Christmas

In the interest of trying to finish out the year of blogging, I'm wrapping it up with some pre- and post-Christmas photos.  The children enjoyed a day of crafting prior to Christmas.  I hardly ever get arts and crafts worked into our homeschool schedule, so sometimes its fun to just take some time to do nothing but crafts.  They had gathered pine cones from a park on the Marine Base last week and turned them into Christmas trees.  Jacob was allowed to use the hot glue gun for the first time, and he did pretty well with it.  But after getting hot glue on his fingers about ten times, he decided the excitement had worn off and he wanted me to finish gluing his "ornaments" on his tree.

They also beaded pipe cleaners to make ornaments for our tree, and Katie Mei put together a foam Nativity scene.  She does quite well with craft projects on her own, so I let her have more leeway than I ever could the other two at the age of three.  She often asks me if she can use glue and scissors and I can tell her "yes" without having to provide too much supervision.  However, I did notice today when I was upstairs in our classroom that all four glue sticks were empty and had been put back in their proper place instead of in the trash can.  Wonder when she used all that glue?  Hmmmm.

On Christmas Eve the children watched the Muppets version of A Christmas Carol.  Merrilee remembered the story from seeing another version of it last year.  But Jacob and Katie Mei hadn't seen it before, so they were a little more tense in some of the "ghost" scenes, even if it was done with puppets.

Christmas morning brought its usual fun and excitement, and Jacob was the first one up this year.  He's usually our sleepy head, but not on Christmas morning!

The kids got their annual nutcrackers.  I was so happy to have found some less common ones this year.  Two were snowmen, and for Merrilee I found a baker.  I hope the kids love their nutcracker collections when they're grown ups.

The top item on Katie Mei's Christmas list was a suitcase.  I ordered a fun purple "Trunki" case for her, which is actually made to be ridden like a pull toy, for ease in getting through an airport.  I don't know if we'll ever get that far with it, but she seemed to like it.  The day after Christmas she innocently informed me that she had seen the "purple suitcase" in my closet a long time ago.  So much for my private hiding place for gifts!

Jacob didn't ask for a guitar, but he was very excited to get one. He has been longing for one since Merrilee got one almost three years ago, but he's not very good with his toys (or other people's, for that matter) so we were unwilling to buy him a guitar in the past.  This year I decided he might be okay with one. 

Well, within 40 minutes he broke one string and removed a second.  The day after Christmas he filled his guitar with bathwater; I tried to stay calm and meticulously dried it out, reminding him of what a nice guitar it was and how he'd have to treat it well.  And yesterday I found it in his closet stuffed full of wet Sunday school papers and loose silica gel beads that he apparently found in the guitar box and dumped in there.  Needless to say, his guitar ownership has been postponed.  Maybe he can have it again when he's 37.

He also got a fun Spiderman watch.  He was quite excited about the watch, and so far it's still intact!

Merrilee had been wanting some kind of a crystal kit for almost a year, so I found one that lets her "mine" crystals from a block of plaster.  She was head-over-heels excited about her gift!  The day after Christmas she sat down and did some mining and actually got her first amethyst from the block.

I didn't want Katie Mei to be the only one without a guitar, since she's our real musical child (believe it or not, this quiet one really does spend a lot of time singing despite her lack of stage presence at church musicals!).  She was happy to get her guitar, too, and so far hasn't abused it.  Although she did leave it on the steps once and had it taken away temporarily.  We had no idea guitars were such high-maintenance gifts!

Merrilee had also asked for a pogo stick; she said she just wanted to try it. I warned her it was pretty hard (Lord knows I couldn't manage to stay on one when I was her age!).  Well, she proved me wrong as usual.  That child is just built for athleticism!

The cats mildly enjoyed the morning.  Cinders found the Shiatsu foot massager more than thrilling, and we couldn't turn it on without her getting in on the action!

Dusty was nowhere to be found, and Linus made his point clear that Christmas is way overrated.  It's either that, or he just can't hold his catnip very well.

The older children helped with Christmas dinner, preparing the olive and cream cheese-celery stick tray.  The day after Christmas, Katie Mei and Merrilee made pizzas.  Love having them old enough to help in the kitchen now and again!

Our family hopes you had a lovely Christmas and wishes you a blessed New Year.

Yet Another Gingerbread House

I missed having Grandma do the house with the kids this year (sure is easier having someone else monitor spillage and icing goopification!), but we made it through fairly unscathed.  Katie Mei really enjoyed it and was quite the little decorator.  Jacob and Merrilee were very creative in their little doorways and "lawns" with gates.  I just contributed the Tootsie Roll firewood pile.  Saw that on a friend's blog and thought it was cute.

