Northpark

I've always wanted to go see The Trains at Northpark. Friday, Brian took off work a little bit early and we headed over in some serious traffic. It was all worth it though. We saw the trains, Scrooge, and a Santa Toy Shop Puppet theater. It is a great place to go at Christmas!

Below are pictures taken by Abigail of the various displays at the trains exhibit.

Holiday Happenings

At our school, all the room moms from all of the classes in every grade level put on one big party in the gym for the entire school. This isn't quite as personal and intimate as a Christmas party in the classroom, but the kids love it. The entire grade level comes to the gym for about an hour and plays games. I was up there every day this week helping to prepare for this. I had no idea how much work went into this. I will admit that I had a big headache when I got home after working about 2 and a half hours in the gym. As a former teacher, I had forgotten how loud 140 kids could be. I feel so incredibly blessed to be able to be a part of it all and so thankful to be at a school where there are so many volunteers.

Bob, The Shelf Elf

"Bob" is the miniature visitor in our house. Emma wanted to name him, "Bob" and Abby was in agreement. Apparently, he will stay at our house until Christmas Eve. Each night while we are sleeping, he goes back to the North Pole to report on how we are behaving. Then, when we wake up the next morning, he is in a new spot.

The only rule for our elf on the shelf is that you aren't allowed to touch him. You can talk to him, but he can't talk back. He sometimes gets into some trouble though and can be a bit mischievous. We are having lots of fun with our shelf elf; he keeps us on our toes!

Small Group Christmas Party

Our small group had our annual Christmas party at our house this year. It actually worked out great for us as our kids stayed up in the gameroom with a movie and stayed very quiet. We bribed them with IHOP, so we took them there on Sunday as their reward.

We had a fun time with our great group of friends, and the white elephant gift exchange was a great laugh. Of course, it is also very exciting when your children find some of these white elephant gifts around your house the next day....gee, thanks!

Parade

Our town puts on an annual Christmas parade. We typically attend every year, and each year, I'm pretty impressed with it. There is always lots of candy passed out, which is a favorite with my kids. This year, Abby got to ride in the back of a pick-up truck (which represented Santa's sleigh) with her dance studio. Some of the other girls rode in golf carts - there was one for each reindeer. She had tons of fun. It was a very cold and damp parade though, so the turnout didn't seem as large as it normally is.

Polar Express

After lots of drama regarding the Kindergarten field trip, I was very, very happy that I was one of two names "drawn" to chaperon our outing to The Polar Express at the Imax.

Originally, we were supposed to go to the zoo, but there were 7 moms' names "drawn" to go from each class. Since there were more than 7 moms in most classes wanting to attend the field trip, this was upsetting for some. In the past, if your name wasn't chosen, you could still drive your own car to the field trip, walk with your child, but would not be allowed to "chaperon" any students. However, this year, those names not chosen were asked not to go to the zoo. There was a big uproar concerning students' safety, apparently, so the field trip venue changed.

I was so happy I got to attend and had so much fun with the Kindergartners! (really, I did)! Emma was just beaming the whole time I was with her. What a great memory!

Jingle Bell Jog

I had a great time participating in two very cold Jingle Bell jogs at the girls' school this year. Brrrrr!!! I was so concerned with wearing the 4 layers of clothes I felt would be necessary that I forgot to bring my camera for Abby's "jog." I ended up taking a picture of her with my cell phone. She was less than thrilled with me taking her picture and promptly said, "Please don't put this picture on your Facebook, Mom." I didn't put it on there, so I will put it on the blog instead. :)

Dreaming of a White Christmas...

We can be fairly certain around here that we will never see a white Christmas, but it was a beautiful sight to see snow falling in early December. The girls got to try and catch a couple of snowflakes on their way to school.


And, even our little dog had some fun playing in the very short-lived snow. She must have been watching too many Christmas shows because she started leaping like a reindeer.

Up on the Housetop

Every year, Brian gets out the ladder and hangs the lights from our house, and every year, I cringe as he is up there. While growing up, his dad always had lights on the house, so he wants to continue that tradition for our girls. I always say a prayer though as he is dragging out that big ladder.

In the end, the house shines nice and bright to help celebrate the Christmas season.