Christmas is in the Air

Here comes Christmas, and here comes our Christmas best!  Here we are in front of the Christmas tree after church on Sunday!  Monica even let me wear my corduroy suit to church.  Also, both of the girls dresses were corduroy and so were Grayson's pants, so it was a theme this year!

Here's little reindeer Grayson getting ready for school.  He's also got on his super cool socks that Joy gave him!  If I remember correctly they've got reindeer on the back and are Christmasy, and then have big apples on the front, so the perfect blend of Christmas and school.

Our Santa hats came out.  They were probably out for a dress up day at school or something, but they just got worn off and on for the rest of the time.  I really like when Grayson put it on.  It was maybe a little too big for him, but he was loving it and looked so cute!

On Wednesday, Grayson had a performance at school.  Monica even took the girls out of school so they could come too.  Grayson looked a little nervous when he was walking to the front, but go so excited when he saw us there to watch.  His class sang two songs, and then at the end all of the kids sang Feliz Navidad together.

We have several friends who also have kids at the preschool, and Joy is one of them!  Joy is in the class older than Grayson, and her class was dressed up for a Nativity while they sang.  Joy got to be a donkey.  After the performance Grayson and Joy got a picture together under the star up front.

Brooke had a performance for tumble pom.

And Winry did as well.

On Friday both girls had their class parties at school.  Monica volunteers in Winry's class so she went early and set up food, etc. and helped run everything.

Grayson and I came and went to Brooke's class.  We did jump up to Winry's as well to say hi, but mostly were down in Brooke's class.  Monica came down to say hi to Brooke as well.  We stayed for a little, but after Grayson got his donut he wasn't as interested in being there and we headed back  home.  Monica helped clean up after Winry's party was over, and I think she went down to say bye to Brooke and helped clean up down there as well.  The girls wanted to stay for the rest of the school day, so instead of coming home at 9-ish they stayed until 11:45-ish.

Oh my this little cat has been such a beggar lately.  She had her tooth issues and had to eat wet food for a while, and since it dries out we'd only give her a little bit at a time and feed her a couple times a day.  Well, wet food is a treat to her, and ever since she's been meowing at us a ton every morning.  It's usually not before 5 am, but as soon as she hears any sign of us stirring she comes into our room and meows for food.  If that happens to be a response to my alarm then no big deal, but when you apparently made too much noise rolling over and she comes a meowing, well, that's a little too much.  I've been fighting back the last few days by closing her out of our room so we can keep sleeping (unless she starts meowing loudly, but she usually doesn't).  Anyway, she's slowly eating more of her normal food, and so we've been giving her less and less wet food, and now we're working towards just once at night so she'll stop meowing in the morning!  She'll also come running from anywhere in the house when she hears the fridge water dispensing to see if it's me and will give her treats!  This cat is so beggary lately!

On Saturday we drove down to Bee Cave to go to the giving machines.  There was a big Christmas tree that we stopped to see.

We ended up finding them real quick, which is good.  We let everyone pick something, and then got a couple more things as well.  We're all holding up our pick.

We'd never been to this mall before so we walked around a little and saw this inviting reindeer!  They actually had this exact same guy in the Denver airport before and I've taken a picture with one.

There was also this giant ornament.  Grayson really wanted to jump up and grab the ring, but he's still just a little too small.

When we were heading back to the car we saw a line to see Santa!  And it was free.  We hopped in the line, and there was an elf named Jingles helping out and keeping everyone's spirits bright.  She was awesome, she came and talked to the kids for a little and they really loved it.  She also got the whole line to sing a song together.

And then we got to go see Santa.  He had a fine southern accent that I really appreciated, and the kids all got to tell him what they wanted.  Grayson was our only kid who's been sure and consistent with his Christmas wish.  He wants "one of those fogs that jumps when you push the tab on it."

For Church on Sunday Brooke wanted some fancy Christmas hair, and that meant wreath hair!  Super awesome!

The kids all sang a Christmas song during Sacrament Meeting.  They sang Star Bright, which I think is a newer hymn and will be in the new hymn book.  I really liked it.

When we got home from church, Jelly really looked like she was wishing she'd been born a kangaroo.  I was there to help fulfill all her dreams.  Just look how relaxed and happy she looks....

Well excuse me Jelly!  Sorry I like holding you.  Anyway, that's a wrap on this week, and speaking of, hopefully everything is wrapped and ready!  We're getting more and more excited for Christmas.  The kids are out of school, I'm going to pick up Gram and Pop from the airport tonight, and... other exciting stuff!  Have a merry week ahead, and Merry Christmas!
 

