The Countdown to Christmas

Each year I swear that I'm NOT going to make Christmas goodie plates for our friends. I have always hated baking but David insists it's something we need to do and that he'll help me so I give in. And then I get buried under massive amounts of cookie making and getting everything done in time that the overwhelming stress of it all pushes me over the edge! And yet, once again, I found myself on Christmas Eve this year scrambling to get goodie plates completed.  However, this time around I roped the kids into helping me with some of the work which they were happy to do.
Yummy peanut brittle!

Let the frosting begin!

My little frosters hard at work! I love the look of concentration on their faces!

They did a great job! And we even got Noah to not lick the knife this year between frostings, ha ha!

We had our wonderful traditional Christmas Eve dinner: filet mignon, Caesar salad, cream corn, and plenty of Martinellis.

I found these miniature bottles of Martinellis at BJs this year and knew that the kids would get a kick out of having their own bottle.

Our Christmas Eve festivities included singing lots of carols...

a meltdown from Noah (I asked him to read a snowman Christmas book which he refused to do but then started bawling when Savannah started to read it...gotta love it!)...

reading several Christmas books and the scriptures, including prophesies by Isaiah, the Book of Mormon account, and Luke 2...

and listening to Savannah play her violin. Absolutely beautiful!

It was then time for Christmas Eve jammies! Noah's mood definitely improved when it was time to open gifts.

We love Christmas!!!

After watching Miracle on 34th Street, which none of us had ever seen and all of us liked, the boys headed outside to sprinkle some reindeer food on the front lawn.

One last cute Christmas picture...

and some cookies and milk left by the door for Santa...

and then it was off to bed to have those visions of sugarplums!

The Nutcracker

When I was about Savannah's age I was obsessed with the ballet The Nutcracker with Mikhail Baryshnikov dancing the part of the Nutcracker Prince. I would rent the video weekly from the neighborhood video store and just watch in awe the beauty of these amazing dancers. I would go up to my room and try to replicate the moves I had seen and even convinced my mom to let me try out ballet lessons. One lesson and I knew I would never be a ballerina but I've never stopped being in love with it. David took me to see The Nutcracker years ago in Salt Lake, before we had kids; that was the last ballet I've been to. Last year as I was reading a friends' blog I saw that she and another friend of mine had taken their daughters to see The Nutcracker at the Hippodrome in downtown Baltimore. So, being who I am, I invited myself and Savannah along with them this year and I'm so glad I did because we had a great time.
Our three cute daughters!

The Hippodrome is a beautiful old building, the perfect setting for our ballet adventure.

It was such a fun mother/daughter date!

And we loved being there with friends.

This was the only picture I got in the main room - no pictures allowed!!

The ballet was wonderful, the dancers fabulous, especially the Arabian dancers. I honestly do not know how the ballerina was able to contort her body into the positions she did. Amazing!!

Basketball

Winter brings basketball! Xander was so excited to start his new season with Coach E and the Mavericks! Xander is usually one of the tallest on the team but the kid standing behind him, Judah, is a giant! Good thing he's on our team!

Xander has had some success with his shooting this season and has even hit a few 3's. But the likelihood of Xander making a 3-pointer has gone up since he's started lobbing up more outside shots. One has to go in every once in awhile, right?

Despite a few steals we are still working with him on his defensive skills.

The important thing is for him to learn the fundamentals and have some fun, which he is doing.

Noah missed his first game due to his flu and then I wasn't able to make it to his next game because I was at Xander's. Thank goodness David sent me some pictures so I could see my little basketball rookie. He plays for the Bullets!

He sure is cute out there!

At first he really enjoyed playing and was doing such a great job hustling around the court, getting in to his defensive stance, and trying to grab rebounds. But after the first two games he announced he didn't want to play anymore. He said, "My teammates never pass me the ball because I suck!" Ahhh, it about broke my heart. Thank goodness he has two encouraging coaches who, after I told them Noah's feelings, strived hard to make it fun for him, cheering him on at each and every practice, and involving him in some of the set plays during the games. Once again he is loving basketball!

Winter Concerts

December is always filled with musical concerts and recitals. Unfortunately for Xander he had come down with the same nasty flu that Noah had had so he ended up missing his Christmas piano recital. Savannah was also feeling a bit under the weather but she persevered and was able to do a lovely job playing 'O, Christmas Tree'.
Hanging out with other pianists before the recital;

And a selfie with mom!

Her fabulous teacher, Catherine Washburn.

All the pianists this year...it was definitely a smaller crew.

Thank goodness Xander was feeling much better in time for his winter concert at school. A boy and his sax!

They are definitely still in the beginner stage but they actually sounded decent!

And then it was time for Savannah's school concert.

She's still playing the violin and getting much better!

The concert was wonderful and they even played "Let It Go" from Frozen; Noah groaned when he heard it, ha ha!!

Sickees, Sweaters, and Parties!

Noah hadn't been kidding when he said he wasn't feeling that well. After an afternoon of playing in the snow and then decorating his room, he laid on the couch and started to cry, saying his throat was hurting. By morning he was burning up with a fever and didn't want me out of his sight so I climbed into bed with him.
Snuggling with my sickee!

Unfortunately Noah's sickness kept the two of us from our Dinner Group's Ugly Sweater Party. David took Savannah and Xander and they all had a great time at the Wine's house, eating yummy food and playing games.

David even made his own ugly sweater - the Abominable Snowman from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer! Everyone, including me, was highly impressed!!

Those of our group who truly got into the spirit of the party!

Saturday night was my turn to hit the party scene while David stayed home with Noah. Savannah, Xander, and I headed over to our ward's annual Christmas party for some fun festivities. The kids always love hanging with their friends...

and Xander was extremely eager to tell Santa what he wants for Christmas!

Hope Santa delivers!

Savannah considers herself too old to sit on Santa's lap so she spent some time with Myka Wine decorating gingerbread houses.

Ta da!

With a ward our size and a rather small building, most people spend the evening wandering throughout various rooms to visit Santa or participate in various activities, mingling in the gym while munching snacks, or sitting in the chapel watching the First Presidency Christmas message. This year we had a few special treats - some of the YM played some Christmas songs on their musical instruments for us, which was awesome, and there was a karaoke machine for those who wanted to share their singing talents. The best was watching Elder Chang boogie away to some of the peppier carols.

Snow!

On December 11 we got a nice little snow shower. Although Noah had complained about not feeling that well he headed right out to play. Usually Savannah and Xander would have joined him as well as all the other neighborhood kids but only he and his friend J.L. spent any time outside. I guess the other kids weren't as excited about this snowfall as I though they'd be.

After making a few snowballs out front with J.L., Noah came inside...but only for the amount of time it took to grab his sword. Armed with a snowball and his sword Noah was ready to face whatever bad guys might come his way!

The snow inspired him to create a winter wonderland in his room a little later. Who knew Mom's paper plates would make such wonderful decorations?

And of course with winter comes Santa!

A little snowflake for his ceiling.