Busy Holiday Weekend

On Friday, December 7th we had Abby's holiday concert at school, on Saturday we had 2 parties (a birthday party for one of Abby's friends & a holiday party at Jim's co-workers), and Sunday we got our Christmas tree!

To get our tree we went to Gaver Farm (the same place we went for our Halloween pumpkins)...what a GREAT farm.

The girls were very excited!

This is such a great farm that it was hard to find our perfect tree.

The girls like this one but...it was a bit too small.

We finally found it...perfection...at least for us.

Kera supervised the cutting down of the tree...

...and we carted it back to the car.

We got it home and put on the lights.

Next, it was time for the popcorn string and the aluminum star.

Then, homemade ornaments...combined with a few store bought...

 

We have a GREAT tree this year!

Holiday Concert

On Friday, December 7th Abby had a holiday concert at her school and it was GREAT! Well...it was great as a parent...it was so fun to see Abby up on stage with her classmates.

Abby got dressed-up and was very excited...

Kera was very excited too...

Abby's school sang, "Little Light of Mine"...

...and then she did a hand pantomime, "Christmas Present", and sang, "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer" with her class. Without microphones we couldn't hear a word but...it was still so much fun to see Abby on stage.

The funniest thing that happened during the concert is there was a poor little girl who lost her skirt.The girl was in the class below Abby and they were jumping around on stage during a pantomime. The little girl was wearing a skirt a bit too big for her and down it went. The little girl was great, she didn't miss a beat...her teacher just came along and fixed her skirt. The show must go on.

After the concert there was a cookie reception were we got to visit with some of Abby's friends. We also got to take a few shots of the girls in front of the Christmas tree...

...with cookies in hand. What a fun concert!

Symphony of Lights

Last Saturday Jim and I took the girls through the Symphony of Lights. The Symphony of Lights is:

"... spectacular display of 70 larger-than-life, animated and stationary light creations. It is a long-standing community tradition and a "must-see" during the holiday season. Enjoy the Symphony of Lights in a variety of ways." (http://columbia.exploremd.us/tourism/attractions/symphony_of_lights/)

The girls were mystified and during the whole drive Abby kept on telling us how beautiful it was. I got a few pictures they are not the best but, you will get the idea.

 

Felt Christmas Tree

On December 1st a felt Christmas tree appeared where the Thanksgiving tree once stood. The theory behind the felt tree is that the girls can play with the ornaments on the felt tree and leave the ornaments on the real tree alone...we will see. First, the girls put up the lights. The next day they added some ornaments. Next, we might add some candy canes. So far the tree has been a hit.

Star of the Week

The week after Thanksgiving Abby was star of the week at her school. All of the children take turns being star of the week and they get to put up special family pictures and talk about them. Here are the pictures that Abby brought in...

Also as part of being star of the week they can bring in a special treat. Abby's preschool room is called the caterpillar room so I thought these grape kabobs would be perfect...

As you can imagine, Abby enjoyed the extra attention.

Thanksgiving

We had a very nice Thanksgiving this year!

On Wednesday evening before Thanksgiving Grandma and Grandpa Rogers arrived. The girls were VERY excited to see them! Abby went with Jim to pick them up from the airport and insisted on having her hair in braids; she knows her Grandma loves her hair that way. Abby wore her hair in braids their entire visit.

The girls love sitting and reading with their Grandma and Grandpa! I can't even count how many stories they were read during the weekend, lucky girls.

On Thanksgiving morning we started the good eats early...

...for breakfast, pumpkin pancakes and yogurt!

We did not sign-up for our usual 5k this year but Jim and I did have the opportunity to go out for a run; while the girls stayed home with the grandparents, Jim and I headed to Centennial park for a bit of pre-gluttony exercise. When Jin and I were out running the girls had fun with Grandma, Grandpa, and Gwen's brother Tom at our local play ground.

Our dinner was fantastic! Jim did a great job with the bird!

Due to our dinner guests, Regis, Gwen, and Tom we didn't have room for everyone at the dinner table so, I shared the kid table with the girls but, I didn't mind.

The girls were not a big fan of their turkey dinner but they sure loved the pumpkin pie and ice cream!

After dinner, it was time to relax and watch my favorite movie of the season, "Miracle on 34th Street".

Thursday night we had a full house, Tom spent the night with us along with Gwen and Regis. This was because on Friday Jim was taking Tom and his parents into DC for an outing and Tom didn't want to make the hour trip back and forth to his place. They had a great time during their time in DC and when they came back it was time for a night of pizza and more Christmas movies.

Tom was able to stay with us on Friday night too and then on Saturday we all went to see 2of Tom's 4 kids, and their significant others. They live about an hour away from us in Virginia. It was nice to meet some of Tom's family and they were very nice to host us for the afternoon. Plus, the girls had a great time playing with all of their musical instruments.

On Sunday, it was time to say goodbye to Gwen and Regis. It was a short visit but nice.

Note: As soon as Abby got home from taking her grandparents to the airport she asked me to take her braids out.