angels we have heard at school...

sweetly singing christmas songs!
this year for the christmas program at o's school the four year old classes dress up a bit. girls were angles and the boys were shepherds. it was so cute!! sadly, i had to miss the performance because i was working, boo! :( but no worries, she still had a LARGE crowd of supporters in the audience.

this year gram lois AND gram millie were able to be there. o loved that!

and here is all of the ladies from her cheering section. the daddies (mark and christman) and the grandpas were there too!

daddy was there to capture the performance and gave me a full report. he said that it was many of the same songs as in years past, she just got to sing a more songs and be on the stage for longer.

i really do think that the sounds of angels singing praise to god might sound like children singing, it is the sweetest sound. :)

santa's village...

is a FREE event put on by our little city outside by the library. we drive by the village all the time and the kids have been begging to go and check it out. it is only open on weekend nights, so one friday night while mark was working late i decided it would be the perfect opportunity to take the kids. i had built up the evening by telling the kids all about how each of the little houses had fun things to do inside. they were so excited!! well, i would love to say that it was a blissful experience and totally got us in the "holiday spirit," but it was quite the opposite. :) there were TONS of people, no parking, long lines, and 2 little ones whining about all of the above. our trip to santa's village was about 30 minutes total. a few of those minutes were pleasant and i did manage to get a few pictures...

first we went to the "bank." the kids got an ATM card, put it in a machine, and a dollar bill came out. they then turned the dollar in for a treat.
they loved it!! we were off to a good start. :)

then it was off to the dr. suess house...
olivia was not too sure about the "thing one" and "thing two" but she decided the candy canes they were giving out was worth the picture and hello.

after that it was pretty much downhill. we walked around trying to find another house with a line shorter than 20 minutes. nothing. the line to meet santa- 2 hours!!! to see mrs. claus and get a cookie- 45 minutes!!! are you kidding me?!? i did get a one more picture before i carried jack out kicking and screaming and olivia in tears too!!

and so that was our santa's village experience. i think next year we will just go and walk around during the week and skip the people and lines, just go and snap a few pictures. maybe i could even think ahead and have the kids wear some festive clothes. :)

saying good-bye...

to my grandfather, my pup-pa. he was a devoted husband of 67 years. a loving father. an encouraging, generous, and compassionate grandfather. he was an adoring great- grandfather to olivia ("miss america") and jack ("happy-hooligan"). a brave canadian navy solider who survived being torpedoed during world war 2. the finest meat cutter you would ever meet. the most genuine friend. a servant. a man of faith. funny. a people person in every sense of the word. a great man.
for the last several days i have spent as much time as i possible could sitting by his side and just holding his hand knowing that soon i would have to say good-bye. i would not get to reminisce about the days we spent together (it's just what we always did). he favorite stories to talk about were how i used to spend hours playing baseball in his backyard as a child, or how i would spend summers with he and my grandma in michigan, or how i caught the biggest fish when we went fishing together, or about the roadtrip we all took to the baseball hall of fame, niagra falls, and up into the most beautiful parts of canada where we saw the northern lights, or all of the milestones of my life because he didn't miss one- my first words, holidays, choir concerts, graduation, my wedding, the birth of my babies. i never doubted that he loved me or was proud of my life because he took every opportunity he had to tell other people about me and all the things we did together. embarrassing at times, but he loved me well. he was a natural encourager and always made me smile when i was around him.

he lived a full and wonderful life and for that i am so thankful. only 5 days ago we were sitting around talking/reminiscing and now he is in heaven with jesus. our family is going to miss his presence, but he has left his legacy in each of us.

{click here} to see the obituary written about his incredible life. it tells a great story about a great man.

thanksgiving day...

we spent with the bowlin side of the family. that means that there was a whole big bunch of us all gathered together at marsha and danny's new house. their house was a perfect spot!! there were almost 30 of us, 3 generations, lots of family- and to me that is what thanksgiving is all about!

the day in a nutshell...

cousins playing together...

abby

eden

jack
kingsley
drew

some good ol' southern thanksgiving food!!

and the "kids table." every good thanksgiving celebration has one. :)

we have so much to be thankful for and i love that today i was surrounded by so many of the blessing in my life. happy thanksgiving!! count your many blessings.

thanksgiving @ ccdc...

was a BIG deal this year. now that olivia is in her last year of preschool, it seems that holiday celebrations are "stepped up a notch." each year her class has done the traditional feast, but this year there was a little role play before the feast began and the parents were invited. of course we didn't miss the opportunity to see olivia or the photo op.

it was very simple, yet adorable. her class was divided into two groups- the pilgrims and the indians. (i know that is not "PC" but that is what they learned.) they had hats to help them get into character. first olivia was a pilgrim...

i think there was one confused little indian. :)

they acted out getting on the boat so they could go to the new world so they could worship god they way they wanted. while on the boat they got sea-sick (so funny!!) and were very happy when they arrived in the new world. then they met the indians who taught them about the land and how to plant and hunt. and of course they became friends!!

to be fair, they acted it out a second time so that everyone had the opportunity to be both a pilgrim and an indian. it was very cute and i love that olivia actually knows the history of thanksgiving.

oh, and jack made a very darling little native american hat too!! he doesn't have a clue why or what thanksgiving is, but he got to pick his feathers out and was very excited that they were baylor colors. :)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!
GOBBLE! GOBBLE!

olivia takes the stage...

this time not as a darling ballerina, but in her first choir concert. olivia joined the 4 year old childern's choir this year and has been loving it. she has been going to rehearsals each sunday evening practicing songs and learning so much about music. she was just as excited as the rest of us to attend her first concert. our WHOLE family was there to support o-- nana, gramps, b, pop, rara, christman, abby, kk, and of course mommy and daddy. as mark says, "we leave a large footprint everywhere we go!" we might seem crazy to most people, but i love that we all support eachother in so many ways, plus it made olivia so proud!!!

olivia did a great job!! her choir (the 4 year olds) sang several songs. they sang all about the things that god has created and how we praise god with our voices.

the big boy bed...

is a HUGE hit with jack!!
thanks to my mom and some planning we were able to transition the long-time nursery (been the same room since o was born) into a big boy room in just two days!! with my mom all things are possible- at least that is how i feel with projects around my house. we painted, assembled furniture, moved out all the baby stuff, moved in all the big boy toys, and rearranged things. and here is how it turned out...

obviously the window treatments are missing, but other than that it is complete.

one of the most special pieces in his room- his shelf that uncle christman built for him for his first birthday. new paint on the shelves to match the the new color on the walls and some extra room on the shelves for the christmas toys that are just coming all too soon. :)

jack helped too! i wanted him to help with an art project to decorate his walls. he loved painting, but i didn't love the way it turned out so we didn't end up using the canvases. :( he did great, my idea didn't work out the way i envisioned.

well, now's the hard part... will he sleep tight and stay in the bed? we shall see!!
good news!! he is doing great and loves going to bed every night. he even does a great job staying in bed at nap time!! yay jack!!