Annual Christukkahnza Party

Why we keep having this Annual Christukkahnza Party...







1. to pass on our love of good food!
(Charissa's yule log)






2. because they still believe in santa
(and don't realize that it's their papa under that suit)!









3. to share stories and traditions!
(Ella reading to us about the festival of lights)








5. to pass on our love of good food(did I already mention that?)!





6. because we can always use more handmade ornaments!
(cute four years old who can write their own names)






7. to play games!
(spin the... dreidel)







8. to pass on our love of good food (noticing a theme here?)!









9. because every mom needs a picture like this (poor baby also didn't realize it was his papa under that suit)!







10. look at this group... that's reason enough for me!

Her First Ballet

we took B to see her first ballet, The Nutcracker

in her white dress looking a lot like Clara herself
see that sweet face waiting for the performance to begin

she assured me that she wasn't scared at all
but Judah, her imaginary friend, was a little worried about the mice
her grandparents surprised her by showing up from out of town to attend
I know my mother couldn't bear to miss it
amazingly I sat in the same auditorium twenty-nine years ago to watch my first ballet
I do not have a lot of childhood memories that I share with my kids
her big brother surprised us by coming along and even wearing a tie
he's seen it four times now yet sat on the edge of his seat for two hours once again
that boy does have a theatrical flair
B sat on my lap as still as she could, which wasn't very still,
and although I couldn't see her face I could tell she was entranced
I watched the back of her head for two hours
but it's such a cute little head I can't say that i minded one little bit
I've seen The Nutcracker before
how many times now...

p.s. when we got home the baby wanted to know where his "cracker" was????

Chainsaw Tree Massacre

every year we trot off to find "the perfect tree"
the coach and I try to decide whether or not our tree will fit in the living room
I like ones that are really big
(well, we never had a big one growing up...
except for that one that we planted in the yard
my parents were going to use it again the next year
unfortunately it was too tall the next year
I think it's still living in that tiny yard of ours in Japan)
so the coach uses a hand saw to take it down
this takes a long time...
I usually hold two cold babies and wonder if we should have just gone to Lowes
not this year
his dad decided to bring the chainsaw
we found the tree then out came the saw
the boys were mesmerized
maybe it was over a little too quickly though
so we visited the animals in the barn, loaded up and headed home

the other highlight of the trip? riding in pop's truck
no, they did not ride home back there
yes, we do live in the south but there are some limits!

we had to saw another foot off the tree at home
Coach had been right again

it was too tall...