Pennsylvania Christmas

We drove to Mimi's house the Saturday before Christmas, and we planned to take L&L skiing for the first time while we were in PA.  However, Leah fractured her fingertip on Saturday evening playing "pool ball" (a billiard ball smashed into it), so Sunday was spent in Urgent Care and at the hospital getting x-rays instead.  Sweet Peanut didn't let her broken finger slow her down, and her splint was an adorable fashion accessory as we decorated cookies the next day:

We decorated lots of sugar cut-out cookies for Santa, and went to see Mary Poppins Returns in the afternoon, which we all loved:

On Christmas Eve, we continued our morning tradition of going to Chocolate World.  Gawa came with us and we breezed right through the tour, as there were no lines.  The best part of Chocolate World are the yummy milkshakes at the end of the ride, and Leah was thrilled about this extra dose of calcium at 9:30 in the morning "to make my broken bone strong!". 

House made entirely of Hershey's candy!

Christmas Tree at Chocolate World.

Santa rode around Mimi's neighborhood on a fire truck in the afternoon, and these sweet girls were excited to see him!

Mia and Leah.

We donned our holiday best and attended Christmas Eve church that evening...

 ... and when we got home, it was time to sprinkle reindeer food in the yard.

More pictures with family before putting on Christmas pjs:

The kids left a BIG plate of cookies for Santa this year: 

Daddy read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, 

and these kiddos were all smiles before bedtime.

Once everyone was sound asleep, Santa came:

After a few middle of the night wake-ups (but promising not to come downstairs before 7:00 a.m.), it was Christmas morning!

We opened stockings and checked out the special gifts that Santa left for the children:

 Christmas Day was filled with lots of wonderful presents, and we watched "The Star" in the afternoon, which is one of our favorite Christmas movies: 

This kid was SO excited about his ukulele!

Lots of crafts and games for this little girl.

Laser Tag for the WIN!

We were jumping for joy about all the new HP Legos this year!

Turquoise + talking stuffed animal = Peanut's perfect gift!

Right up Luke's alley.

For our skee ball champ!

 Merry Christmas!

Happy New Year!

Happy 2019!  

 We rang in the new year with all of us in bed by 9:00 p.m. (no one ever accused us of being Night Owls!) and a celebration with festive pancakes in the morning!  

 Wishing you a year filled with lots of sleep/early bedtimes, moments of shared joy with family and friends, and as much laughter as it took to take a photo of our silly kids! 

Love from our family to yours.  Happy New Year!

December Snow

The middle of December contained a record breaking snow storm (3rd highest snowfall for Greensboro in history) which meant a 9-day break from school and cancellation of all of our usual activities.  I think that maybe in the midst of all the holiday planning and chaos, during a time of year when our calendars are jammed packed, God was telling us to slow down and enjoy the time together.  The snow began falling on Saturday evening, and by the time we woke up, almost a foot had fallen!  

The kids got new sleds as early Christmas presents, and these provided hours of fun over the next few days:

We stopped counting at 14 inches (and didn't really want to know anymore!) and stayed warm, cozy, and safe.  We even braved losing power on Day 2 of the storm for most of the day.  Luckily, our gas fireplace provided heat in our family room and we stored many of our perishable food items outside in the snow to stay cold.  It wasn't fun to be without electricity or water, but at least it was brief and we are thankful that it was restored quickly.  

We had the brilliant idea to celebrate our family Christmas during the snow storm, too.  The kids visited the School Store the Friday before the big snow, and purchased gifts for each other and for Mommy & Daddy.  We gave L&L our presents to them (we do this early every year since we travel for Christmas and the kids receive other presents from grandparents, etc. then), and this meant that there were new toys and games to keep everyone entertained during our snow days at home:

The only gift that I may have been regretting a week into being homebound may have been that Harry Potter book of songs for the recorder, but Luke certainly enjoyed it:

We stayed in our pajamas, baked Christmas cookies, read lots of books, and the kids were wonderful about playing outside in the snow independently each day.  Our neighbor across the street had Bobcat/snowplow hiding in his garage and kindly plowed our driveway and the entire cul de sac, so Daddy was able to return to work and we could venture out to the grocery store by mid-week. 

School resumed for 5 days before Christmas break, and it was "joyful chaos" for that entire week (those poor teachers!).  There were class parties, themes each day (Christmas Sock Day, Holiday Hat Day, Pajama Day, Candy Gram Day, etc), and performances by both of our little stars:  

Leah's class on Pajama Day!

The ORES Jumpers did a special holiday performance for the school, and we are still amazed at how cool it is to watch the Jumpers in action:

The second grade performed "December Around the World", and although Leah's class didn't have Germany this year (click here for a reminder of Luke's experience), the entire grade had the honor of singing "Pickle in a Tannenbaum", which brought back so many memories.  In fact, when I received the notice of what Leah's class was supposed to wear for the performance and it said, "Holiday Attire (anything red or green)", and NOT leiderhosen and Alpine hats, I felt like the universe was in our favor:

December Around the World!

The weekend after the snow storm also brought our annual Children's Christmas Program at church.  These sweet kiddos did an amazing job telling the story of Jesus' birth, and I was a bit nervous, since everyone had been cooped up at home all week.  This picture truly captures the moment (and the unpredictability of preschoolers), and makes me giggle:

Can you spy the barnyard brawl between 2 brothers who were farm animals?

What better way to end our December snow storm than with these precious children sharing the Christmas story with our church family and preparing our hearts for the best gift of all?!