Christmastime

With the start of this Christmas season our family quickly found itself with a full schedule of events. We decorated our tree the weekend after Thanksgiving; Bekah wouldn't have it any other way. She practically unloaded all of the Christmas boxes from the shed herself. Rus had his required eggnog, and after setting up the tree he sat comfortably to watch and drink while we put on the ornaments. 

 I wish it was really as peaceful an experience as this picture depicts...but unfortunately the promise of a merry Christmastime is not enough to magically make my kids be super kind to each other...at least not for very long. There were a few grumbles, for example, when Marianne was allowed again to put the star on the tree.

In addition to our own self-imposed events, we also had a slough of cultural entertainment provided by our children's hobbies and commitments:

We went to Bekah's orchestra concert, Beau's Jammin Jaguars (choir) concert, and Marianne's Christmas program at her preschool. Marianne got to dress up in her prettiest dress (provided by Cutesy) and sing beautiful songs about God's love and Jesus' birth. I loved it.

 We also went to a "Breakfast with Santa" at her preschool. It was a lot of fun to spend time with her and her classmates and their families. Grandad and Cutesy came along for the fun; my dad sported for some raffle tickets which he gave to the kids, and Jacob won two tickets to the rock climbing gym! Here are my kids with Santa: I maybe should have been pickier about what they wore...

Merry Christmastime!