Christmas Mosaic at Church

We went to the Christmas Mosaic at church this year, and it was a really festive event! They had dinner, lots of music, and neat Christmas activities for the kids. 

These two had lots of fun hanging out...

This was cool- a nativity scene with Pastor Jesse recounting the Christmas story...

Addie had to peek in...

We were surprised how much the girls got into the bluegrass music. They started a dance party among the kids!

My favorite activity was the rickshaw ride. All of us girls piled into one rickshaw, and we got a crazy loopy ride! You should have heard the giggles and screams. :)

The girls would probably tell you their favorite part was the hot chocolate. They sucked it down as we left (with fake snow swirling above our heads). The event was really well done, and we all left in the Christmas spirit!

A Day at School

I really enjoy being in Collins's classroom as the helping parent. She has such a nice group of kids in her class, the teachers are wonderful, and I love seeing Collins is this environment. It was a great day at school!

 

Seasonal Festivities

Christmas is chocked full of festive little memory-making moments. Here are just a few that we experienced this year...

I did A LOT of online shopping this year (sorry Brian!) which made my life a lot easier and gave Collins a lot of large boxes with which to create cool things like this gingerbread house.

We took the girls to see Santa at Ace Hardware (we always go there instead of the mall!), but neither one had any interest in sitting on his lap. Collins did divulge to Mr. Claus that she wanted a pink scooter for Christmas.

Aunt Alli came over to help us decorate sugar cookies and then gave Collins some helpful hints on how to figure out those big boxes under the tree (she is the expert!)...

Can't get enough baking during the holiday season, and these chocolate peanut butter balls are a classic. 

No doubt, seeing "Frozen on Ice" was a highlight of the Christmas season for Collins!

There was a multitude of trips to Target over the holiday season, and Alli figured out how to make the shopping more bearable...thank you large lollipop!

These little moments are what make the season so fun!

Christmas Pageant

I love that Collins can now participate in the church Christmas pageant. Last year, she was a star. This year she was a sheep. And she actually learned some of the songs this year! I thought it was the cutest thing when she would randomly start singing "Hark the Herald Angels Sing". She and Nora Rose had some fun during rehearsals too. The pageant was adorable, and we thought it was neat that our neighbor Margaret was Mary. Miss Addie attended the pageant (her first time at church besides her baptism) and had a lot of fun smiling at people and eating her shoe. :)

Christmas Card

Thanks to my fabulous new camera (yah for a birthday!), we had a surprisingly easy time getting a decent family photo for our Christmas card this year. Just snapped a few pictures after church one day. I actually love them all!

Magic at Rudolph

It sounds strange to say, but my favorite moment of the Christmas season came when we took Collins to see "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" this year. It so many ways it was magical for us. Let me explain.

Last year we saw "Frosty" in the same theater downtown, so she knew what to expect and was really excited to go see another show. She got all dressed up, and we took her downtown to Bad Daddy's for dinner (another reason for her to get excited).

On the drive to the theater, she marveled at all the buildings lit up downtown. "How do they get the lights all the way UP THERE?!?" she wondered. 

Meymandi Hall is beautiful, and there were several other shows happening in their various theaters (The Nutcracker for one) so that made it fun too.

She sat on my lap the whole time so we got to really experience the show together (plus I got snuggles). "Rudolph" was so well done! The play mimics the old movie exactly, and the actors did a wonderful job. The costumes and staging were really creative, and the music was super fun. The audience really got into it with clapping and singing. I'm pretty sure Collins and I smiled the whole time (I'm pretty sure Brian took a nap). I loved watching her face light up so much that it got me a little teary-eyed. It was just the type of show that puts you into the Christmas spirit! 

Leaving the theater, Collins saw the city lights from a neat perspective. She was in awe. At this point, I was too. What a festive night it was for us!

 

Christmas Fun Gets Underway

The period between Thanksgiving and Christmas was short this year- only 4 quick weeks! That meant priority #1 was getting our tree up quickly so there would be time to enjoy it and all the other Christmas festivities we had planned.

Brian remembered growing up that they always had to rearrange the furniture to fit the Christmas tree (if you saw the size of Donna's tree you would know why!), and that made getting the tree even more fun. We decided to give that a try at our house this year so the tree is now in a new spot. Brian doesn't get overly excited about most Christmas festivities, but he does place importance on getting the biggest tree possible and placing it where he can enjoy it from the sofa!

Per usual, Brian and Collins were up to no good with my Tar Heel stuff. 

The girls loved the Christmas decorations. Collins is obsessed with the Advent calendar (which is good b/c I am too)...

And Addie loved anything shiny that she could get her hands on...

The first weekend of December was dedicated to decorating and hosting our annual Chili/Gingerbread House decorating party with the Kaspers and Flynns. (Note to self- making the gingerbread houses was not as easy as it looks- buy them next year!) A great way to start the Christmas season!