was really nice.  

 I think all of the kids, and most of the parents, had a great time!

 They even got in a little Limbo.

 Getting even lower.

 For some reason I love this picture, because I'm pretty sure it depicts her personality to a T.  Her teacher told Shawn the other day that Amelia was going to be a teacher when she grows up….probably because she's pretty bossy:o).

 Caleb's friend, Ollie, from his class.

 He's thinking hard about blowing that candle out.

My totally easy gift bag idea….from Pinterest of course.

Instead of gifts for the kids, we asked that everyone bring a new, unwrapped toy to donate to Toys for Tots.  We have a great stack of toys to donate….and some of their friends still brought presents for them, too. 

 I think you forget how fun roller skating can be once you get older.  The kids had a blast, even though they were laying on the ground more than standing up.  They both said, this was the best birthday ever!

Christmas Fun

We've been up to our normal holiday festivities.  Kidd does something fun each night and the kids love seeing what they'll find.  

 We made a gingerbread house.  The last few years I've bought the pre made houses, but this year I got the one we had to build.  Not as good, but the kids still had fun.

 Every night we've been reading our Bible verses and putting up the ornaments that go along with it on our Jesse Tree. 

(You can see it in the back).

 Sunday was the Trent Woods Christmas Parade.  Caleb rode on the school bus again and Amelia got all off the candy that was thrown.

 Caleb's school.  He said he saw us, but we never saw him.

 When we got home, I was able to get Shawn to help the kids make some cookies, that Kidd brought us, while I was making dinner.

Caleb and Amelia have their birthday parties at the skating rink this weekend.  I'm sure it'll be a great time!

Dear Santa...

Caleb kept coming into the kitchen asking me how to spell things. I finally realized what he was up to...

Thanksgiving Weekend

We spent our Thanksgiving with the same friends we've seen or spent Thanksgiving with for the last 7, 8, 9, 10 years (we've lost count).  Whether we've played football with them, had a full Thanksgiving meal or just done dessert, we have been with them in some way.  We would consider,  The Kempf's and The Plot's, our family!  Our kids play together well (most of the time) and will sometimes fight like cousins.  Next year will be the first time we will not see them for Thanksgiving and this could very well be our last year ever to spend it with them (unless we all go out of our way and meet in the middle somewhere).  We were very thankful to have gotten to spend it with them and are so thankful God put them in our lives for all these years.

The day after Thanksgiving, we put up our Christmas tree and all the decorations.  I didn't even take any pictures while we were doing it, but I managed to grab one later in the afternoon.  As you can see, they are wearing shorts and t-shirts.  It was in the mid 70's all weekend long…which might seem awesome for those of you who are cold, BUT, for those of us who would like to be a little cold, putting up Christmas decorations in shorts is something I will never get used to!

On Saturday, we braved the crowds and drove to the outlet mall about 1.5 hours away.  And we got to eat at Cracker Barrel, so that was a plus!  

We have lots planned for the rest of the month.  Kidd, the elf, showed up this morning, so we have that to look forward to every day :o)  There are Christmas parties and plays and Life Group hayrides, hair appointments, oil changes, Christmas shopping which needs to get done……etc.  December stresses me out!   

We can't wait to get to IN and see all of our family there!