Lights on the Square

Last night we went to Charlestown to see the lights on the square. I loved seeing how in awe they were of all of the Christmas lights.
Gabriel took it all in.
We were listening to a skit about Santa preparing to take off. The lights were synchronized to go along with the skit playing over the speaker system. As we were listening, we walked around the side of the square. The skit started counting down to take off, and Grace started flipping out! She started yelling, "We're going to miss it! We're going to miss it! Come on!" and running the way we had just come. I'm not sure what she was afraid we were going to miss?!?!
In the midst of her freak out, she saw Santa and stopped dead in her tracks. She had been afraid of Santa until that moment. She shook his hand, spoke to him, and followed him all the way to the little house where he would greet the kids.
See! She sat on his lap willingly and happily. She told him she wants a pink doll house.
Before we left, we took a tractor ride to the park to see the lights there.
What a fun evening!

Fall Pictures

In November my friend Andie did a photo shoot for us, so we would have some great family pictures for our Christmas cards. We are really pleased with how the pictures turned out. Here are a few of our favorites.
This is Dan's favorite family picture.
I love those gorgeous, dark eyes.
His grin lights up my heart.
This is my favorite family picture.
This is SO Gracie!
I love my sweet family.

Thank you, Andie! We love them!

And the Tradition Continues . . .

See our Elf Yourself video by clicking on the title of this post.

Christmas Program

Gabriel's preschool Christmas program was tonight. He was a Wise Man.
Funny thing . . . I had bought a Wise Man costume on-line. I paid quite a bit to have it delivered in time for him to wear it tonight. Well . . . it didn't come. So Daddy went to Target tonight when he got home from work and bought Gabriel a bathrobe. Daddy painted a beard on his face and wrapped his head in a scarf. Voila! We have a Wise Man!
The kiddo next to Gabriel YELLED the songs. It was pretty funny, but I have to say . . . I'm glad it wasn't MY kid acting that way. Haha!
Grace colored during the program. What an artist!
And of course following a school program, there must be treats! Cookies and punch were the perfect ending to a fun activity.

Science Time

Sunday afternoon while Grace napped and Daddy went to the grocery, Gabriel and I did a science experiment called Garbled Marbles.
We had to sort these tiny little "marbles" by color into clear cups.
Then Gabriel added water to the cups. We made predictions about what would happen when water was added. We had to predict which color would grow the largest and what would happen to the colors of the marbles.
Next, we did pH tests on different liquids found in our kitchen like vinegar, salt water, cooking oil, lemon juice, and window cleaner. Then Gabriel practiced a trick with a special piece of paper. He dipped his finger in baking soda water and then placed his finger on the paper. He acted like he was in pain while touching the paper, and when he lifted his finger, it had "bled" onto the paper but leaving no traces of blood on his hand. Oooooooh!
He had to show Daddy his trick when he got home. Daddy was really impressed.
Here are our marbles about four hours later. They had all grown quite a bit. The green ones were originally the smallest marbles, and they stayed the smallest. The darker colors got lighter, but the light colors didn't change much.

Painting

Have I ever said that I LOVE the Target Dollar Spot? I found these little paint by number kits last weekend. It's a picture on heavy paper, a paint brush, and 5 paints.
They pretty much ignored the numbers, but they had a ball painting.
I guess the winter crafts have officially begun.

Computer

During Grace's nap time yesterday, Gabriel played some computer games. He is getting pretty good at using the computer.
He could have played games on the computer forever, I think. He was so content.
When Grace woke up, she wanted to watch Gabriel play.

At noon yesterday, I made the kids turn off the t.v. I do my best to limit their t.v. time. I was doing some laundry when I noticed that they were both really quiet and concentrating really hard on the computer. Of course I had to investigate. Gabriel had figured out how to pull up full episodes of Dinosaur Train on the computer. They were sitting and watching a cartoon. So the point of limiting t.v. time when they can watch cartoons on the computer is . . . ?

He's Making a List

When Santa asked Gabriel what he wanted for Christmas he said he wanted a video game (We had a little talk about the DS.) and an Optimus Prime Transformer (Where'd that come from!?!?!).
Today at school, Gabriel made his Christmas list by cutting out pictures from advertisements. I am not surprised by anything on his list. He seems to want it ALL! He wants everything advertised in the commercials on t.v. lately. I'm excited to see his reaction on Christmas morning . . . not that he's getting it all. I think Santa will do well for him though.

On a Mission

Gabriel got in the car after daycare Tuesday, and he had a mission! He said, "Mommy, we need to go to the fish store (Bass Pro) tonight to see Santa." After giving it a moment's thought I decided that we could probably work that out. It was a perfect time to go to Bass Pro because it was not too busy. There were no lines for Santa, games, or crafts. Even Daddy got in on the games.
Grace painted a snowman sun catcher.
After a few minutes of playing games with Daddy, Gabriel joined us for craft time too.
Gabriel liked watching the train.
After Grace finished painting, she wanted to color.
I think that Gabriel's favorite part --- aside from seeing Santa --- was getting to race this race car. He could have been there all night, if we'd let him.

So, here's the scoop on Gabriel's Santa mission. When I asked him why he needed to see Santa, he said, "I know what I want for Christmas."

"Oh, really. So what is it you want?" I asked.

"I want a (Nintendo) DS."

Oh, Brother!!

Thanks, Cousins!

Anthony and Maria passed down their snow suits to us. They fit perfectly!

Decking the Halls

We decorated the house Sunday afternoon/evening. I love my nativity set. It is my favorite holiday item to put out. Gabriel set out Joseph.
Gracie set out Mary.
We talked about each piece as we set them out.
I bought the kids the Little People nativity set Sunday. I wanted them to have one that they could touch and hold since the other is off limits.
Next, we decorated the tree. Notice that Grace has her corner that she is decorating.
Daddy found a Santa hat to model.
This is Grace's corner. I love how there are a million ornaments in one spot. Though it's been tough on me, I have left them right where she put them.
My busy little decorating bees
While the kids and I decorated with some help from Grandma and Papaw, Dan cooked us a wonderful dinner of turkey, dressing, and green bean casserole.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Coloring

Before going to church Sunday, the kids and I enjoyed a little coloring time.
I attempted a self-portrait of the three of us. Haha!
"Daddy, hurry and take the picture before they kill each other over the coloring book!"