Wrapping up Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas season. So many great memories made. I'll highlight a few of our happenings here...

Mallory and I went to get manicures the day we got out of school for Christmas break. Mallory had had manicures before when she was younger but didn't remember it. She chose gold polish for herself and picked a nice red for me. 

We watched the Christmas parade in town on a cold Saturday morning with friends then went to McDonalds for lunch. 

Say cheese! We went over to Paducah for dinner and to see the lights at the city park there. We ate at Rafferty's which we really like. 

We also took a night to go to Cape Girardeau to eat out and look at lights. We went to Steak n Shake on that trip. 

Paul dropped us at Hobby Lobby a little before 8 and ran to pick up a couple of gifts for the kids. They closed at 8 so we made our purchases real quick but then had to exit the store. We were out in the dark and cold for nearly half an hour!

Our family attended the first annual tree lighting in town. It was drizzly which I believe kept the crowd away but it was a nice event. 

Our kids went caroling at our local nursing home and senior living apts where they had a good night of ministry. It was PJ Day at school that day and several of the kids including Michael hadn't changed:)

We had our church staff Christmas party at a local restaurant for breakfast this year. We had a small gift exchange and enjoyed the company two days before Christmas. 

The PKs!

The kids decorated gingerbread houses. We hadn't done this type in a few years. They seemed to enjoy it. I got the kits at Aldi. 

We did a birthday party for Jesus during our Sunday school hour on the Sunday before Christmas. We decorated cupcakes, lit a candle and sang and also made an ornament. We also used Mallory's nativity and read thru the Christmas story in Luke. 

 The kids both had solos in our kids' musical. Mallory played Mary and Michael sang a few lines to open the song Immanuel in "Isaiah Jones and the Lost Christmas Treasure". 

The church staff attended the district Christmas party at Cowtown in Bloomfield. Paul played Elvis and sang Blue Christmas. He was a good sport. 

Michael picked a funny place to write his letter to Santa. 

He also performed with the second grade class in their Christmas program which was held at the church. 

We ran into Santa at Wal Mart one afternoon so took a minute to sit and chat with him. 

Emmy and Lyndi came over for our 4th annual ornament painting party. 

We watched a lot of Christmas movies on tv. Paul always took care of recording what was coming on so we could enjoy them at any given time. 

My family came in for Christmas and I have quite a few pix from their visit so I will do a follow up post on that. 

The Elves' 10-20

Our elves, Quickly and his new pal Snowflake, have been showing up in all sorts of places this Christmas season. Here are just a few of the examples of what they've been up to when Mallory and Michael have found them first thing every morning!

Mallory and Santa

Mallory is feeling a bit more self conscious about sitting on Santas lap. We ran in to the jolly old guy at Wal Mart the other day and of course I encouraged them to go up and talk to him. Here's the evolution of the visit...

On a side note we ran into a co-worker of mine there with her twins so I had to snap their picture as well. 

Elf on the Shelf Cookies

I was asked by a gal to make some Elf cookies so I whipped these up. Not my best work but hopefully they did the trick.  I always use buttercream to frost my cutouts but these required royal icing. 

I used an ice cream cone cookie cutter upside down for the head and hat and then used the feet part of a teddy bear cutter for the collar. 

Leslie's Winning Sweatshirt

Leslie, the preschool teacher who I work with, made this sweatshirt nearly 20 years ago when she was teaching 4th grade. She would wear it when she read A Christmas Carol to her students. All these years later she still has it and loans it out to friends to wear to Ugly Christmas Sweater parties. Last week our staff had our own and sure enough Leslie won the contest and a $25.00 gift card.

 It's quite the hit for what I think are obvious reasons. 

Strange

We ate at Steak n Shake in Cape last night and I saw something a bit odd I thought. A lady came in who looked rather plain and simple:

But when I glanced down at her feet, this is what I saw:

Would you ever have thought this woman would be wearing shoes like that?

Isaiah Jones and the Lost Christmas Treasure

Our kids have been working hard at the church to prepare for our upcoming Christmas musical. Tonight was the last rehearsal before the dress rehearsal on Saturday. They perform the program on Sunday night. 

Mallory is singing a solo as Mary. She does a beautiful job. Michael also has a really good solo. We're so proud of them of course. 

Our children's pastor Dawn Walters is so wonderful. She pours her heart into the kids. We are blessed for sure!