It's That Season Again!

For us that means a birthday celebration, school parties and programs, church commitments, holiday festivities, charitable activities, and end-of-year stuff.  Oh December... why are you so stressful when you are supposed to be a time of peace and joy?  The short answer is that there is joy - you just have to remember to stop and see it! Here's some of our joy. Let's start with our un-professional family pics this year, some from playing around with our camera's timer function. :)

To get in the holiday spirit, we go to the annual Festival of Trees, which is held before Thanksgiving!  They have lots of beautifully decorated trees and wreaths, live holiday music, Santa, and a scavenger hunt for the kids. With a little encouragement, both kids wrote a brief letter to Santa, but neither wanted to sit on his lap, which is fine with me.

More holiday traditions: house lights, decorating the Christmas tree, and the Nutcracker ballet. Owen wanted to go again this year, and I love that he likes it! It's also fun for him to see his friend, Abigail, up on stage.

The snow has come and gone in waves, but you know we have an eager shoveler under our roof! Hadley will join on occasion, but she doesn't have his passion! :)

Just like last year, one of our playgroups gathered and sorted goodies into individual care packages for a local shelter. I was impressed with Hadley's desire to help; she refused to stop and play with the rest of the kids when there was still work to be done!

 And in other news, we are still very into playing!

Hadley has really been enjoying school and mimicking Owen's homework time with work of her own.  She's starting to write all the letters, and can write her own name legibly!

Both kids seem to be outgrowing naps finally (and unfortunately), but we still enforce an hour of "quiet time" in their rooms each day for reading or rest. Every third or fourth day results in a nap from one or the other. This is Hadley's standard practice when I announce that it's time to head to their rooms. It's a big hit, as you can tell!