Disney on Ice

We were very blessed to receive free tickets to Disney on Ice here in Fayetteville last night.  In fact, we joined over 5000 people who were given free tickets...all had a parent/spouse currently deployed.  Disney is here in town, but their show didn't open to the public until tonight; they did a free military show, and it was really great.  A special thanks also to Taco Bell for providing a free meal beforehand for everyone. When I say free meal, it was all you could eat.  They handed you a bag of food, and then they had people walking around the collisieum giving out additional tacos and cinnamon twists.  It was really special for the kids, and they were so excited for the evening.  My parents were gracious enough to come over and watch Alex. The show was late, and I knew he wouldn't do well with that, so I think we all enjoyed our evenings.  Alex got to go out to dinner with Grandma and Grandpa, riding in the truck, and having quality time with them.  I had planned to get a lot of pictures of the kids, but they wouldn't let me bring my camera in.  Now, many others had their cameras, but they said mine looked too much like it could be a professional one, even though all evening, I kept seeing people with the same camera and more elaborate ones than mine.  Don't get me started. So, I was only able to snap a few on my phone, and because it was late in the evening, even my phone didn't have a lot of battery left.  Had I known, I would obviously charged it. Ahhh...seriously, that's how the last couple weeks have been here.

 Madison and Luke really enjoyed their tacos and cinnamon twists.  The cinnamon twists are similar to their beloved churros from Arizona.

 By chance, the little girl that sat down at the table behind us was in Luke's preschool class.  He was so excited to see a friend, and while we waited between dinner and the show, they had fun playing together.

 Madison before the show.

After this, my battery was too low for a picture.  The show was good.  It included the stories of "Princess and the Frog," "Cinderella," and "Rapunzel."

I think even more amazing was to see the place full of these amazing military families, all with a family member deployed.  Wow. 

Preschool Christmas Program

The boys had their preschool Christmas program on Wednesday.  It was very nice, and for the kids, it ws short.  Everyone appreciated that.  The kids sang a few songs, and then they went to their classrooms for their class parties. 

 Alex's class dressed up like presents.  They were some of the cutest costumes I have ever seen.  They used paper bags to create the presents, and then they all wore little elf hats.

 The whole preschool...by luck, Luke was positioned right behind Alex, which was also right by where I was sitting in the pews.

 So happy.  Luke has been asking me for a long time to buy him a shirt and tie. He has really wanted one.  I finally got him one, and he's been calling it his "Handsome Shirt."  When I asked him what he wanted to wear for the Christmas program (instead of his usual go-to outfit of wind pants and a long sleeve shirt), he immediately said the handsome shirt.  He was so excited to wear it, and he really loved the candy cane tie I bought for the shirt.

During class visits, the big guy came for a visit.  Alex was one of the only kids in his class NOT crying when he saw Santa.  He actually really enjoyed him.

Santa

 I feel like singing the song from Dora, "We did it!"  We have a Santa picture with all kids smiling and no one crying!  The kids were very excited to see Santa here in North Carolina.  They all told them what they want for Christmas and asked if he would go see their daddy too. 

Today was a good outing.  We left right after school, so the mall wasn't too crowded.  There was no one in line, which was awesome.  Santa is located right near the carousel, so after our Santa visit, we took a horse ride on the carousel.  Then, we had dinner at one of our local favorites, Rudinos, and we found out they are opening one near our house very soon (yea!!).  It was a good evening.

"Twas the Night

Last night, your church held "Twas the Night," a Christmas celebration for the younger children.  Children were told they could wear their pj's, bring a pillow, blanket, or stuffed animal, and come to hear stories and more.  We had a very nice time.  The kids were very excited for it allday.

The evening started with the story of Baby Jesus' birth.  On Christmas Eve, the kids are invited back for a Christmas Eve service and a birthday party for Jesus.

There were a lot of children there, some from the preschool that we hadn't met before.  After the nativity story, a suprise visitor showed up.  Santa read "Twas the Night before Christmas" to the kids.

 The kids then had the chance to sit with Santa, eat milk and cookies, make crafts, and shop at the $1.00 Gingerbread store for Christmas presents.  Madison reported to Santa she wanted a flower pot, Barbie dollhouse, and an American Girl doll.

 Luke made sure to tell Santa he wanted Legos and a Nerf gun.

 The surprise was Alex.  He wouldn't sit with Santa at Edward's work party, but he was very excited to go up and see Santa last night.  He told Santa he wanted cars and blocks.

