Over the river and through the woods...

to Grandpa Rick & Grandma Leeanne's house we went for Christmas.

Here is Grandma Leeanne's new crocheted nativity set. You know how I LOVE nativities and this one was adorable! (hint hint ;)

The girls were excited about their real tree. They really picked up on the fact that some people have live trees unlike our artificial one.
Singing Happy Birthday to Jesus.
This is the second year Grandma has given the grandkids recordable books. Faith especially has LOVED the two we have. She will sit and "read" to herself during rest time for quite a long time.
This year we got Frosty the Snowman.
Grace and Faith's request for a castle was fulfilled with a neat block set that let you build your own castle.
Titus loved his truck and football.
This is a really cool nativity floor puzzle the kids got.

Love this one-not sure why she was pouting but its classic for sure.
Opening stockings.
Watching Polar Express in their new pjs. This was one of the first movies Titus showed interest in watching because he loved the train.
Jeremy got a backyard firepit as his gift. (guess I missed getting a picture) I am super excited to break it out this Spring. I am seeing lots more hot dogs and smores being consumed in our near future!!

Kindergarten Christmas Party

The day after all the gingerbread fun I headed back to school to enjoy Grace's Christmas party.

The kids enjoyed eating all kinds of treats and making "Reindeer" food.

They also did a book gift exchange. Each student brought a gift and then they got to open the book with the number they drew.
I was in charge of the game (not my strong suit). We divided the kids into two groups. It was a relay. Each member had to put on the antlers and nose (using vaseline to make the pom pom stick) and then make it to the "north pole" and back without dropping their nose.
The kids loved watching Mrs. Pritchett open her gifts.

Gingerbread Houses

Grace's class had lots of fun before Christmas break. This was their Polar Express day. They got to wear their pajamas to school. They watched the movie complete with hot chocolate & golden tickets.

Giving Mrs. Pritchett a Kindergarten sized hug.
Later that day I was able to come help with their Gingerbread House project. Each student got to make their own Gingerbread House out of a milk carton, icing, graham crackers, and LOTS of candy.

Grace's Table Nevaeh, Jorie, & Audrin
Their completed village.
Their creations stayed at school overnight to dry. By the time she brought it home it was nice and dried out (and didn't look that yummy to me), but that didn't stop our kids from attempting to eat it.
Loving all these new fun school memories we are making!

Kids Choir Christmas

This year was the first year for both Grace & Faith to be able to participate in our church's kids choir. They presented the Christmas story using dialogue (older kids) and music. They were very outreach focused and presented their show to two area nursing homes. I was SO proud of Grace. Several people talked about how she went right up to the older residents talking to them and giving out hugs. She really has a God given giftedness in this area. She just isn't afraid or hesitant like even adults sometimes are in this environment.

While the kids were performing several of the moms were setting up a 12 Days of Christmas themed Christmas party for them to enjoy when they finished performing. I didn't make it to the planning day but the ladies came up with some great ideas based around the song.

Decorating Dove Shaped Sugar Cookies (2 Turtle Doves)
A Ring Toss Game (5 Golden Rings)
A Telephone Game (4 Calling Birds)
Making drums (12 Drummers Drumming), A Musical parade with kazoos (11 Pipers Piping.)
They also did a relay with a ball between their knees (6 geese a laying), dance freeze game(10 lords a leaping/9 ladies dancing), and duck pond game (7 swans a swimming)

I was in charge of the snacks. We had pears (a partridge in a pear tree), chicken nuggets (3 french hens) and milk (8 maids a milking).

It was a lot of fun!

Fun with Friends

I'm so behind on my blog that I'm already ready for another visit to see our far away friends! Its getting harder to road trip with Grace being in school these days, but in December we were finally able to go meet up with Stephanie and her kiddos in Springfield, Illinois. We were surprised at the lack of kid friendly activities we were able to find, but in the end the completely deserted Chuck E. Cheese ended up working out great. It was so quiet they were actually opening up the machines and cleaning and testing them. So our kids got some free tickets. We were able to let the kids roam and play most of the time.

I'm so amazed at God's provision of friendship in Stephanie. Even though she lives hours away I feel like its just down the street. Our weekly chats as we clean, discipline, cook, and fold laundry is something I look forward to each week. I'm so glad we get to share this season of life together!
(and we totally missed the rest of "our girls" too!!!!)

Bethlehem Inn

This year our church did a Christmas dinner theater called, "Bethlehem Inn." It started in our fellowship hall. While you ate your food you got to watch the family who owned the Inn talk about the arrival of Joseph & Mary. It was very light hearted and funny.

Then at the end of the drama the cast led us to the stable, located in our Sanctuary, where our choir presented Jesus' birth through song. This year the kids choir Grace and Faith are in were a part of the music. They got to wear costumes, although Faith was very disappointed that she didn't get to be Mary.





A funny story about Grace and their Kids Choir music. We listened to their cd constantly in the car. One day Grace requested the "Crocodile Angels Sing." I was so confused. However, I figured out she was referring to "Hark the Herald Angels Sing." Her and Faith still refer to the crocodile angels.