Baby Maisie, CBS Christmas Songs & Skit

Austin was preoccupied for a couple of hours with these stacking robots!

We ended up with a last minute visit to the pediatrician for Amelia. They were running late, so the kids had been waiting for awhile. I had handed them a pen to draw on the medical paper. It was sweet to see both of them playing games kindly before the doctor came in. 

Friends Ian & Maisie came for a morning visit. Maisie slept the entire couple of hours, waking just before Austin had to get on the bus. As soon as she woke up, Austin went to her to smile at her and talk to her. He was smitten. As he was waving goodbye to everyone, he quietly said "Goodbye Baby Maisie. I love you. Have a good day."

Melt my heart into a puddle. 

Later on, Colleen got super-interested and asked to hold her after Ian did. 

 

I was able to get a video of each one of the kid's little performances at CBS this year. Because attendance was basically cut in half due to all the sicknesses going around, Austin's class made up a last minute skit. This was Colleen's first time on a stage to sing; she is saying/singing many of the words but obviously pretty shy.

Karate Trophy & Fireman Santa Visit

I had come down sick over the week so I wasn't able to take Austin to karate at his normal time. So Patrick took him on Saturday morning. We were all surprised when he came home with a trophy! The karate school was having its adult testing/awards ceremony that afternoon so the sensei was giving out the kids' awards. Austin won the 2018 Best Beginner student. We are all proud!

 

We had heard that the local fire department would be coming around with a decorated fire truck and Santa on Saturday night. At 5pm we heard the sirens starting up; Austin & Colleen rushed outside to wait for the truck. It was the cutest thing to see them huddle together on the front step.

After waiting awhile, we figured out that although they had started at the station in our neighborhood, they were actually going to make our street their last stop. So we had (what we thought) was a few hours to pass. So we ate dinner and settled in for some evening reading. 

 

The fire department posted on their social media account that they would be on our street about 8pm....so we started waiting with everyone in their pjs.  But it took them almost another hour to get to us. We could hear their sirens so we knew they were so close! We told our neighbors about it, so they all came out to join us in the cold wait.

 

It's finally here!

Staying up late tuckered everyone out. This gal slept hard on Sunday afternoon. 

But she was ready to go after opening presents with Grammie & Pappy via Skype! We had our fancy pears/apples/cheese/crackers dinner and then loaded up into the car to drive around and see Christmas lights. We had a better idea of which houses and neighborhoods to look for this year, so it was a lot of fun! 

Christmas Cookies

With all the gifts taken care of, we set out to enjoy some other Christmas traditions on this weekend.

Amelia had earned a breakfast date, so she chose to go to Panera with Mom.

I wasn't sure if the kids could handle this craft project or not, but I pulled out all of our puff balls and thread. They were able to create strands of garland. Then we tied them together and added them to our tree. It was a fun project that we worked on and off all weekend. They both handled the sharper needles with ease. 

After completing our Dollar Tree shopping for their White Elephant gift exchange with cousins, we hit up Chick-fil-a.  

Post-rest time event = cookie cutting and baking 

 

 

 

 

 

Then on Sunday afternoon, we set out to decorate all the cookies we had baked. 

 

And later that evening, Ishita, Rohit & Viaan came for a visit. 

Christmas Preparations & the Nutcracker

December started off busy for us. We worked hard to get all of our Christmas gifts bought or made, then wrapped and shipped. Amelia worked on sewing one.

Austin was my wrapping helper one morning. We knocked out all of our wrapping in one session. When he got bored of taping, he found a paper punch and punched out dozens of circles. So if you receive a present with a punched out circle as a label, it was his grand idea. 

He took all the wrapping paper scraps and wrapped tissue boxes just for fun. 

This girl now insists on putting away the silverware, even if it's her siblings' turn. 

 

Our annual tradition of going to see the Nutcracker. This was a much later performance for us on a Friday night, but it was a 10minute drive, so we thought we'd try it this year. The kids were definitely zonked for the last third, but I was still impressed with how well they sat through and enjoyed the performance.