Christmas Is Coming!

As I look over the pictures from this week, I'd say my takeaway is that Christmas is definitely here!  It's all kicking off with Grayson at preschool.  They made these elf crafts!  The great news is that he did get to bring it home after they decorated the classroom door for a time.  Also, he gives the best smiles for his school pictures.  In fact, when we try to get family pictures, Monica asks him to "smile like you do for Ms. Megan, and it works!

Oof!  Texas is a rough place for a snowman, and this guy seems like he's having an especially tough day!  It has cooled off here, but that's lows around 40, so it's never been that bad.

When I got to the train to head into work I actually found myself on the Hogwarts Express!  It's fun to find the trains decorated for Christmas, though I'll also say that I think they only do this with one of them, so you've gotta get lucky to get the Christmas car.

Monica had her Christmas choir concert on Wednesday.  We dropped Grayson off with the Ellers and I took the girls to go watch.  It was really good, and everyone had a great time.

We were able to meet up with Monica after the show and congratulate her.  On the way home we got routed away from traffic and took some random country road home.  That would have been pretty fun in the day, but it was dark, hilly and windy.  Fortunately it wasn't too much for Brooke, but it wasn't her favorite car ride either.  When we got to the Ellers, Grayson was having a great time and they showed us the fun hot wheels they were playing with.  It took quite a bit of time to get Grayson to put his shoes on and get out the door, but fortunately everyone had a great night.

Winry did a Christmas dance performance.  She nailed it.

On Friday, Monica picked up pizza and a babysitter, we filled some plates, and took off!  We went to a Harry Potter Forbidden Forest event.  Here we are enjoying some dinner along the way.  I had the idea to listen to the various forbidden forest scenes from the various books and jumped around through the books while we were driving there.  It ended up being a great idea, because we saw so many things while walking around that we had just heard about!

And here we are inside!  Oh, while we were driving they had signs out to help guide traffic once you got close.  There was a sign that said "Harry Potter, turn here."  Inside the entrance there were food stalls with English themed food items, and of course, the entrance to the forbidden forest.

There were a lot of set piece items from the books.  Statues of things like Grawp and Hagrid, or this terrace with mistletoe, which I can assure you, was most definitely full for nargles!

There were a bunch of interactive spots where you could try your hand at casting various spells, and it would cause lights to go off, etc. depending on the spell.

Half way through, there was a refreshment stall where we stopped for a butterbeer.  It was delicious!  It also had a light up flashing ice cube in it.  Oh, I forgot to mention the rain until now.  Well, up until this point, if it was raining, it was a very light mist and not a bother at all.  But once I had a drink to water down it was time for the rain to pour!  It didn't actually water our drink down, but it was quite a bit of rain for a little while.

I don't think the rain kept up the rest of our time walking through.  I think it was just for a few minutes.  We eventually came to a place where we could cast a patronus.  I got a phoenix, and Monica got something with 4 legs... I think it's a dog.  All in all it was a fun night, and I'm glad we went.  We talked about it on the way home, and our consensus was that we wouldn't go again unless it was cheaper in the future.  Oh! and on the way home we had to stop and get gas, and I ran into the McDonalds there and got fries, and they were great!  No regrets.  Someone had dropped a few on the ground when they got gas, and I saw them when I got out of the car and they looked too good to not get my own, and Monica encouraged me to go in because I really wanted them.

On Saturday, Monica went out with the kids to work on putting up some more Christmas decorations.  Brooke helped hang our big ornaments out in the tree and got to spend time on the ladder to do so.

On Saturday we had an Elders Quorum temple trip, and I headed down.  There was a nativity set up in front of the temple which was super fun to see!  It was great to go to the temple.

Grayson and Brooke both had talks in primary on Sunday.  I helped them write their talks in the morning, and sat in primary to help Grayson give his talk, and listen to Brooke give hers.  It was a lot of fun to be in primary again, and I definitely miss it.  Hopefully I'll get to be in there with the kids again soon.

Sunday night, there was a Christmas carol concert at the church.  Monica sang in it and we all went and enjoyed it.  Well, I tried.  I ended up in the hall chasing Grayson around and trying to keep him calmer and not too loud.  We had a bit of a rough night out there, and left as soon as it was over.  The girls had a good time with Monica. After, there were treats in the back and they hung out with the Ellers.

And that was our week.  A lot of Christmas, and a lot of choir too!  It's a good way to get everyone in the Christmas spirit, and now we're ready to party in the week ahead!

