Dec Misc

 December is always a month full of activity. And while it's a busy one, it's full of joy too, as we remember that all of the celebrations point to the love of Jesus, embodied in a little baby, born to be our Savior. We thank God for this indescribable Gift!

Here are some of our family happenings from December. 

First, our home Christmas decorations:

Adley's Crafts

Adley and I attended two Home Depot workshops after Thanksgiving. The first was making a train ornament.

The second was a "letters to Santa" mailbox.

My BSF leader gave me these ornaments one week after our study since she knew I had kids that might enjoy decorating them. Adley colored them right away. I loved seeing her Christian theme!

School Christmas Program

The kids' school program was early in December this year. All three kids had different roles and were very excited for the program, so it was fun to watch their performances. Grammy and Papa bought the kids' Christmas outfits again this year. The kids all looked so sharp!

Adley sang in two songs. The first was an opening hymn, "Angels We Have Heard on High," sung with all of grades preK-2 and the congregation. The second song, "Good News," was only the preK and kindergarten classes. I loved hearing the kids' sweet voices belt out the chorus on each of these songs.

Now that Cody and Jaden are in 5th grade, their classes no longer all sing as a grade level. They only perform with their elective group. So, Cody's performance was playing a song with his handbell choir. This was their group's first time playing in front of an audience, so he said they were all (himself included) very nervous. Their song sounded great!

Jaden's band played a couple of short songs, and he was also invited to play an additional song with the upper grade band. Their group sounded nice as well.

We were proud of all of our kids' great performances!

Adley's School

We love getting a peek into Adley's school days through these photos her teacher periodically sends. This photo shows a warm/cool owl project Adley's class did. The owls turned out so cute!

Throughout December, Adley's class looked at how different countries celebrate Christmas. Here, the kids got to try a special Russian Christmas treat-- eggrolls!

They received chocolate candies from Zero the Hero on St. Nicholas Day.

The class spotted Luther the Dog, one of the school's mascots, in the lobby on the way to library one day.

The day after the Christmas program was designated as pajama day. What a perfect day for these kids to relax a bit!

Connect Group Caroling

It has become a tradition for our connect group to go caroling in December. Jason lines up several shut-ins from church for us to visit, and the kids make Christmas cards to deliver to these homes. We love this opportunity for all ages of our group to bring Christmas joy to others. 

After our caroling, we enjoyed a meal out at Crust pizza with our group. The kids loved the backyard playground at this restaurant.

Advent Box Treats

Through the month of December, our family traditionally counts down the days until Christmas with our Advent box. The kids will open one small box each morning and find either a small treat or an activity for our family to do together. I didn't take photos of every activity we did, but here are some of our "Advent Box Activities":

drinking hot chocolate and reading Christmas books by the fireplace

going bowling

making graham cracker houses (or in Cody's case, a graham cracker man!)

Jingle Bell Jog

In lieu of a classroom Christmas party, grades K-2 at Adley's school have a Jingle Bell Jog to finish out the school year before break. They invite parents to school to jog/walk/run around the soccer field with the students for 30 minutes or so and then enjoy a breakfast in the community center. Jason and I enjoyed being a part of this event with Adley.

Ugly Christmas Sweater Service

Each year, our church plans a Sunday where they invite everyone to wear Ugly Christmas Sweaters to church. It's also a service in which kids are involved in many aspects of the service. Jaden and Cody served as greeters before the service, along with other members of their Tweens group.

Adley sang "Go Tell it On the Mountain" as part of a kids' choir. These kids were so enthusiastic with the words and the actions.

Other Outings

Before Christmas, Mom and I joined Kim for a pedicure and a Starbucks treat to celebrate Kim's December birthday. It's always a pleasure to have this girl-time!

Adley's little friend Madison from her kindergarten class invited her over for a playdate right before Christmas. Madison had been raising butterflies and waited until Adley came over to release the butterflies outside. These girls had so much fun holding and playing with the butterflies!

Just after Christmas, our family visited the ice skating rink--an activity our kids had been asking about for a while. Adley appreciated using her "walker" to help her learn, as she had only been skating once before. Cody and Jaden both stuck close to the walls at the start of our time but gained confidence quickly and were skating on their own soon. Despite a few tumbles, all three kids maintained a great attitude and said they loved their time!

Christmas Puzzle

Jaden received this car puzzle for Christmas, and we quickly realized what a challenge it was! The boys finished the majority of the puzzle in just a couple days' time. That alone was quite a feat, but the biggest challenge came when we had to complete the sky, as nearly every piece was solid white.

With a little help from Mom and Dad, though, we accomplished it together. What a feat!

Thanksgiving

 Our family kicked off the Thanksgiving season with our annual "thankful tree." I love seeing what the kids add to the tree each year. We certainly have many blessings to thank our Heavenly Father for!

We celebrated the holiday by attending church on Thanksgiving Eve and then spending the entire Thanksgiving Day at my parents' house. Our entire family of 24 (!) was able to join together, plus one of Chelsea's cousins who attends Concordia Austin. A full household of 25 made for a busy and noisy, yet very fun holiday. As is typical these days, the oldest boy cousins wanted to play game after game of football. A few of the uncles joined in at times, and Abby went outside as a cheerleader too. What a great cousin!

Inside, the crew (and Jason especially) enjoyed watching some football.

Jason's Lions had some great moments (hence the chest bump with Matt) but unfortunately ended up with a loss that day.

A group of younger cousins, with Abby serving as director, put on a series of plays for the family. Abby had actually planned out a script and brought costumes from home for their first play. It was so cute!

We played a lot of small group games throughout the afternoon too.

Little Selah even got her first official piano lesson. Ha! I loved that she was genuinely pushing down on my finger in order to play the notes. She seemed to love the music!

And of course, we enjoyed an absolutely amazing Thanksgiving feast. Each family group brought something to share for the meal, but Grammy and Papa cooked up the delicious turkey, homemade rolls, and several extra sides too. It was all sooo very tasty! Here are all the table groups of family members-- everyone but Selah pictured. What a blessing to live so close to all these special people!

We certainly have many reasons to give thanks to the Lord. 

He is good, and His love endures forever!