December Highlights (part 1)

Advent Brunch

My mom hosted a table at Salem's Advent brunch. She invited Chelsea, me, Amy, and Cindy (a lady from Amy's Bible study group) to join us at her beautifully-decorated table! We enjoyed admiring other pretty tables, eating yummy food, and having great conversation together. Then, we gathered in the sanctuary to hear Beth Moore (a popular Christian author and motivational speaker). I had never heard Beth speak before. She was funny, interesting, and inspirational -- reminding us again of the TRUE focus of Christmas: our Savior, Jesus!

Christmas Programs

Ryan's class sang "Hark, The Herald Angels Sing" as part of Trinity's Early Childhood Christmas Program the first weekend in December. Ryan and his classmates looked so cute dressed up in their angel costumes. We had heard Ryan practice the lyrics to the song for WEEKS prior to the program, so we knew he was ready. It was fun to see him, along with all of the other children, do the actions and share their joy for Jesus so boldly! Ryan (and Isaiah, whose Early Enrichment class sang first) had a whole cheering section of family (including some watching on live stream from hundreds of miles away)! We enjoyed having everyone over for hamburgers after the program.

Trinity's Christmas program for grades 1-8 was a few weeks later. Ian's class sang a song called "Promises Fulfilled." We didn't hear Ian practice as much at home :), but he certainly knew all of the words and participated nicely with his class. They all looked so handsome and beautiful dressed up in their Christmas best! Once again, Ian had a whole row of family members supporting him! After the program, we went to McDonald's for shakes to celebrate!

Christmas Parties

I love any chance I can get to visit my boys' classrooms! When I attended Ian's class Christmas party, it was fun to finally put faces to the names of some of the boys he's enjoyed playing with all year (and to meet their moms, too!)! The kids enjoyed playing Bingo and eating a yummy lunch. The activity they enjoyed most, though, was having a race to decorate each other like snowmen. Since there wasn't an even number of boys, Ryan was thrilled to be able to partner with Ian's best buddy, Caleb.

Ian and Paul kept giggling like crazy as Ian wrapped Paul in toilet paper

Ryan's party started with the class singing some Christmas songs for all of the parents that attended. That was my favorite part ... and one of the only things I got a picture of! :) They also made ornament crafts, had a book gift exchange, ate lunch, and had some extra playground time.

Journey to Bethlehem

A local church hosted a "Journey Through Bethlehem" experience. They handed each child a "passport" upon arrival, inviting participants to get a stamp when completing various activities. The activities included fun, kid-friendly things like weaving a rug, sewing a pouch, making pottery, playing instruments, playing games, hearing the Christmas story, seeing the manger, sampling food, meeting King Herod, etc.

Ryan helping to weave a rug.

The boys stitched pouches and received some fake coins to place inside them!

Nathan's favorite station was pounding in the pegs over and over and over.

Ian stayed at this games station (playing a game like jacks) for a LONG time. He was determined to pick up the small bones AND catch the ball at the same time!

The lentil soup WAS yummy. Nathan agreed!

Random Events

Grammy and Papa babysat our boys so Matt and I could attend a Christmas party for the Elders at Trinity. Ryan and Nathan giggled and giggled as Grammy gave them horsey rides, and Ian loved playing a few chess games with Papa.

Poor Nathan had a bad fall against the side of the stairs. Thankfully, we were able to use a butterfly bandage to patch things up instead of having to get stitches.

One day, while Ian was in school, Nathan and Ryan made "forts" to live in. Ryan mainly filled his fort with his favorite toys while Nathan raided the pantry and included bags of brown sugar and boxes of cake mix in his.

The boys always love dressing up!

I had to sneak in one night to get a pictures of Nathan fast asleep!

Ryan loves building with MagnaTiles!

One day after Ryan's rest time, I noticed the Nativity scene in the boys' room looking like this. When I asked Ryan about it, he said he wanted to give his money to Jesus. :)

At the Concordia gala this fall, Matt and I ended up winning a certificate for a weekend in a Tomball hotel. The boys were THRILLED to have extra time at a hotel! We jumped on beds, had pillow fights, explored the fitness center, enjoyed yummy breakfasts, and watched TV stations like Disney and Nick that we don't get at home. It felt funny to drive just 10 minutes back home!

Some dear friends invited us over for a birthday dinner for me. After dinner, Ian enjoyed playing chess with Mr. Eric, while Ryan and Nathan enjoyed Sequence with Melissa and Ms. Carrie.

Children's Museum

Amy planned a fun trip to the Children's Museum while Grandpa & Grandma Schleicher were staying with them. She had heard about a neat gingerbread-house-making activity that the children's museum was hosting that day. "Mrs. Claus" was even walking around, talking to each of the children. It was a little tricky to help get the graham cracker houses to stand up even with lots of frosting, but it was a blessing to have extra help from Grandma, Grandpa, and some willing high school volunteer "elves". Of course, the kids' favorite part was decorating the houses with candy, cereal, and sprinkles. They were all extremely proud of their finished products (and enjoyed eating them when we got home!)

Before and after the graham cracker house decorating, the boys enjoyed all of their regular favorites at the children's museum -- including the water table, fire truck, grocery store, rubber mulch pit, and Duplo table. Ian also enjoyed playing checkers with Grandpa. We ended our fun morning together with a picnic lunch outside.

Happy Birthday, Momma!

My husband and sons did a wonderful job of spoiling me on my birthday! After letting me sleep in for a while, they started me on a scavenger hunt they had set up around the house. I had to follow a map to find coupons, cards, candy, and pictures they had hidden. I loved their sweet words and look forward to cashing in the coupons for extra hugs, a car wash, dinner out, and more!

Ryan gave me a special decoration to wear on my back for the morning!

Then, our family enjoyed going to Boomers' family fun center. Ian was thrilled that he JUST barely made the 54" cut-off to drive his own go kart. Ryan got to ride as a passenger, and Nathan had to watch from the outside with whichever parent was not driving. We also played a round of mini-golf and a few games in their arcade before heading to one of my favorite restaurants, Sweet Tomatoes, for lunch.

Amy and Jason hosted our extended family for a fun birthday evening. Amy made a yummy meal and dessert. Then, the kids played some clever games Amy and Jason had planned, including decorating me with bows, having a bow "war," acting out some charades, and moving cotton ball "sheep" into their pens. Once the kids were asleep, we adults played some games, including a special affirming birthday edition of "The Game of Things" and one of my favorites, Guesstures. I couldn't have asked for a better birthday!