First things first...a very happy birthday to my Aunt Donna today! She embodies everything you'd wish for in an aunt - generous, loving, and caring, and to top it off, she's one of my most loyal blog readers. Sending lots of love to you today, Aunt Donna!
The birthday girl on the far right
Our week has been hectic, as I imagine most people's have been with Christmas preparations. We have had a few quiet moments at home, but they were few and far between!
I happily agreed when Evie told me to rest on the futon. Roscoe followed orders, too!
Evie having quiet time amidst the pillows
Matt figured out how to get things done while watching Noah
Noah discovered Evie's old piano
The countdown to Christmas is on, and we've been doing a variety of wintry activities, including igloo building, snowflake making, gingerbread house construction, and cookie baking! Evie has also been wrapping A LOT. She is entertaining herself so well with it that I can't bear to stop her, and honestly, if it costs me $3.50 for a roll of wrapping paper, it's worth it. The only down side is that she has wrapped up all of her toys and books from the play room, and we are finding her "presents" all over the house. Her excitement in anticipation of Christmas is contagious, though!
Igloo!
Matt gets all the credit for building this with Evie. We think it will be here until Spring!
Again, Matt's handiwork. It's Olaf from Frozen!
Frosting eating...er, gingerbread house construction
The finished gingerbread house - not bad for our first attempt!
My favorite Christmas cookies - Vanilla Dreams
A small sampling of Evie's gift wrapping extravaganza
In case we didn't have enough going on, Matt and his mom had a gig on the same night at the same bar on Friday night. King Me played first, so we were laughing that Matt was the "opening act" for his Mom that night! I was very sad to miss King Me, but was glad to be able to stop by for Grandma Karen's debut on tambourine.
We had the opportunity to provide music for the ordination of a new priest, Father Lino, at St. Michael's last week, as well. It was a beautiful and moving ceremony, and I am so grateful to my mom for babysitting so that I could be there and play my flute. I was quite proud of the fact that we got both kids and Roscoe packed up, dropped Evie at school, dropped Noah and Roscoe with my parents, we got ourselves ready, and we made it on time for a 9am rehearsal. (Let me also say how glad I am that I don't have to do that every day!) Congrats to Father Lino!
The week culminated with a very fun Christmas party with my extended family. My family is so big that this is one of the few opportunities we have to all get together during the year, and somehow Santa seems to find time to visit the party every year. Evie loved everything about the party. She was brave enough to sit on Santa's lap this year, she gave out hugs to everyone in the family, helped Nana Mil hand out gifts, was singing Christmas songs at the top of her lungs, and cried when we had to go home. Noah loved watching everything that was going on at the party, and he was so, so cute with Santa when he fell asleep in his arms. My niece Carly and I played a few duets on flute and Elliot played Jingle Bells on trumpet. The stress of the previous week melted away as we were reminded of the true spirit of Christmas that evening.
Noah was looking sleepy
Santa said this is the first time he's ever had a kid fall asleep like that!
The kids singing Christmas carols
Flute duet
Note the fancy dancing :-)
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas this week! To quote one of my favorite Advent songs: "Soon and very soon, we are going to see the King!"
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