Getting ready for Christmas...

This time of year, there is always so much going on with kids programs, practices, performances, parties, etc. But it's always so much fun. Last Tuesday, Jonah was in his First Grade Christmas Program. It was so cute and he looked so handsome, all dressed up in his suit & tie. They had an afternoon performance for the whole school, and any parents that wanted to come, and then another performance in the evening for anyone else that wanted to come. They did a great job. I love listening to the little kids programs and hearing them sing. They are all so cute! Jonah had a part, and did great, as always. Then on Friday night we took the kids out for dinner then came home & played some games together, then once we got the kids in bed, Neil & I made a bunch of fudge, carmels, & more gingerbread men to give to friends & neighbors (and we made a second batch on Saturday night). It takes a lot of time, but it's something that we enjoy doing together, and it's VERY yummy!

Then on Saturday morning, we got up early to take Tessa to the elementary school. They were having a "Breakfast with Santa", and the 4th grade choir was performing on the stage, while everyone there got to have donuts & hot chocolate and the kids could make crafts. Jonah & Clay were SO excited to see Santa Claus and Jonah even made a little gift to give to him that morning. Well, when we got there, Santa was walking down the hallway toward us, so Jonah ran up to him to give him the little gift. I could see immediately that we had a problem. "Santa" was a tall, thin, hispanic man with a heavy accent and white tennis shoes and you could see the square pillow under his coat. Not a very convincing Santa. Jonah didn't say anything to him, and still gave him the gift, but I could tell that he was disappointed. Afterwards, as we sat down to eat our donuts, Jonah said, "Mom, I don't think that's the REAL Santa." I told him it wasn't, that it was just one of Santa's helpers. He said, "I don't think it was even one of his helpers." Poor kid. I wish they would have tried to find someone who could at least fit the part a little better than that! But the kids all had fun anyway. They made crafts, had a couple donuts, and Tessa did a great job singing in the choir. They all sounded great and looked so cute in their choir shirts & santa hats.

Anyway, that afternoon we drove around delivering the treats we made to our friends & neighbors. Then that night we went to the church for their Nativity display & concerts. I don't know how many different nativity sets they had, but the cultural hall was filled with a whole bunch of them, from life size to as small as an eraser. There were pictures, statues, whole villiage scenes, etc. It was beautiful. And then they had people acting out the nativity while someone read it from the Bible. It was really neat, and the kids loved it. We watched it twice. There were several different choirs from the community and different churches, etc., that were going to be performing Christmas music, so we were going to listen to that as well, but we didn't realize that it didn't start until 7:00, and Neil and I were planning on having a date night, and the little boys were getting kind of tired already, so we headed home. Neil stopped to pick up some Chinese food & a video for us, and I took the kids home to get them in bed. It was a great evening.

This week we have a lot going on as well. We get to see Clay in his preschool Christmas program on Thursday morning. He gets to be Joseph in the nativity, as they read the story from the Bible, and he gets to recite the scripture in Luke 2:11-12 (I can't believe he has the whole thing memorized, because we haven't practiced at home at all--I didn't even know he was doing that until yesterday, when he recited the whole thing for me). And then on Thursday evening, we get to go watch PJ in his Jr. High Choir concert. He gets to wear his fancy tux for the performance. It will be fun to hear them sing. They sound amazing (it's really quite surprising how great 7th & 8th graders can sing!)

Then we have the usual class parties, pajama days, and all the other festivities that go along with the Christmas season. We are all SO excited to have a 2-week break!! And Neil & I are SOOOO excited to give the kids their "special gift" on Christmas Eve. I'll write more about that later, but we're so excited, we can hardly stand it! We can't wait to see their faces. It will be the best Christmas Surprise EVER!! :)