Merry Christmas

We had a lovely Christmas.

Santa came!

Peter is ready for duck hunting with Daddy!

American Girl dolls were at the top of the girls' lists. Caroline got the newest historical girl "Caroline" and Helen got a Bitty Baby, which she named "Helen".

Santa remembered to leave a treat for Tigger.

This was one of the only things Helen asked for - a "blow flute" just like her music teacher's at school.

Peter got lots of wheeled things. And balls. Hooray for boy things!

Princess karaoke

Our gift to each other was a new piece of artwork for our family room.

It was unintentionally a merry "Grizz-mas", due to all the gifted Grizzlies items. It just kind of happened. Peter got a mini Grizz from his sisters. Helen wanted to get Daddy a flag (no idea where that came from), so I ran with it and got him a flag pole set up and the official NBA Grizzlies flag. Not pictured is Kevin's new Grizzlies polo shirt Caroline picked out for him. Helen's favorite player is Mike Conley. Kevin found this jersey on sale several weeks before Christmas. She is really proud of it and has hopes of meeting Mike to show it to him. And I love scarves, so of course I love my Grizzlies arena scarf! I'd say we're all fixed up for game days!

Evidence of Christmas good times

It was just the 5 of us here at our house for Christmas eve and Christmas day. Kevin worked through Christmas day, so we celebrated with our families both before and after the actual holiday. Honestly, I kind of like stretching the holiday out for as long as possible. I think the kids do, too. Who doesn't love 4 different celebrations with loved ones?

~~~~~

As for all of the musical happenings, they all went well. I closed out Christmas Eve services with a midnight postlude that, although quiet, was so fitting. This tune appeared again and again in my musical involvements throughout the month. I took that as God giving me a not-so-subtle reminder. I don't know that I did the best job, but I tried throughout the month to reflect on the words of this hymn and remember that my ultimate goal here on earth not only at Christmas but every day is to rejoice in Him!

In dulci jubilo:

Good Christian men, rejoice
With heart and soul and voice;
Give ye heed to what we say:
Jesus Christ is born today!
Earth and heaven before him bow
And he is in the manger now.
Christ is born today! Christ is born today!

And because I'm a good music nerd, I looked up the English translation of the original Latin. I love the line about our hearts' joy lying in the manger.

In sweet rejoicing,
now sing and be glad!
Our hearts' joy
lies in the manger;
And it shines like the sun
in the mother's lap.
You are the alpha and omega!

May He be our hearts' joy not just at Christmastime, but every day! (And I'm counting that as my happy 2013 to all of you!)

Thanksgiving

We had a really quiet Thanksgiving. With the busyness of the Advent and Christmas season right around the corner, I was very thankful for the restful and relaxed atmosphere!

We are incredibly, awesomely, unfathomably blessed!

My menu included cranberry bourbon turkey tenderloin, dressing, mashed potatoes, candied carrots, and brussels sprouts. It was all a hit, except for the brussels sprouts, which no one but me cared for. Oh well. It was worth a try. For dessert, I made pumpkin bread pudding. Yum.

We took the kids down to the Peabody to see the ducks march. It's kind of crazy - you wait and wait and wait and the actual march takes all of 5 seconds. But the kids thought it was the cutest, most exciting thing ever and spent a long time watching the ducks swim in the fountain.

Fail

I'll close with a little Thanksgiving entertainment from turkeys numbers 1 and 2. (It's kind of long - you'll get the idea after the first or second verse.)

A birthday, a trip to the farm, and a revival

Our weekend could not have been packed with three more diverse activities!

First was Elizabeth's birthday party. These two have been friends since they were born. I love that they are growing up together. Elizabeth's party was packed with all the things little girls love - princess costumes, tiaras, jewelry, glittery cookies, manicures, pink punch, and giggles.

Elizabeth was feeling particularly silly!

Saturday afternoon we headed out to the Halford's farm for a fall festival. I think everyone's favorite activity was riding the horses, even though for Caroline cooking her own hotdog over a campfire was probably a close second.

Caroline was in heaven! She listened intently to everything Dr. Halford said and did a great job! She was so proud of herself!

Helen loved it, too. She said, "I was so brave riding the horse!"

Dr. Halford is so great with all the kids.

Then Sunday afternoon, I joined my fellow church choir members at the Victorian Village Tent Revival. We sang a few pieces and then walked over to The James Lee House for a special reception and tour. My sweet friend and organ mentor Jennifer and her husband are in the middle of planning a huge renovation to the house. Hopefully, the B&B will be up and running by late next summer! It's going to be so beautiful and I can't wait to see it!

The original part of the house (now the back) was built in 1848. This front facade was added in 1878.

The girls are standing in front of one of the two magnificent marble fireplaces in the parlor.

It was a busy and fun weekend! Now I need a nap...

Fall break

The girls had fall break over this past weekend. We didn't go out of town, but stayed in and enjoyed some Memphis activities.

Peter had school on Thursday, so I took the girls to do something we wouldn't attempt with him in tow: painting pottery. They had so much fun. Caroline painted a cross treasure box and Helen picked a piggy bank. Helen was very worried about leaving Piggy behind to go in the fire, but I'm happy to report we picked him up and he was just fine. I treated them to lunch at Cheffie's afterward.

Friday, we got up and headed to the Licterman Nature Center. We had such a good time exploring and strolling around the lake there. It was a beautiful morning. Caroline participated in a 1st and 2nd grader group project at school several weeks ago. They designed and built a scarecrow. She was so proud to see their hard work on display.

 

Monday was the last day of fall break. I was grateful for an email from my friend Brittany inviting us to join her and her boys and some other friends at the zoo. My usual Monday morning activities are the grocery store and laundry. I'm so glad I neglected those tasks for a fun time with friends at the zoo!

It was a good fall break. I'm already looking forward to the next day off of school so we can have another Memphis adventure!

The fair

We went to the fair for two reasons: to check out my dress and to have some fun!

 

Best family photo ever

We went to an artist reception for our friend David Butler and a lady at the gallery offered to take our picture. I have no hopes of ever replicating the success of this picture! You may be seeing it in your mailbox December 2012. And December 2013.

We love David and his sweet wife Hillary, who is also an artist. Our families' lives are interconnected in some pretty neat ways and we are blessed to call them friends.

Beach week 2012

We had so much fun at the beach this year! Our week started out a little iffy because of tropical storm Debby. Luckily, she turned in a different direction. We had one nasty, rainy day and one cloudy day. The rest of the week was sunny and beautiful.

We spent as much time on the beach as possible. Bryn and I had a shopping day and the guys had a fishing day. We were all sad to leave and I'm counting down the days until my toes hit the sand again!

Peter's first wave

Peter needed a little nap on the beach.

 

Peter loved the beach. He crawled around in the sand and splashed in the surf. He ate a lot of sand.

Our last day at the beach Caroline got stung by a jellyfish. It was pretty traumatic at the time, which is why I was glad she made this light-hearted drawing of the jellyfish when we got home. She talks about it now with a little pride in her voice. I'm hopeful that one bad experience hasn't ruined swimming in the ocean for her.