The Spirit of the Season: Singing & Giving

Today we are (hopefully) finishing our Christmas decorating. Monday night for FHE we found our tree, but we haven't had time to actually decorate it. Last night was Scot's chorus concert & I spent most of yesterday practicing (I accompanied a few of the songs). We all went to watch. He & the rest of the 5th/6th grade chorus did great. There were traditional Christmas, Hanukkah, & Kwanzaa songs. One of my favorite was about the fun of winter (making snowmen, etc) with a second part singing the misery of head colds. Very cute--all the kids pretending to sneeze. Even Scot in all his professional seriousness wiped his eyes & held his aching head. We may have video to share after next week's band concert.

Both Maggie & Amy have been busy the last two days wrapping presents. So far they've been through 2 rolls of paper.

I can't say what Maggie has been wrapping since they are "special projects" she has worked on at school & at home, but this is what I caught Amy wrapping this morning. It's for Maggie.




As the Christmas story goes (we've been doing the 24 Days of Christmas)...
I wish I could be a sister like that.

Thanksgiving Thanks

Yes, I know December came more than a week ago, but we've been reveling in our Thanksgiving holiday and it's been hard to move on. We appreciate all the family and friends that were able to join us. You all made it so easy to host. Anytime you want to do all the shopping, cooking, babysitting, house rearranging, and entertainment, we will provide the place to do it!! I guess we did pitch in a little:)

Our Thanksgiving highlights included:

• geocaching
• Jungle Jim's
• playing "Ticket to Ride" & "Settlers"
• making & eating way too much food
• candy making (key lime truffles & white chocolate gingersnaps were incredible additions)
• making & decorating gingerbread houses
  
• not having to play Wii on the 7" TV
• Christmas dresses:)

I know I'm forgetting lots...mostly inside jokes which will be remembered only by tender memories of awesome family and friends. Thank you for being the reason we give thanks!

Quick Post

I wanted to get a quick post in today. I'm spending a delightful afternoon with Paul--he's playing in the family room while I work on the computer; the girls are playing "My Little Pony" in their room with the door shut (Paul is never allowed when they are in serious pony play, and from the looks of the Crystal Castle covered in accessories, this is serious play). Paul is being very sweet, feeding me goldfish and giggling. He looks very babyGap with his hair trimmed in the back and front swept to the side. The babyGap thing stops with his hair. He's still wearing pajamas--a too small pj shirt & Amy's pajama shorts. I'm doing laundry today as well. In fact, we are in serious clean-up mode getting ready for family & friends. So between e-mail clean-up and desk organization I'm doing laundry, making beds, doing dishes, plus planning some of the details for a very anticipated Thanksgiving week. We are all so excited, and no one can think of anything else!

November Weekend

A few highlights from this weekend (or lowlights as they may be):

• Brian home again from a trip to San Diego (yay!!)
• Mom watching Nim's Island with the kids, after attending a ward baptism
• Paul semi-miserable with molar teething
• chocolate chip-peanut butter-oatmeal cookies (thanks Scot)
• putting up pictures/decor ("Mom, I really like the bathroom; it's beautiful"--Maggie)
• the boys donating 15,000 grains of rice at www.freerice.org
• Paul spilling a whole pitcher of orange juice on the floor
• Amy's maniacal laugh after dinner (scary because it simply came out on its own)
• "inch-hits" from Dad (imagine James being sprawled on the ground)
• Scot & James teaching Dad "tic-tac-toe...I win, you lose, now you have a great big bruise" (Brian can attest that he does have a great big bruise)
• Maggie continuing to plan her birthday party (decorations are beginning to appear)
• waiting for Grandma & Grandpa, Andrea, Lauren & Ryan & Annie to come for Thanksgiving
• getting compliments on a new haircut
• wearing a new skirt to church & then having Paul leak through onto it (do you notice Paul is getting all the lowlights?)

Congrats!!

The kids were so excited to learn that they have a new cousin. Congratulations to Lauren and Ryan on the arrival of a baby girl!

Proudly Cincinnati

I felt immersed in UC (University of Cincinnati) culture twice this last week. It started last Saturday with the public campaign kick-off. Brian and I attended an incredible dinner with entertainment at the 5/3 Event Center. The basketball arena was transformed into a starry banquet hall--the walls were starlit, overhead huge stars hung, candles lit the tables. Over 1,000 people attended. The brass section of the marching band announced dinner. Speakers were all encouraging the support (mostly financial) of UC. The tag line was "Proudly Cincinnati," and it was amazing to hear the different leaders of the school and community show their pride in this amazing university. I was awed by Ohio's Governor Strickland and Olympic Gold Medalist, Mary Wineberg, and inspired by the marching band which marched right into the room and played the school alma mater. After dinner (3 ethnic buffets) there was dancing and dessert. It was a lovely evening, and I am grateful to have shared it with Brian.

A more fun even for the entire family (although what's better than having a babysitter?) was the UC vs. USF game the night before Halloween. Brian picked us all up after work in our new black UC sweatshirts so we would "black out the stadium" (Amy, Maggie, & Paul were red accents). The kids had a great time cheering for the Bearcats. Too bad we had to leave early, but the kids did have school the next day. It was a fun game to watch, and it's a good feeling to belong to an incredible university.

Halloween

Happy Halloween!

Here are some pictures of the kids getting ready to Trick or Treat. They had such a fun time, and it is a whole neighborhood celebration. From 6-8pm all the adults (or those who aren't following their kids around) sit in their driveways (most of them with a beer close by) giving candy to the kids walking by. Very efficient!

Brian set up the camp chef in the garage & fried up scones for any parents walking with their children. This was a new delicacy for most of our neighbors, and most were willing to try our treat.

As you can see, Maggie changed her costume to a butterfly, and Amy changed hers to Tinkerbell. Paul loves wearing his elephant costume & defending the candy buckets (even if they are not his). I especially love his elephant tale that waddles back and forth when he walks.

Hope you all had a spooky Halloween celebration.