After karate tonight I took the kids over to La Salette to see the lights. It was very dark, but not too cold, so we had a great time! We looked at the lights for awhile, then headed indoors to check out all the beautiful nativity scenes from around the world. I took many pictures, but my lousy phone didn’t save them all, so I have just a few.

The lights are so pretty.

A nativity from Germany. There are so many beautiful ones there. I wish my camera had all of the pictures I took!

We went over to the big outdoor manger, where Mary and co. patiently await Baby Jesus. I know every year that the baby isn’t there yet, but somehow I’m always surprised too. This year someone left a little gift to keep the baby warm.

Sweet baby mitten!

Then we snuck into the snack bar and warmed up with hot cocoa, Cheetos, and popcorn while we continued looking at the lights through the windows.

My other indoor picture was much better. :(

Every year I try to go to La Salette on Christmas Eve, since we’re in the neighborhood anyway, and most years it’s stressful and rushed. Tonight was perfect. Not too cold, no time frame, we took our time and left when we were ready. Happiness is.

We made our first round of holiday treats this afternoon, with help from Mema!

Then, of course, we had some of this.

I had my holiday concert for school so Mema stayed with the kids.

Happy weekend!  (I only work four day weeks, so the weekends come early!)

Here is a quick look back at the past few days. We have officially entered the busy holiday season (unlike the busy sports season, or the busy summer season) and life is moving by quickly!

Thursday night was the school concert and Friday was Alan’s company party. He got an award for being with them for fivve years. He also got a lot of attention for his holiday décor. He seems to be pretty well loved at work. :)

You can tell he works for a big corporation. Had this come from the local office it would have said something different. :)

On Saturday Alan went to a conference while the kids and I had some fun on our own. It started with Eve pretending to be a cat for several hours. She took it pretty far!

Kitty Eve doesn’t fit in the laundry basket quite as well as Daisy does.

Don’t worry, she’s eating craisins, not cat food!

I took the kids to karate, then we stopped by Alan’s diner. It’s not really his, but it’s where he goes every Saturday morning while the kids are in karate. The diner staff were excited to meet the family of “eggs benedict and a large grape fruit juice.” Hahaha…

The waitress suggested we take a picture and send it to him. He laughed.

She’s a classy date!

After lunch we did some painting at the pottery studio. There were several holiday craft fairs going on and the Gingerbread Festival, but alas, we were tired and headed home after painting. I was a little bummed to miss the Gingerbread Festival and not see all the cool houses people made. Maybe there will be other craft fairs we can check out next weekend. ‘Tis the season, after all!

Sunday we got our Christmas tree.

It was a misty, mizzly morning… well, all day really! There was intense fog most of the day and into the next day.

Our little tree. <3

While the boys put up the tree, Eve and I went to Clara’s Dream and Tea. I’ve been wanting to take her for years, but I never got tickets. Last year I was so excited that I got tickets, but then Lex’s FLL championship was the same day so we had to sell them again. Sad. I think I might have missed the peak opportunity for this with Miss Eve though. If you’re going to the ballet (Clara’s Dream), you can also buy tickets to Clara’s Tea, a sweet and fancy tea serve at the ballet studio nearby. Everyone dresses up in fancy clothes, drinks tea, eats scones, and meets the cast of the ballet. Eve was only mildly interested and wanted nothing to do with dressing up. She ended up putting on a somewhat dress and we discovered (again) that she has no dress shoes. She didn’t want any jewelery and wouldn’t let me touch her hair. Oh well. I got gussied up and we had lots of fun.

She’s so silly!

Pretty ladies at a tea party.

They served tea, scones, sandwhiches, desserts, and even gave out little presents. This girl dances in the ballet and she brought around a basket of gifts for each little girl.

Eve with the Russian dancer and “Hot Chocolate” from the ballet.

I was beat after that, but the kids were itching to decorate, so I made them eat dinner and shower, then we broke out the decorations, put on some tunes, and relaxed into the holiday spirit.

Who are these big kids?!?

The front camera on my phone is awful! The colors are so washed out, and for some reason the picture is sideways. I’m not going to fix it now. Sorry.

I tried using the regular camera and just guessing at the aim, ya know, the old fashioned way, but we were too silly and wobbly for that to be useful.

Our beautiful tree.

Monday we skipped karate (shh… don’t tell!) and decorated the house.

Peaceful

Happy holidays!

Advent boxes are up! Fa la la. 

This year I went with coupons. (Thanks Mom!)  And candy, of course. 

I hope the kids like them.  They love the advent boxes and look forward to them each year.  This year they were hoping for puzzles, and Legos, and tiny toys.  All the things they’ve had in past years.  :-)