Christmas in SC

We drove to SC to celebrate Christmas with Chris' family. His aunt and uncle drove down from Blacksburg.

Chris' brother, David, who lives in Texas and his family were there. Here is our oldest neice checking out the gift we gave her.

Look how excited Wesley and Lydia are over her new sweater from Grandma.

Chris gave both of his brothers and his dad the same thing for Christmas.

Wayne probably guessed what he was getting ready to open.

Wesley was thrilled with this pirate ship from Grandma.

We gave Dianna audio books and a gift card.

Chris with the little girls of the family. Lucy is about 2 1/2 months older than Lydia. There was a lot of "MINE!" while these two played together.

Here is Lydia saying "bye" to Mike and Ieda.

A couple of days later we exchanged gifts with Chris' oldest brother, Stephen, and his family. Tricia and I have similar taste and we gave each other purple sweaters that were similar but different.
Our nephews - Ryan, Daniel, and Jacob. I love their expressions.

Lydia loved playing with her cousins. She called all of them Jacob and seemed confused over the suggestions that they all had different names. She especialy enjoyed playing with Ryan.

Christmas Day

On Christmas Eve, the kids had a hard time going to sleep which surprised us. We had not told them that they were getting presents for Christmas. They went to see Santa Claus but they see him the same way they see Mickey Mouse - as a fun character. So when we put them to bed on Christmas Eve, we thought they would go to sleep quickly as usual.

For over an hour, they talked to each other. At one point Wesley was making animal sounds and asking Lydia to name the animal. Finally they went to sleep and slept well.

When they got up they were very happy to see presents under the tree. First we talked through the nativity story using our Little People Nativity Set. Then we opened gifts.
Below is a picture of Wesley playing with one of Lydia's new toys.

After the kids had a few hours to play with their new toys inside, we all went outside to enjoy the beautiful day. And so I could practicing using my Christmas present - a digital SLR camera, which was a complete surprise. Wesley also got a chance to try out one of his presents - a balance bike. We didn't wrap this present so we left it in the basement. When we finished opening presents I remember briefly thinking, "I tought we had another present for Wesley". While we were eating breakfast a little later, Chris remembered the bike in the basement!

When Wesley was on the balance bike, we told him to get going fast and then lift his feet up. He tried to help Lydia do the same thing on the ride-on-toy. He kept saying, "Lift your feet!"

Wesley didn't love the balance bike but we will keep working on it. He couldn't wait to ride his tricycle. Both kids took great naps after all the playing outside.

Being outside on Christmas day was a special blessing for me. I loved the warmer weather, the fresh air, and the sunshine. I have to make more of an effort to get outside with the kids during the rest of the winter.

I like this picture of Chris. We had a great time with my parents.

After a dinner of beef tenderloin, roasted pototoes, asparagus, carrots, and cheese biscuits we had a (carrot) birthday cake for Jesus. We let Wesley blow out the candles the first time and then Lydia had a turn.

A Little More Decorating

We had dinner with friends on Tuesday night. After dinner, the dads helped the kids decorate gingerbread houses. It is amazing how much eaiser things like this are with the extra help from dads.
This was the first time our family decorated a gingerbread house. I think Wesley ate more of the decorations than he put on the house.

Below is the house that Steve and Gabriella decorated.

Decorating Their Trees

I am not crafty at all. Nor am I creative. But I have great friends who help me out. Last year Michelle gave me a very cool book that details how to "help children find Jesus in our holiday traditions. "

For instance, "Blaire" suggests cutting stars out of black construction paper, punching holes around the edges, and letting the kids "lace" the stars with yellow yarn. While the kids are working on their stars, you can ask "Why do we put a star on top of our Christmas tree?" Then you can talk about how the wise men followed the star until they found Jesus.

Wesley enjoyed lacing the star but he really got into using the hole puncher which is great for building hand strength in preschoolers.

Last week, Janet hosted a little playgroup for Leslie and me. We did the star craft with the kids, a snowman craft, and a "Christmas Cone-ifer."
For this "cone-ifer", turn a sugar cone upside down, cover it in icing, and add miniature M&M for the decorations.

As the kids are decorating their trees, you can talk about how Christmas trees represent the tree Jesus died on, which is why he was born in the first place. The tree also points to heaven just like Jesus did with His words and His actions so as to draw attention to God who loves us.

Thankfully, Lydia was happy to just eat the cone while watching the older kids use the icing.

Of course, the best part of this "craft" was eating it!

Planes, Trains, and Tricycles

On Saturday, after swim lessons, we drove to College Park to see the model trains at the aviation museum. We went last year and it will probably be a Christmas tradition for the next few years. Lydia was very enthused at swim lessons and wore herself out so on the way to the museum we heard, “pjs on” and “take nap at home.” She perked up once we were at the museum and she enjoyed it almost as much as Wesley did. He loved watching the model trains and we had to drag him away with a promise of lunch.

This "silver bullet" could open it's doors and show off the cool blue light inside and release the cold vapors.

I was impressed with all the detail on the buildings.

Ahh, one of the crowd favorites.

