Christmas Time is Here

Last year, decorating our house for Christmas was a completely new experience.  This year, we had it down...or so I thought.  It is funny  how the house seemed perfectly decorated last year, but we still found room for new additions this year.  Even after the garland was hung, the nativity set out, the stockings were placed over the fireplace, ornaments adorned the 11 foot tree in the living room, and the tree in the office lit the front window, how, you may ask, was there need for more?  Well, we live in America after-all, don't we?  So, like true American's, we had to do MORE! 

The were two primary additions.  First came the lights on the outside of the house. That was something we consciously chose not to prioritize last year, so we are so excited to be able to show off our Christmas spirit to all of our neighbors this year. 

The second addition is a much more sentimental one.  Billy's sister Jenni had collected the Hallmark Barbie ornaments for years.  She has quite a collection, and his mom gave them to us this year.  We already have more ornaments than we know what to do with, and I am not exaggerating.  With two trees, one of which takes up half my living room, we still had almost an entire tub of ornaments left over that we didn't hang!  So, the only logical way to solve this problem and ensure Jenni's ornaments are displayed was to get another tree.  Thus, we added another (fake) tree upstairs on the balcony overlooking the living room.  The funny thing is, even with 3 trees, it still doesn't feel overdone.  The even funnier thing is that I don't think it is excessive. Yes, I have 3 Christmas trees in my house and yes I am implying that I still have room for more Christmas decorations!  'Tis the Season!   

Fancy Smancy

When I was a kid, it was a huge treat just to eat at someplace other than our house.  I thought Taco Bell was some of the best food on the planet.  My kids, on the other hand, at 5 and 2 have actually experienced fine dining.  Last night, my parents treated us to a dinner out at Ruth's Chris.  Before thinking we're all crazy, let me explain.  My dad cashed in some credit card points for more Ruth's Chris gift cards than I have ever seen in one place.  They asked if we'd like to go, and we decided that we could go sometime around my birthday to celebrate. 

We tried to find a babysitter, but were unsuccessful.  So, we bravely forged where few parents before us have.  We took our toddler and our kindergartener to a fancy restaurant.  For the past day, we've been preparing Audrey explaining to her what she should expect and what we expect from her.   She wanted to wear her Christmas dress, since we had told her we were eating at a fancy place, and that is her fanciest dress. 

Overall, the kids were surprisingly well mannered.  Audrey had trouble keeping her napkin on her lap because she was wearing a longer dress, and Barrett was completely confused by having 2 forks. All in all though, I am so proud of how little they disturbed the other guests.  In fact, I am pretty sure that the other people in the restaurant didn't notice they were there until we were walking out.

I attribute much of this good behavior to two factors:  bread that was on the table within minutes of us sitting down and smart phones.  Actually, I should just say cell phones in general, because Barrett had more fun playing with my dad's flip phone from 2008 than he did with my phone.  The funny thing is that just before offering the phone to Barrett, my dad offered his phone to Audrey to play with.  She just looked at him and said, "What am I supposed to do with that?"  Clearly, she prefers phones that can connect to the internet, play games, and watch shows.  I guess Barrett is young enough that pushing buttons still makes him incredibly happy.

 

In the end, we all had a great time.  I don't think I'll spread my luck to thin though by trying that again too soon :)

Thanksgiving Boat Rides

Many people spend the weekend after Thanksgiving with family.  Some are decorating for Christmas, shopping, watching football, or just relaxing. In our family, we go boating.  I kid you not, and I have photographic evidence.  We had a great weekend at the Lake of the Ozarks spending time with both of our families.  We also got a new camera with a great black Friday deal and spent a lot of the time experimenting with taking pictures.  Here are some of my favorite shots from the weekend.

Dancing Queen

It has been a long time since I last posted.  That's because it's been a crazy month for a variety of reasons.  Not only are we in full holiday swing, but I was down for about a week with pneumonia, Barrett had a stomach bug, Audrey had a dance recital, I was traveling (twice), and we went to the Lake of the Ozarks with our families the weekend after Thanksgiving.  With all of that going on, posting on the blog completely slipped my mind!

Audrey's dance performance was two weeks ago.  It was a pretty big deal for her.  Not only did she do a dance with her class, but she had also auditioned for a part in the Carnival of the Animals.  She was cast as a kangaroo and got to dance with some girls her age and some a bit older.  It was a great experience for her, and most importantly, she really enjoyed it.  She had some long rehearsals, but did great during them; she just loves watching the other girls do their dances. 

When I saw her in her leotard and her hair pulled back in a bun, I was shocked by how grown up she is becoming.  She isn't even 6, but when I look at her in her dance uniform, she seems so much older than that.

The day of the performance, she actually performed in two shows.  Her grandparents, great grandparents, and great-aunt all came to watch her perform.  She got several bouquets of flowers from her loving family, and looked almost like she would topple over from carrying all of them.  Who knows whether she will ever become a dancer by trade.  Right now, that doesn't matter.  Audrey is having fun dancing and we're having fun watching her.