She Got the Chicken Pox for Christmas

For the Christmas recital, Emma's class danced to "Chicken Pox for Christmas."  It was such a cute dance and song.  Emma practiced her little heart out and was so excited on the big day.  She had mentioned well before the recital that we would have to put red dots on her but then there was never any notice about it so I figured they changed their minds...until they walked on stage and had the "pox."  I have no idea what they used but eye make-up remover finally took it mostly off and days later, she still had faint red spots.  We decided to take Josh with us this year and he was great and then there was a dance with a boy at which point Josh yelled out "boys don't dance."  Thankfully the music was loud enough that it mostly went unnoticed.  Can you wager a guess as to where he got that idea?

Episcopal Christmas Program

The first week of December was Emma's Christmas program at Episcopal.  They had performances Wednesday and Thursday morning.  The preK-3 students sang two songs and then the preK-4 students got to sing two songs before the 1st graders acted out three cute Christmas stories with the kindergarten helping with the songs.  Emma had been singing and practicing at home for a couple weeks before the program so she was ready to go.  Emma, of course, did an excellent job but I do have to admit that her friend Juliana stole the show.  She is a natural on the stage and I don't think she has a shy bone in her body; I think her Mom would agree with that.  I got to see both performances since I had volunteered to help with the costumes for the 1st graders.  Going in, I didn't realize that it would be a four morning commitment and while I have sworn no more, the program director may already have me on the ropes for next year.  At least I'll know better what to expect.  The nice thing about being there to help out was that I did get to have lunch with Emma one day, which I thoroughly enjoyed! 

Emma next to the superstar Juliana (she was just waiting patiently to unleash for the crowd!)

Doodle's Back

Doodle was back this year and waiting on the mantle with a message written with Scrabble tiles that said "Hi Emma and Josh."  They were so excited to see Doodle again this year although they didn't seem too threatened by the fact that he was reporting back to Santa every night.  Josh could not wait to seek out Doodle first thing every morning and I think Doodle had lots of fun at the house.  Emma also had an Elf at school named Candy and Josh had one named Nick.  We didn't get too many photos of Doodle's antics this year but one morning, we found him like this.

The kids were sad to see him leave on Christmas but he does have some important work to do getting toys made for next year!

Christmas Photos at the Capitol

Since the inside of the Capitol building is always decorated for Christmas, Brad wanted to try and get some photos of the kids all dressed up.  Two lessons were learned that night:

1) It is currently impossible to get a serious photo of Josh.
2) The big ball ornaments bounce really high (we learned this after one was knocked off the bannister of the steps that leads right up to the Governor's office).

Thankfully we did not get ourselves kicked out although they might block our entry next year and in spite of an extra silly Josh who would not smile with his mouth closed, Brad did get some cute, priceless photos that capture their personalities at this time of their lives.

Wordless Wednesday

Start of a New Tradition - Polar Express 2012

We may have found a new holiday tradition.  Early this fall, we booked tickets to ride the Polar Express up in Branson since the kids had loved the movie last year.  We packed the kids up on December 1st and headed up to Branson for a big surprise.  We stayed at the Hilton Convention Center right next to the train station and right across from the Landing, which worked out perfectly.  Our train departed the station at 6:30 so we had an early dinner and then got treated to story and cookies with Mrs. Claus in the hotel lobby before getting the kids into their pajamas and heading over to the train station.

Even after we got to the station, it took the kids a bit to put it all together even though they had watched the movie on the drive up.  Once they realized we were going on the train, they were very excited.  We were seated in the Silver Garden train and were lucky enough to get four seats that faced each other.  Once the train got underway, the first stop was to pick up Santa.  While on the way to the North Pole, we were served cookies and hot chocolate.  After we picked up Santa, we headed back the other direction and the train went past the trail of lights.  During this time, the conductor came through to check tickets and punched a "J" into Josh's ticket and an "E" into Emma's ticket.  Santa also came through to pass out bells.  Once Santa got distributed throughout the train, he stopped back through and the kids got to have their photo with him.  No screaming or crying about being near Santa this year!  After Santa left, the "bobos" (hobos) passed through in their effort to avoid getting thrown off the train by the conductor.  Josh was not a fan of the bobos and even the next day, would still look around nervously at the mention of the bobos.  After a fun ride that included some caroling, we arrived back at the station.  The kids had a great time and wanted to go again; I think we're on for next year! 

Basketball - Fall 2012

Not surprisingly, Josh's team did not make the playoffs though they were not shut out due to one forfeit.  That being said, it was great to see how much progress, Josh and his teammates made throughout the season.  At the beginning of the season, Josh came nowhere close to hitting the rim but by the end, he was right there.  Unfortunately we had to miss the last game since Josh got sick or we might have seen him hit the rim.  He learned a lot of fundamentals even if they weren't always put in to practice.  The important thing is that he had lots of fun out there and even one month plus since his last game, he is still talking about playing.