Christmas is Coming!

Meanwhile, back at our house... It's been busy and this Mama has been hopping and is therefore behind on her posting!

We've had success hatching the White Cabbage Butterfly chrysalis' that formed a while back thanks to the little pests who had been eating my broccoli in the garden.  Its been fun to watch the caterpillars develop into their chrysalis and then emerge a butterfly!

The kids have been up to their usual business...

We've had fun each morning waking up to find out what Baby Jesus has been up to.  We found him in some fun places.  A couple that really had the girls all excited were when he was playing with the Thomas Advent Calendar and mini trains...

and when he was eating a Christmas cookie!

A couple of Fridays back, at our last MOPS meeting for the year, Ezri had to stay home because she had picked up a stomach bug and was under the weather.  Alora took on the teacher helper role and was a huge help with her little friends in the preschool room, she is such a nurturing and loving child!

That evening, things took a turn for the worse.  Just shortly after Daddy left for a movie night with the guys, Alora and Tierney both got sick.  For the next 8 hours they were both throwing up, either at the same time or alternating.  Little brother was screaming, needing Mommy and sleep, and Mommy was in a bit over her head and very glad to have Daddy return.  A camp out in the living room was necessary to contain the chaos and keep all hands on deck.  That camp out turned into a 2 day event because, of course, the next day Daddy and Mommy were sick.  Fortunately, it was a 12 hour bug that passed by Elam all together, but it was a rough weekend!

We were afraid we might have to miss the kids' Christmas program at church that Sunday, but thankfully we were all back on our feet, maybe a bit shakily, but still able to go.  The kids did a great job!  

Ezri was an angel...

 Alora was the lone animal, a sheep...

 And Tierney donned angel wings as well.

 Ezri had a speaking part this year and she did such a great job!  She had practiced for 2 weeks before hand and had her part memorized, but held on to her paper just in case. She read clearly and with confidence, a big change from a frightened new reader who refused to read last year.

 Tierney added her own flair to the presentation with a wardrobe issue mid-way through.  Her tights were sagging, so she lifted up her dress for all to see and hiked them up!

 And Alora, was Alora in a sheep costume.  She was so adorable, and that sheep was in character with some big personality to go with it!  She said her friend Emmett was her boss, since he was the shepherd.

 The following week was spent baking.  The girls had a great time helping me make and decorate Christmas cookies.

And they couldn't wait to deliver them to our good friends and neighbors Danny & Pamaw

 and Mr. Barney (and Emmy).

Last Saturday, we celebrated Christmas with Great Grandma and the rest of the Miller family.  The kids had a great time playing with cousins and Elam was the big hit, constantly surrounded by girls.

 When it was gift opening time, Elam was the youngest and got to go first.  This was his first experience opening a gift!

 The girls, however, had not trouble getting into theirs!

It was a busy afternoon for little guy, and he soon was ready for a nap!

 Great Grandma was happy to snuggle him while he slept.

Saturday evening was our Christmas Eve Eve service at church.  Something new for us, it was a very nice service and the kids got to be part of it.  Our pastor dressed as a mouse to tell the Christmas story from the viewpoint of a stable mouse and our kids were quite active through the service.  At one point, Tierney was head butting the pastor mouse as he talked, for some reason...  crazy kid!

 

We've taken several trips to see the light show up the road from our house, so after the service, we made another stop.  With snow falling, it was fun to watch as 5 different songs were animated to light.

Back at home, the kids opened gifts with their friends Travis and Emmett, they had each chosen something to give one another.  They also got to open gifts from Jay & Becci.

 They had a little fun thanking Becci too!

Little Brother had given up on being awake, so he opened his gifts the next morning.

 

Saturday evening, we also spent some time video chatting with a family from out of state that we adopted for Christmas.  We were able to watch them open their gifts and it gave the kids a concrete understanding of the process as they had each helped to choose a gift for the children in the other family.  What a blessing to be able to bless another family this Christmas and to teach our children the joy of giving to others in need.

Sunday morning, the kids got to to open their Christmas Eve gift - new pajamas and a new Thomas movie!

Then we got all dressed up for church.  Daddy and Elam even matched!

After the service at church on Christmas Eve morning, we treated our kids and ourselves to a movie!  Our framily joined us.  We went to see "The Star", a retelling of the Christmas Story and Christ's birth from the viewpoint of some animals.  It was very cute!  This was our kids' first big movie theater experience, the only other time being the small theater in Allegan for a movie they'd seen before at home.  It was a pretty big deal!  Baby brother was the challenge, as he woke up from his nap about 15 minutes into the movie and was then restless and busy for the remainder of the time.  It kept Mommy busy for sure!

 

Sunday evening, we spent some time relaxing and letting the kids have some fun before Christmas!

They thought they were pretty clever all "sleeping" under the tree as they waited for Santa.

 

 That tree wasn't empty for much longer, though!  Christmas was just around the corner and the excitement and anticipation filled the house.