Not Quite the Griswolds...

For Edward...

I made sure the house didn't look like the Griswolds on Christmas Vacation.

 Edward, these are the trees I found this week.

Sous Chefs

Edward and I have always made "Popcorn Junk" at Christmas.  It was a recipe that belonged to his dad, and when he passed away, no one could find the recipe for awhile.  Anyways, we've made it the last several years at Christmas, as his dad did, to hand out to his clinic staff.  Well, this year, since he's not home, we still had to make it, but just not the normal 30 or so batches (clinic staff, friends, etc).  Today, we made some, and this batch is going to travel a very, very long distance.  My sous chefs, just home from preschool, were glad to help. 

Christmas at our House

With a new house comes new Christmas preparations.  This post is mainly for Edward to see where I put all of our Christmas stuff since he's never spent Christmas at our new house.

12 years and still going strong.  Our tree has made four major moves, and this is the original box.  I love how there are moving tags all over it from the different moving companies.

 The tree out of the box.  The kids decorated most of the tree, and then I moved the double hung ornaments onto the top of the tree.  I love how our tree is full of decorations from all of our Army travels.

 Clemson Santa and the Snowmen are out by the tree.  They are cheering on our ACC victory yesterday.

To put up the tree, I moved this end table into the dining room. 

Then, I put one of our nativity sets on it.

 Yea, we have a fireplace again for the stockings!

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care..

 The Little People Nativity is on the coffee table (which I know you haven't seen the table either, Edward, so here it is).  Apparently, the kids have Santa, Mrs. Claus, and Rudolph visiting the manger.

 I love our Advent Calendar.  It's hanging in the kitchen on our large cabinet.

 Our addition this year is our Elf of the Shelf, Shephard.  The kids have been enjoying him.

Today, Shephard was found in the kiss jar.

From the move, I haven't been able to find our Christmas doormat, so I "had" to get a new one.  Hope you like it, Edward  :)

I had to decide on my own how to decorate the outside, so I opted to hang these wreaths on the front windows.

Close-up...this is about as crafty as I can get.  I attached the bows to the wreaths  :)

 Edward, you have always made fun of this tree I got from Florida, but it looks awesome right by the garage.  I really, really wanted to hang our icicle lights on the front of the house.  I've done it several years, so it's not like it's a "guy only" thing.  However, due to really tall ceilings/height outside, I would definitely need our extension ladder. We have one of the Gorilla type ladders, and it's way too heavy for me to lug over there to hang the lights.  I'm pretty bummed, but I guess it's just one of those things.  It's not like it feels completely like Christmas anyways with Edward gone, so this tree will have to do.

The most depressing part of this post is here-Christmas in a box.  I'm sorry Edward.  I wish I could do more.  I guess it is birthday and Christmas in a box  :(

A Visit from Santa

Santa came to visit the soldiers' families at Fort Bragg.  Last night, he visited Edward's work, but even though none of the guys were stateside, the wives and kids enjoyed the evening.

Here's my crew ready to go inside.

Luke didn't want to be in the picture.

Madison wanted to show off her dress.

They had a ton of arts and crafts.  My kids loved making all the cute crafts.

Finally, Santa.  Luke was first in line.

Madison was very happy to chat with Santa.

 Alexander was very unsure, but as soon as he saw the other kids with Santa, he wanted to go up and talk to him.  He didn't want to sit with him, but he definitely wanted to tell him he wanted blocks.

 Posing with Santa

Santa was handing out these nice bears, and Alex really wanted one.  He now says Santa is "nice, fun, and good."

The Gingerbread House

Well, Friday after the botanical gardens, we kept up with our tradition of building a gingerbread house.  I don't claim to be crafty, but the kids do have fun. In fact, I'm about as opposite of crafty as you can get (that's why I taught middle school...crafts not required).

We sucked Nana into our building project.  We really needed Aunt Jennifer, who has built the last two houses with the kids, or my friend Carin, who built one with them three years ago.  So, next year, if a crafty person wants to visit, that would be very helpful  :)

 Building or eating?  Adults built, and the kids ate.

 Looking okay so far...

 I have no idea what this design is, but Madison had this side, and Luke had the other.

 I bought the peanut butter M & M's by mistake, and none of us really cared for them, so Luke was more than happy to build with them.  It looks like Madison helped some on this side too.

And, then there was none...they let it sit for about 15 minutes before they started eating it.  Oh well, that's the fun of it, right?