The highlight of the day for me was running into a friend who I had not seen for years. She was there, alone, with her four kids. It was great to see Katy and her kids. But because I had so much fun talking, I didn't take many pictures of the model trains (aren't you glad?). We skipped most of the aviation stuff just because the kids were so content watching the trains and I was

so content talking to Katy.

Wesley and Lydia liked dressing up as pilots.

The outfit was just a little big for Lydia.

The museum has several airplane tricycles and ride-on-toys outside. I am sure this would be a big a hit in warmer weather.
Wesley often complains about being cold but not when he is having fun.
Lydia finally got a nap on the way to lunch. After lunch we were able to pick up a few Christmas presents for family members. We also went by the pet store; it as a reward for the kids' good behavior while we were shopping. The kids especially liked this blue rat.

The Last of a First

Yesterday was Wesley’s last day at his first school. We all loved the school and the teachers. He learned a lot of preschool skills and songs. It was great that we only had to pay for three days and he could go any three days during the week. But I rarely work three full days and we were paying for more than we really needed. So, in the new year he will start regular preschool three mornings a week.

He doesn’t seem to care which school he attends. Maybe he will be upset in January or maybe he will thrilled with his new school or maybe he will just take it all in stride the way he usually handles things. He told me the other day that he was going to make new friends at this new school and play with the rice table.

When we went to visit his new classroom the first time, Wesley and Lydia both loved playing in the rice table. Of course, the one and a half year old had to taste the rice. She quickly motioned for help getting the uncooked rice out of her mouth.

Yesterday was also the Christmas performance at Wesley’s school. It was a great way to end.

Last year, just like all the other two year olds, he didn’t sing the songs in the performances; even though he knew them. This year, he did sing sometimes and sometimes he looked around or was just goofy.

Do you like his huge smile? Do notice that the shepherds are carrying their sheep?

This is bad camera work, but it does show the whole school.

Here is Wesley with his teachers.
Lydia thinks she is ready to go to school, especially if they serve chocolate cake every day.

Naptime - Wordless Wednesday

Med School?

When Chris and I got home on Sunday from our weekend away Lydia was a bit of a mess. She had a fever, runny nose, cough, and was extremely grumpy. At one point she said her ear hurt. I thought for sure she had an ear infection. I took her to the doctor on Monday and the doctor looked at her ears and said she was fine. Thankfully she seemed fine yesterday and today.

I think the doctor's appointment made an impression on Wesley.

Today we went to lunch with Michelle and her boys. Hunter had a little flashlight ring on his index finger. Wesley was fascinated by the flashlight and Hunter was kind enough to let me him play with it.

Instead of eating his lunch, Wesley decided that Hunter was sick and he would "make him feel better."
After positioning Hunter's head, Wesley checked his ears. He did this enough times that I was able to get some cute photos.

Maybe he will go to go to medical school.

At some point Wesley decided to examine Hunter's fingers. He asked Hunter, "Does this one hurt?" and Hunter replied, "It hurts when you dig your fingernail into it."

Weekend Away

This past weekend, Chris and I got to go away without the kids. Yes, it was wonderful.

Before I could leave, I needed to bake cookies for a cookie exchange Sunday night. They aren't pretty but they are very yummy.
Wesley enjoyed having a cookie after his nap. I made the cookies during naptime because that is when I had time; other wise, I would have let him help me.
My parents came up on Friday to stay with the kids. My dad was helping me clean up the kitchen and he was doing the dishes for me. I knew he would lick the bowl with the mettled chocolate but I was surprised to see him sharing with Wesley.

So, where did Chris and I go? Well, it was less than 20 minutes from our house but it felt like a thousand miles away.

This weekend was a gift - a very generous gift. Last year I referred a neighbor, who I had only recently met, to a realtor I knew from church. The neighbor met with a few realtors but she said Vicki far exceeded the others. Vicki told me that if she sold the house she would give me and Chris a night at the Ritz. Woo hoo! Does anyone else, who doens't know Vicki, need to sell their house? Please tell Vicki that I sent you!

On Friday night, we went to Wildfire. Based on Vicki's recommendation we asked for a sidecar. This gave us a private booth in which to enjoy the delicious food. We had to wait a little longer for the sidecar but it was worth it. We have found a new favorite restaurant! The steak was perfect and the chopped salad was incredible. It makes me hungry just thinking about that salad.

The Ritz was beautifully decorated for Christmas. This gingerbread village was adorable.

Here are the Santa Clauses with President Washington.

After a nice breakfast buffet at the hotel, we headed over to Tyson’s to do some Christmas shopping. We had a great time buying for ourselves and others. I so appreciated getting to shop without two little kids and without having to rush home to them either. We had lunch at the mall and shopped some more.

We decided to leave about 5:00. After all, don't you think 6 hours at the mall is long enough?

When we got to our car on the third level of the parking garage, the line to leave was backed up to where we were parked. We watched the line and saw that it didn't move for five minutes. We got out of the car and went back into the mall to have a drink and wait for the place to clear out some. We enjoyed people watching in the mall and thankfully we had no problems leaving at 6:30.

I felt like we were on vacation! It was great to spend the weekend with just Chris. We had so much fun!

So, thanks Vicki, Nana, and Pawpaw for a great weekend!