Beautiful Music

One of my favorite events in December is the kids' winter piano recital and this year was Xander's first time playing!

His excitement outweighed his nervousness and he got up there to announce his piece like a pro.

Xander did a fabulous job playing Jingle Bells!

His teacher then joined him the second time through for a duet.

Savannah did a wonderful job playing Go Tell It On the Mountain.

Once the piano recital was finished, Savannah joined her choir group (a bunch of home schooled kids that she takes choir with) to put on a beautiful musical Christmas program.

She had a few speaking parts but one longer part was absolutely the cheesiest thing I'd ever heard; I think I was the only parent who laughed out loud at their child's lines. But seriously, "Baby Jesus, I love you"? It was just too much for me although Savannah delivered it well.

O, Christmas Tree

Jingle and snow were just the beginning...to really get into the Christmas mood we needed our Christmas tree. So, the very first weekend in December, we headed off to pick out an amazing tree. Every year we talk about going to one of the many Christmas tree farms in Maryland or Pennsylvania but this year, just like all the previous years, we opted for the easy trip to the local Home Depot.

It has now become tradition for Noah to pretend to be a Christmas tree for sale.

"We want this tree, Mom!"

Well, since we really can't  tie Noah to the roof of the car, no matter how much he'd like us to, we went with this nice little Douglas Fir.

Once we got home the kids enjoyed going through all the ornaments, remembering each special one from Christmases past.

Time to string the lights...

and then hang the ornaments.

Even David got in on the action and gave me a cheesy smile just for the picture.

The dangers of decorating! (Doesn't Noah's hair rock?)

Savannah's turn to put the angel on the top!

Our cute little Christmas tree!

It's Snowing!

After two very mild winters we've actually seen a bit of snow this year...and the kids have loved it!

Noah is always ready to help David shovel the front steps.

One Sunday we left for church with just gray skies and by the time the three hour block was over, there were about 2-3 inches of snow on the ground! The kids were bummed to get so much snow on a Sunday because we don't play outside on the Sabbath but I assured them it would still be there the next day...and it was.

Although the kids love the snow I'm not a huge fan, especially since we've lost spring break vacation days to make up the lost days of school. Boo! 

Mummies!

To finish up Savannah's Ancient Egypt unit, we headed down to the Maryland Science Center to see the Mummy Exhibit they were hosting.

Out of respect for the mummies, picture-taking was not allowed so I don't have any pictures of the exhibit but all I can say is it was amazing. The exhibit showcased mummies from all different time periods as well as from all areas of the world. Savannah and I took our time going through each section, reading each plaque, examining each mummy, and talking about them. Some of the most memorable were the animal mummies from Ancient Egypt, the mummified woman from Chile that had sores on her that looked fresh (yikes!), the Peruvian woman holding 2 small children, and the amazing hair that could be seen on so many of them. Savannah and I kept talking about how these people used to be just like us - walking around, eating, talking, laughing, and living  life. 

We also got to see a wonderful 3D documentary about Egyptian mummies. 

We had never been to the Maryland Science Center so we spent some time wandering around, looking at some of the other displays. They had some great stuff about space...

and dinosaurs.

Gotta love the ginormous Maryland crab!

Savannah with her grandparents in front of downtown Baltimore on a beautiful December morning. We were so glad that they could come along with us on this fun field trip!

Jingle Time

December 1st rolled in and so did our wonderful (wonderfully creepy) elf on the shelf, Jingle! He started off his month long visit with a fun breakfast of donuts, hot cocoa, and some tasty little candies. The kids were overjoyed to see him!

Unfortunately Jingle was a very lazy elf this year, rarely moving to different spots, and participating in zero exciting or fun adventures! Hopefully he'll be a little more active next year.

No Shave November

One might have noticed David's facial hair growing throughout the past few posts and that's because he participated in "No Shave" November. By the end he was rockin' the Amish beard. I truly hated to see it go!

Thanksgiving

I just love Thanksgiving! It's such a lovely day full of recognizing one's blessings, food, family, relaxation, and football. Who could find fault with that kind of a holiday?

Gotta love Noah's 49er turkey!

Preparing the delicious turkey the good 'ole Schaeffer way.

This year we were even more blessed to have David's parents here to spend the holiday with us.

Another wonderful Thanksgiving dinner!

Niners Game

The Niners have had another wonderful season, heading to the NFC championship game this Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks. One of the highlights of the season for me was the game against the Washington Redskins because David and I were there! With most pro-football games on Sunday as well as high ticket prices, I didn't think I would ever make it to a pro game. However, this year my beloved 49ers team played Washington in DC on a Monday night. We could just not pass up that golden opportunity to attend! I was so, SO excited to go that I made sure we left with plenty of time to spare. Savannah took a picture of us in our Niners gear before we headed off!

We had dinner near the stadium and then just sat in the stadium parking lot, watching all the tailgaters eating, drinking, and dancing around. We were quite surprised to see a lot of 49er fans hanging out as well. Finally the stadium opened and we headed in with the rest of the crowds. It was almost like we were at Candlestick Park in San Fran - I'd say half the fans in the stadium were Niners fans, much to the frustration of the Redskins fans. One Niners fan yelled out, "Who's got it better than us?" And the reply back was thunderous - "NOBODY!!!!"

Since this might be one of the only professional football games I ever attend, I wanted to make sure that I saw all the pregame warm ups. I made sure to take plenty of pictures of Kaepernick warming up since he's Savannah's favorite. Boy, is he ripped!

We checked out the Monday Night Football analysts table and got to see Ray Lewis and Steve Young. Steve was such a nice guy and headed over to sign hats and jerseys for all the Niners fans, of which, as I've mentioned, there were a ton.

Eventually both teams came out for their final pregame warm ups and I took tons of pictures of our favorite players...Kaepernick (for Savannah);

Eric Reid, whose jersey I have;

and Frank Gore for Xander.

The captains meeting midfield...

the National Anthem was sung...

and the game was underway. It was such a great game although it was extremely cold. But no rain or snow which was a definite plus!

So the temperature was probably in the low 20's, high teens, and both David and I, as well as every other person in the stadium, were as bundled up as we could possibly be. However, this guy on the Niners sideline, who must have grown up in the Arctic, felt comfortable hanging out in a short sleeved shirt - no jacket, no coat. David could not stop talking about him and wondered if he had lost some kind of bet or if he was just plain crazy! As you can see he's surrounded by players and coaches in huge jackets and winter hats.  It was freezing!!!

We had such a great time!

Final score, 27-6...the Niners come away with a win!

The players' prayer circle at the end of the game.

I am so grateful that we were able to go! What a fun night!