Singing Their Hearts Out

Last weekend the kids were in the Christmas Cantata at church.  They've been working on this music for a few months and I was really pleased that they enjoyed being in the children's choir.  Jacob loves to sing, and Merrilee does too, but she's a much better reader, so their teacher Ms. Andrea gave them appropriate assignments.  Jacob had a solo in The Friendly Beasts... "I, said the donkey, shaggy and brown".  Merrilee was a narrator for the cantata and did a beautiful job, reading with enthusiasm and expression.  Katie Mei hadn't been going to practices on Sunday nights, but had learned some of the songs in her Pioneer Clubs class.  She's really not much of a group performer, and would probably have preferred to just lay low and stay in the pews with us.  But we made her get up there and at least stay with her group.  She did pretty well.  She didn't fall over the communion rail and bust her head like I expected her to (although one of our little friends did~glad he was okay, Mindy!).

Enjoy the photos and videos of our Christmas Kids!

 

Scenes From a Parade

We once again attended our little Christmas Parade and enjoyed some sunny weather this year.  Last year Jay was out of town and we woke up to a cold drizzly day.  But this year we had the best of everything!  Jay was home and joined us, and the day was clear and sunny, and even got warm enough to remove our coats after awhile.  Of course this meant the crowd was larger than last year, but in our small town it really didn't make too much of a difference.

Here are a handful of photos of our day. 

 Hot cocoa, courtesy of our own Leesburg UMC.

 Happy girl waiting for the fun to begin.

 Jay told me to let him know if he got a sucker stuck in his hair.

 Peanut Christmas tree~yes, those are peanut plants.  Farmers dig up the peanuts and leave piles of the plants to dry in their fields.  We still haven't figured exactly what they do with the upper part of the plants after they're dry, but we have seen some farmers roll them into bales like hay.  I'll have to research that; I assume it's for animal feed.  In any case, the Christmas tree plant pile was novel!

 Happy girl with her candy.  I thought ahead and brought bags for the goodies this year. Smart Momma.  Aunt Katie, we've gotten plenty of use out of this darling sweater!  Thank you so much!

Grand Finale...here comes the Big Elf!

Happy 7th Birthday, Jacob

Jacob turned 7 last Wednesday.  We did not have the traditional family party for him because Wednesdays are pretty busy around here, but I made cupcakes and let him take them to his Pioneer Club class at church.  After we got home he opened his gifts.

  Jay bought Jacob a new bike.

Grandma and Grandpa got him an exciting explorer set, complete with safari vest, water bottle, bug collecting kit, and binoculars!

Aunt Paige got him a slingshot (with my permission) but Katie Mei took a liking to it rather quickly!  Isn't that the most awesome longhorn?  I love this thing!

We're not so sure Jacob is ready for such high-tech weaponry, though....

There were also some gifts sent along for the girls...Katie Mei loved her T-shirt from the Murphy Street Raspa Co.  from Aunt Paige.  She calls it her "Ice Cream Shirt".

 Merrilee got a beautiful little treasure box from Aunt Paige...she loves those.

 And all three kids received sweet little Christmas ornaments from Grandma and Grandpa.  This photo of Katie Mei turned out just adorable!

Tea, Anyone?

It's been weeks, but I haven't been able to get all my thoughts posted.  November turned out to be a busier month than I imagined!  But this one I wanted to share.  Merrilee worked so hard on it and it really was delightful to be the object of her gift of hospitality.

As you can see, I was invited to dine at the Sweet Pea Tealand International Tea House.  (Sweet Pea is one of of my nicknames for her.)

This darling little tea house is run by a charming young lady who is both waitress and cook.  Apparently it's a popular place.  I had to share my dining room with other patrons who had arrived before I did.

After ordering my meal (It's more than just a tea room!  The menu offers various beverages, entrees, salads, and desserts!), I was treated to sumptuous food in generous portions.

Service was excellent, and my waitress was attentive and prompt in responding to all my requests!  You just can't beat "service with a smile"!

As the sole critic of this fine establishment, I feel obliged to give it five stars and a very high recommendation!  Reservations are suggested, as seating is limited.

Few More Photos From My Trip

Here are a few more pics to enjoy.  It was a great trip and I already miss the relaxing atmosphere and the daily beauty of the scenery.  I can't wait to go back again!

 Looking back on the trail we hiked in The Big Bend National Park

Paige has chickens and they lay about one egg a day.  She probably had close to 40 eggs in the fridge by the time I left.  The rooster made sure we woke up on time every morning (and then some...).

 Cactus in Paige's back yard

 Sunset in Paige's back yard

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner of lamb shanks, potatoes, broccoli, and wine.  Lovely!

The last day I was there we went to The McDonald observatory.  We took a tour of the facility and went inside two of the domes.  It was very interesting and quite a pleasure for this astronomy hobbiest!

Like any vacation, it's always nice to come home to the ones you left behind.

But I'm still looking forward to going back again.  Maybe I'll need another break this spring.  Thanks for the great time, Paige!  Love you!