Abby's Choir Concert

Last Friday, the 1st-3rd grade choir had their Christmas concert! Abby was so excited to participate in this special event. (Especially because they had been practicing the songs since September. Wow!)

The kids were allowed to change out of their uniforms into their "Christmas best." That, in itself, makes for an exciting day! #catholicschoolkidproblems

 They sang a total of 5 songs, but I will spare you. Some were a little long :)

Click here to hear "Sing Noel."

Click here to hear "Let's Get Ready for Christmas."

I love that Abby was front & center, and knew every.single.word!

I didn't get a video of their 4th song, but it was super cute because it had motions!

 The last song was "Let's Go to Bethlehemu" and they sang it with the 4th-6th grade choir. This was originally an African song, and it was by far Abby's favorite one! Click here to hear it.

All the kids did such a great job!! Especially proud of this blondie and her red-headed bestie, Mia :)

Nutcracker Field Trip

Last Friday, Nate's class took a field trip to see the Nutcracker at the Bama Theatre! This was especially exciting since 3 of his classmates were in it.

I had a van full of silly boys...

Both 3rd grade classes, excited for the play!

The play was amazing! Lucy Claire & Maddie were awesome toy soldiers and Madeline was a cute little gingerbread girl. (They are the 3 pictured below, in the front row.) So fun to see those sweet girls dance their hearts out!

Christmas Activities, Part 2

We have had a busy week....

Monday the 5th, we opted to skip gymnastics AND basketball, since it was a cold & dreary day. Instead, the kids decorated a gingerbread house!!

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Every year, the kids look forward to the Christmas Shoppe at school! They use their own money to buy gifts for whomever they'd like (and usually they buy a gift or two for themselves. Ha!). Most of the gifts are $1, and they have a lot to choose from. Abby spent $13 this year (her class went back for a second time, so she got to double shop!), and Nate spent $7. It's always fun to see what they pick out for each other, and for me & Greg.

Abby bought a headband for herself; Nate got a football

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This past Saturday, I hosted the neighborhood's annual cookie-decorating party. This is a tradition that has been going on for 30+ years, and I'm always honored to be a part of it. (I just don't love the whole "bake 70 cookies the night before" part. Oh well :) The neighborhood kids always decorate the cookies, and then they are eaten at the Christmas party that night.

Two little sisters in our neighborhood, Kately and Paisley.

They came in their Christmas pjs, which I thought was a fabulous idea!

We may even make that mandatory at next year's party....

They did a great job!

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The neighborhood Christmas party was scheduled for the 4th, but got rained out. It was rescheduled for Saturday night, the 10th, and we had to miss it because we already had plans. So sad! But we lit our luminaries anyways, so everyone could enjoy them during the horse-drawn carriage rides.

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Our Saturday night plans included trying out a new Christmas activity with some friends, the Christmas Afloat parade. Lots of people lined the Riverwalk, and watched fireworks and boats floating by that were all decked out in Christmas lights. We loved it! And pizza and adult beverages helped :)

 Such a fun night! It will definitely be added to our (growing) list of Christmas traditions.

Time for Hoops!

Nate had his first basketball game this week, on Tuesday night. This is his 4th season playing with his classmates, and we have gone through 2 coaches. Finally, we have an AMAZING coach, and are excited for a great season. (Third time's the charm, right!?)

Nate asked me the other day why his other 2 coaches never gave them any "plays" to do. Ha! Coach Jason is full of plays and strategy and Nate is eating up every minute. He takes his defensive role very seriously! His favorite play right now: The Bees. (It's he & Mason - the other kid with glasses - playing defense side-by-side and trying to annoy the ball handler. They are the cutest!)

 Nate has good aim, but hesitates to take shots during the game. However, he managed to get 2 off during the first game! Neither went in, but I'm sure they will soon :)

 The boys played AWESOME for their first game, and much to our surprise, we won!!!!! I took a picture for proof, ha!

"The Bees" (aka Mason & Nate)

The Titans with their proud coach

**Here's to a great season!!!!**

Abby's CHOM Field Trip

Abby's class (plus the other 1st grade class) took a field trip yesterday to our local children's museum, CHOM. Here was my goofy carload:

 As to be expected, all the girls loved the snowflakes and dancing lights they saw as soon as we got to CHOM. The boys were less than thrilled :)

Besties holding hands :)

 We started out as one large group, and learned that we'd be hearing about Christmas traditions all around the world....

 We were split into 3 groups, and Abby's group headed to learn about Japan first. We got to explore a typical tea house in Japan, and the girls favorite part was the "hot tub."

 Next, it was off to Mexico where we took part in a parade and made our own shakers....

 And our last stop was Germany. Abby's favorite part was hearing the story of "gingerbaby" and then decorating/eating one :)

It was a short field trip, but a good one! (I learned a lot too!)

We were supposed to leave CHOM and head to the park for a picnic, but it was too rainy. Instead, the kids had a picnic lunch in their classroom while watching a Christmas movie. It sure it hard being a first grader! :)

Christmas Activities, Part 1

The weekend after Thanksgiving, we headed out to Murphy's Tree Farm to find our Christmas tree!! We've been going to this tree farm for 4 years, and have always found awesome trees. Well, this year, the selection was VERY limited due to the severe drought. We still found a pretty good 7 footer, but none of the trees were as full and green as years past. So sad!

The winner

Greg had to help the guys cutting it down!

Headed home

That night, we had this beauty up & glowing!

The kids did a great job on their tree in the playroom!

 If you recall, last year our tree fell down a few days after we got it. It was a complete disaster!!! We figured out it was because the trunk wasn't cut completely level, and it was sitting in the tree stand crooked. Well, we thought we fixed that by getting a neighbor to saw it off evenly for us, and then purchasing a new, heavy-duty tree stand.

Fast forward to a few days ago.....right before Greg came home from work, I noticed our tree was leaning forward a good bit. We immediately went into panic mode and this was our solution. Good ole rope!!! Praying it holds through Christmas. And I think we may a 4 footer next year. Ha!

 I have finally finished wrapping all of our presents, and this beauty is still standing! Praise the Lord!

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Then, yesterday, we headed to the mall to see Santa. I always have the kids write a letter to Santa, with their 3 "top things" they want. It's always entertaining. (Especially when they come up with an item I've NEVER heard them talk about and I finished the Christmas shopping a month ago. Ha!)

VR=Virtual Reality headset. I'm not sure why he's asking for that when he doesn't have an IPhone! Guess he plans on stealing mine.

There was a looooooooong line at the mall, so the kids wrote a 2nd letter to Santa. Ha!

They mailed those to the North Pole!

(And you should have heard the discussion between Nate & Greg over how the letters actually get there....whether an elf comes or there is a magic tube underneath. I'm so happy he still *believes!*)

Love these two :)

Of course, Abby started telling Santa her list right away.

It's a keeper!

Every year, the kids ride this little train after seeing Santa. They always wait extra long to be able to sit in the front car, since that's where the bell is. Usually, they have the car to themselves, but this year, two other little shits kids hopped in as well. They hogged the bell, and at one point even broke the rope, but Nate said he & Abby "stood up for themselves" and got at least one turn :)

I wonder how long he will think this train is fun?! I'm thinking one more year..... :(

Never a dull moment with this one.