Julia had a Thanksgiving feast in her class at school and the parents were invited. They put on a play about the first thanksgiving and Julia did a fantastic job as a pilgrim. It was a lot of fun seeing her in her classroom playing with her friends after the feast.
Julia at her Thanksgiving Party at School
Cutting our 1st Carolina Christmas Tree
Each year we cut our own Christmas tree. The tree farms have some different offerings in South Carolina, and I believe we got some kind of Carolina pine-very different but very pretty. We ended up getting one that was close to 10 feet tall since our ceiling here is much higher, then realized our old stand was not up to the task. After the tree fell for the second or third time, we got a heavy duty one that did the trick. Steve said we could practically run and jump into the tree and it wouldn't budge.
Valerie Helping
Sometimes having a big family makes things easier rather than harder. We are finding that to be the case a lot lately, with Ethan and Valerie being especially helpful with LOTS of things. Here, Valerie is helping with the many pine needles that covered our back yard in the early winter (dressed appropriately as always!). Ethan and Valerie also help out with cleaning up and frequently read stories to Julia and Olivia at bedtime.
Ethan at Cubscouts
Ethan's cubscout pack made these reindeer pots and filled them with peppermints. Then we went to a local nursing home to sing carols and give these out. That night, we got there 10 minutes late and they were already finished with singing. I was really proud of EVJO though- each of them went around talking to folks, hugging, and sitting in laps. Ethan and Valerie also each played a Christmas song on the piano there. This was definitely a highlight of the Christmas season for us. Ethan and Valerie are both excited about going back some time soon to play some more piano for the residents there.
Julia the Angel
The different events at St. Peter's were another huge highlight over Christmas. The biggest was a choral concert given by the entire school, singing arrangements composed by the USC music composition students. Then, EV&J each had a Christmas party (at the same time) in their classes. Julia's class performed the nativity play and Julia was a perfect angel.
Valerie's Angel
Bath Time for the Girls
Ethan Playing His DS
Ethan and Valerie love their DS games.
Valerie Making Crafts
The kiddos got a lot of craft-like things for Christmas. These things were big hits, since it gave us great things to do in the week they were off.
Julia Practicing her Letters
This Melissa and Doug book where you trace the letters with a water filled brush/pen has gotten hours and hours of use by both Julia and Olivia. Julia is doing a great job with learning all of her letters and is now doing some very very early reading. She seems to get it, but hasn't developed a work ethic with this stuff yet. Still, she enjoys attention and time together, so she is totally game much of the time.
Olivia on New Year's Eve
To cap off our crazy year, we had the absolute best time with our wonderful friend's, The Sombats. We met up at Massanutten and so enjoyed chatting and catching up. We also enjoyed an indoor water park, and some of us did some skiing, ice skating and snow tubing. Meggan had planned out New Year's eve so nicely, with different activities for the kids meant to last until midnight. As you can see in this picture below taken at midnight, Ethan was the only child awake to bring in the new year, and not even all of the adults made it!
New Year's Eve with the Sombats
Birdhouse Bonanza
Some more crafts- the kids love building things with Daddy.
Ethan Before His Haircut
As you can see here, Ethan was not too happy about getting his hair cut.
Ethan After His Haircut
Will try to post more frequently!
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