The kids actually have enough ornaments to warrant their own trees. They have mini trees in their rooms and enjoyed decorating them all by themselves.
Unfortunately, we seem to have lost our tote of outdoor Christmas lights sometime in the move. We also sold several bigger decorations before the move last year, so we had to start over from scratch. It will do for now! I'm sure the kids will have suggestions for me for next year.
A special part of the Christmas season is the music, and one of the best classical pieces is Handel's Messiah. Our church puts on a "sing-along" to Messiah, complete with an orchestra, full choral sections and beautiful solos for each part, and thick musical scores to flip through. Don't let the second picture fool you though. The kids were bored by about 10 minutes in, but Hadley had some luck following along with the score, which kept her interest going longer than her brother's. I'll make music aficionados out of them yet!
And nothing says winter like the classic December family bike ride. The weather has been really nice, so we took advantage one weekend afternoon and found some back-way bike paths through various neighborhoods and enjoyed their parks too.
A neighbor's church had its annual "Winterfest," where they truck in some snow and pretend that it's not 65 degrees. This particular evening was actually a little brisk (~55F), but the kids went on the inflatable obstacle course so many times that they eventually ditched their jackets. It was still chilly for the stationary observer (me).
After our free hot dogs, we checked out the dessert options. Owen went for Oreos and milk, while Hadley opted for smores.
And I finally convinced them to actually go to the snow part of the event. (They were not impressed with this snow based on their childhoods in Idaho, and it made them a little nostalgic.) The line wasn't very long though, so we waited and the kids even got to race each other on sleds. Hadley won! I can attest to her lane being pretty fast myself, but there is no photographic evidence of my sled run!
When she's not racing her brother, she's working hard at the gym learning moves on the beam, bars, and floor. It's fun to watch her master new skills!
Lastly, I volunteered to read some of Green Kids Club's books (my employer) to Hadley's class. The books introduce kids to conservation concepts like poaching, wildfires, and pollution, and the kids seemed to follow the stories pretty well. It was fun to spend time in Hadley's classroom. My boss even donated several books to their school library! If only the USPS hadn't lost all of the ones she sent to give to the kids...
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