Sleepout Under the Tree...

One of my favorite traditions...we actually did it twice.  Once while Geoff was gone, but it was unofficial, meaning we did not watch the normal movie we watch.  We started several movies from Netflix (Christmas ones) and ended up turning them off b/c they were so dumb and silly.  We ended up watching Rudolph that we had tivo'd.  The world need some more quality Christmas movies.  We have watched them all.

 

Take one...

Then we did the 'official' sleepout when Geoff was home.  Watched the Grinch cartoon movie and Elf.  I slept in my bed that night though.  One sleepout is enough for me.

 



Cookie Making...

I used a different recipe this year because I never like how the cookies we make actually taste. 

These taste good!  I didn't use their icing recipe though, fyi.

 

Icing KINGS.  And Noah was the sprinkle KING!

See those sprinkles?



We have a lot of cookies to eat!  These aren't the kind that you necessarily share with others.  ;)



Gingerbread Houses...

I love the kit that has 5 little houses in it.  Perfect for these five who have their own idea about how a gingerbread house should be decorated.

I also saved some of our halloween candy for different decorations.

 

More Christmas Happenings...

Geoff was gone all of last week to Tampa, FL.  We made ourselves busy while he was gone.  We finished up school loose ends for our Christmas break (yay!) early in the week.  Monday we went to visit my great aunt Polly Anne in Winston-Salem.  I did not get a picture with her, but we helped get some of her Christmas decorations out and then went to eat at Pizza Hut.  It was a fun time to spend with her.

 

On the way home the kids and I went to the Tanglewood Festival of Lights.  I grew up playing at this park, but have only been to the lights once when they first started doing it years and years ago.  The kids had never gone.

We enjoyed it, although it was quite a long and slow process driving through, and it made for a late night for us.  Worth it one time maybe, but not again for a while.

We went to the nursing home we help at sometimes on Tuesday.  A local high school show choir was coming to sing, so they needed help wheeling folks to the activity room.  That job was right up the kids' alley, and they were all very helpful and had good attitudes (visiting the nursing home is not all of their favorite activities, which I can understand...I hated it as a kid but now really enjoy it, and hope they see the value in it too, even if it's years down the road).

 



I wanted to treat them afterwards, so we went to one of their favorite places for lunch, Honey Baked Ham, who has a sweet lady there that knows our faces and lets us use 3 buy-one-get-one-free coupons! ;)

This guy loves a good cheeseburger or good sandwich. I mean LOVES.

Walk Thru Bethlehem...

We went to this several years ago and I have wanted to go back ever since.  Walk Thru Bethlehem at Camp Wesley.  It is really a neat thing.  The down side is that you have to wait (but it is pleasant waiting) for about an hour to have your turn, but it is free (donations accepted) and they give out candy canes and hot chocolate (donations again), which makes the waiting almost painless.

 

 

 

Each group has a guide and they give you a 'shekel' at the beginning and you walk through the town of Bethlehem, and soldiers are walking around and make you pay taxes with the shekel.  You go to different 'buildings' like bakery, carpenter, basket making, etc. and each person in them tells you about what was going on at that time, and there is talk of the baby being born, etc.  It all builds up to this scene (which I was told afterwards that pics were not allowed...woops).

 

It is cold and dark when we do this, and there is always something so surreal about seeing the stable and manger and live animals and a real baby that is crying and cooing and moving around.  Really helps you imagine the real thing. 

Love this and am so thankful these people keep putting it on year after year.  It's usually only for two days, and I recommend going at night rather than daytime.

Christmas Tree and Scrooge Play...

This is year #2 with our fake tree.  It's super nice on the allergies and cleanliness, but I still miss our Christmas tree trip and the feel of a living tree in the house.  We decorated the tree the weekend after Thanksgiving.  I love our tree, even though you can see the trunk thru it.  You must have to pay 500 bucks for a tree that you can't see the trunk of.

More snack deliveries...

We went to see Scrooge at Imagin-On.  It was good!