Dancing in the Rain!

Brooke had her first company dance performance this last Saturday!  It was a part of the Leander old town Christmas kick off leading up to the tree lighting in the evening.  It was supposed to be on a stage, however it was raining all day (in fact, it rained almost all week), so it got moved to the street!  It was a light rain, but it was pretty constant all day long, and the stage was just too flat and water was pooling up, so they were worried about the girls slipping.  Brooke did an amazing job, and it was a lot of fun to go watch her dance!  It was a pretty cold day, in the 40's all day, so the crowds were small, and everyone else that was supposed to perform on the stage backed out, but the true fans were there.  In fact, Vivian and her family and the Ellers even came to watch Brooke dance!

Alright, this just isn't fair.  Grayson will just stand there with a super cute smile so his teachers can get this amazing picture of him.  Do you think in a million years he'd do that for Monica or I?  Absolutely not!  Good thing we're sending him to preschool!

On Monday, we went and got our Christmas tree.  Just a quick hop over to HEB after work, and before you knew it, we got a fine pine tied to our car.  It's nice having a luggage rack on our car to tie the tree too, as opposed to our Corollas where I had to roll down the windows and tie the doors shut!  Everyone get in, I'm tying the tree now!

Everyone was very excited to decorate the tree, so we went straight to it.  Grayson received the honors of putting the star on the top of the tree.  What an honor.

One of Brooke's ears got infected where it was pierced.  It got really swollen, and we got medicine for it, and it started healing quickly.  However, when the swelling came down, the skin had come around the earring backing, and it was stuck.  We had to take Brooke to the doctor, and they used some numbing cream and were able to get it off with little fuss.  They told Brooke she probably shouldn't put in an earring for a while because the whole in the back was so large, but she decided she would rather risk in than let the hole close. Good news, it turned out fine!  Our takeaway from this is that Brooke needs to wear sterling silver or gold earrings, and can switch in hypoallergenic ones for a day if she wants, but needs to switch back to something "safer" at night.

While I was at work this week, the fire alarm went off.  We all had to evacuate and walk around the block to our meeting point.  After sitting out there for about a half hour, we were allowed back into the building where there were cupcakes and cookies waiting for us.  Turns out it was all a drill, and cookies were there to smooth that over after interrupting everyone's work for an hour.

I've been having good fun reading Grayson stories at night lately, and Winry comes and joins us sometimes as well.  After a particularly good round of "Green eggs and ham" where I switched things up and said "green eggs and plate" and everyone laughed super hard, I decided to commemorate with a picture.

Grayson continues to love Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza, though when I found him and Monica playing it, I discovered it had become a much more dangerous game, as Grayson was equipped with a hammer from "Don't Break the Ice."

With the Ellers moving soon, it makes any time we get together a photo worthy moment.  What was happening here?  Don't know.  I know Laura and Joy came over for a tea party, so picture time!

Here's Joy with Brooke.  This was the day she was taken out of school to go to the doctor for her ear, and she just stayed home the rest of the day after.

On Friday night, we went to a walk-through Nativity that Monica was singing at.  It was fun, and the kids enjoyed watching all the different scenes from Christ's life play out.

After walking through the nativity, we went into the church were the choir was singing!  Good job Monica!  We didn't get to stay for very long because Grayson just couldn't sit still.  There's something about sitting in a church that makes him NEED to kick the seat in front of him... sigh.

Saturday morning, Brooke and I went to HEB to pick up a grocery order, and stopped at McDonalds on the way.  Yum McGriddles!

I went over to a help with some clean up service for a widow in our ward.  Her husband had collected a fair bit of stuff in and out of the house, and after his recent passing, there's been a big need to clean things up.  I was amazed how much had already been done in the backyard, and I was able to get all this hauled around front in my time there.  They're between dumpsters right now, so my time was limited by available garbage can space.

We got a package of meat on Saturday, and it came with dry ice.  I asked Brooke to go get a penny and showed her how to make it wiggle!  We also left it in for a while to get it super cold, and then would blow on the penny and watch it frost over.  Fun stuff.

In the early afternoon, we headed over for the dance performance.  We have just enough umbrellas for everyone to have one, and I was lucky enough to get the smallest one.

Brooke had to be there about 45 minutes early, so we had some time to hang out while we waited.  You may notice that there was quite a bit of musical umbrella, and I often was holding 3 at a time.  There was a Santa sleigh on the stage, and Grayson climbed in for a picture.

Grayson and Winry rode the light up train.  Toot toot!

And we found this little gingerbread play house which the kids had a great time playing in.  This was good, because again, it was pretty cold, and we were out there for quite a while, so eventually Winry and Grayson needed something to do.

After the dance, Grayson needed to head straight for the car while everyone else watched the remaining dances.  There were puddles all along the side of the road, and Grayson was in his rain boots.  He almost stepped into a deep spot that went above the top of his boots, and when running kicked water inside them, so he had pretty cold feet when we made it back to the car.

After everyone danced, all the groups got a picture together in front of the giant Christmas tree.

That night was the ward Christmas party and we had chicken and waffles.  Grayson was really enjoying the waffles, like REALLY enjoying them.  Other then dinner we just sorta hung out and chatted with friends, but had an absolute stellar time!

And that puts the wrap on our week!  We're already getting deep into Christmas cheer, except we haven't had ANY eggnog yet!  We've gotta fix that soon!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!  We made a thankful turkey again this year, and, unfortunately, we weren't as active in making feathers as last year.  However, we also didn't have 20 people in our house this year, so that might have affected things.  Anyway, there's a shocking lack of things like antibiotics on there this year, and I'm thankful for that change of pace!!

Here's a snap from Grayson at preschool.  This project actually reminds me of one I did when I was a kid.  If I'm seeing this right, it looks like some golf tees in play doh, and he's sticking fuzzy balls on top.  I remember when I was a kid, I did a summer golf camp, and I won a putting contest.  As a reward, I got to pick out a golf ball to keep from the used ball bin in the club house, and decided I wanted to turn it into a trophy.  I stuck a tee into some play doh and waited for it to dry to hold my prize winning putting skills.  I don't think I got the tee in straight, because I always had a hard time getting the golf ball to stay on top.  Looks like Grayson is having a lot better success with these fuzzy balls.

On Monday, we had a friends over day!  Oh, there was no school this week.  I spaced that with Grayson's picture above, but that must have been from the week before.  I just download them as they're available...  Anyway, the girls both had a friend over on Monday and had a lot of fun.  Everyone made a turkey cookie, as well as playing all sorts of games throughout the day.  Brooke and Robin made a pretty slick domino track too.

This next picture will probably prevent publishing this post until after Christmas, but Monica took the kids to make a vase for Gram for Christmas.  They all painted part of it, and in review it sounded like it was really hard, and no one had much focus once their part was done... so you'll understand why we were so excited when Monica got a call telling her that when they went to bake it in the kiln, it was set... 1000 degrees too hot!  And the vase melted into a puddle.  So now our 1 of 1 is none.  They gave us a gift card for double what we spent, which was really nice and is pretty awesome because the girls had a great time, however, Monica had a pretty rough time keeping the kids wrangled, and it's unlikely this effort will be duplicated.  The worst part?  They didn't even give us the puddle so we could wrap it.

I don't remember who, but someone was talking to Monica about the other Winry at school, and check it out!  This is last year's yearbook, but there's a girl in the grade ahead of Winry who is also named Winry!  The end of that sentence seemed a bit obvious as I was typing it, else why would I even mention it.  Nonetheless, hello other Winry!  Such a common name here in Texas.

I realized that the kids and I made the woeful oversight of not playing Mario Wonder that the family got for Christmas last year, so we played it some this past week.  It helped that there was no school, so it was okay if we ended up staying up a little later than usual.  Also, there is a level with "Hoppos" which are big hippos that roll around when bumped.  Anyway, they were a huge hit, everyone was laughing through the level, and Grayson wanted to go back to the level again and again.  They even made the thankful turkey if you go look.

Oriah and family came down for Thanksgiving on Wednesday.  Sadly, as is becoming more common, we took no picture of everyone together... :(  I liked this picture of a loaded plate more than everything out on the counter.  Monica wow'd us all again!  Shortly after linner the Albrights had to head back home as Michael had work at 1:30 in the morning, so it was a short visit, but we had fun together and it's always great to spend time with family.

On Friday we went to the park to burn off energy, and the Christmas lights were up!  The kids had fun running circles inside it, and I joined them for a bit as well.  We played until it was dark so that we could really appreciate the lights, and then headed home.

And finally, on Sunday, Jelly got reeeeeeallly relaxed, and stretched out really looooooong.  What a silly!

It was a fabulous Thanksgiving, and I'm grateful for more things than I could ever write here.  I have a wonderful family, home and career, and Texas is survivable.  I hope everyone had a fine week, and had time to reflect on the blessings in their life.  We're now looking onward toward Christmas!