merry christmas!

"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, 'Fear not: for behold, I bring unto you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.' And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.'"

christmas eve

we're spending christmas week in san antonio.  our elf followed us so she can make those last-minute reports to santa before his visit tonight.

we went to mom's church in selma and it was the children's mass where they acted out the story of christmas.  it was really moving for me - hope the girls liked it, too.  we sang all my favorite christmas songs, then headed back to mom's for dinner and to open 1 present.  little sister got a poster of elsa, big sister got play sand (that is NOT supposed to make a mess, yeah right!), and cousin got an RC helicopter.

hope santa likes our cookies & milk!

2014 holiday card

party day

today was a half-day at school before winter break, and big sister partied all morning.  she rotated to all her classrooms, going from a book exchange with snickerdoodles & apple cider in reading/language arts, to making snowman soup while enjoying oreos & juice and watching a movie in math, to making fake snow and an edible "mixture" of marshmallows, pretzels, white & chocolate chips in science, to finally learning about hanukkah and playing dreidel with smarties in social studies.  then they were off to recess.  talk about sugared up!!

little sister's party did not start until 10:00, but they had a brunch feast, made a foam stocking craft, and decorated the tree-shaped sugar cookies that i baked.  yum!

more holiday music

once again, we spent the evening at school - this time to hear the musical talents of the 4th and 5th graders.  as part of the choir, big sister got to perform in most of the songs.  she really enjoys singing - can you tell??

santaland

big sister's choir was invited to sing tonight at the local park - which has been transformed to "santaland" for the month of december.  i must say - it was quite an impressive sight, with a huge christmas tree, santa & mrs. claus, santa's reindeer, and even a snowhill with sledding.

an evening of entertainment

tonight we spent the evening at school and paid homage to the fine arts...first up was little sister's GT showcase where we got to see the board game creation that she and a partner have been working on all semester.  her game is called "find the bell."

 then, in the hallway walking out, we spied some artwork done by big sister - a wintry snowman scene.

  lastly, we were serenaded by the 2nd and 3rd grade classes at little sister's holiday music concert.  lots of jingling bells, ho-ho-ho's and merriment!

little sister had a part playing the bell in one song.

gone caroling

big sister joined her choir friends today for a field trip around town to spread Christmas cheer.  they went to the district's childcare center, the high school, mcdonald's and kroger.  i'm sure it was a nice break from the regular school day.

the nutcracker

we saw the nutcracker ballet for the second time this weekend, with music furnished by the orchestra that grandma j is a member of.  it was just as awesome as the time we saw/heard it two years ago.

field trip time

little sister was SO very excited to have me chaperone her field trip today, especially after i left her for 3 days and 2 nights last month to go to 5th grade science camp without her.   after a rough start (the staff did not have our trip on their schedule) - the kids all had tons of fun.  mild weather helped us all enjoy the outdoor activities they had planned.

advent calendars

we got the girls Barbie advent calendars to use this year.  they get to open a "door" each day until Christmas.  by Christmas eve, they will have a complete matching ensemble for one of their Barbie dolls.  practical, and it's the gift that keeps on giving!

happy thanksgiving!

we spent 4 days and 4 nights at the cabin in oklahoma for turkey day this year.  the girls are always eager to play with their cousins.  the weather was cool but mild for winter, so lots of outdoor fun was had.  and the kids made the biggest leaf pile i've ever seen.  we all ate way too much and did much too little, but that is what the holidays are for, right??

off to work

the girls spent day 1 of their thanksgiving break with my mom, but when she left on tuesday, we were faced with 2 days without child care.  so what better time to take the girls to work?after all, these are 2 uneventful work days when 90% of the office staff is on vacation anyway, but nonetheless they ARE work days....    we pulled the ol' "divide n conquer" trick: daddy took big sister on tuesday and i took little sister.  then on wednesday, we switched.  so i can really only comment on what i did with my "shadows" for the day....

swimming?

the girls enjoyed a swimming birthday party this afternoon at the natatorium.  what a treat to swim at the end of november!

donuts with dad

daddy took the girls to school this morning and enjoyed a "donuts with dad" treat.  he also spoiled the girls with a trip to the book fair.  little sister got a six-book set and big sister got 3 books.
lucky girls!

first snow

last night we had out first snow of the season.  this has become an all-too-common occurrence for this san antonio native - but the girls really LOVE it.

it was only a dusting and nothing was cancelled because of it, but it sure was pretty.

camp JOLT

big sister and i just spent 3 days and 2 nights at 5th grade science camp.  it was a blast!  exhausting, but a blast!  super cold, but a blast!  it'll take a week to recover, but it was a BLAST!!

lobos blue cheer party

big sister's squad had their end-of-season party at main event tonight.  they enjoyed bowling, lasertag, pizza, and a slide-show of photos and videos from the season.  i'm glad she had such a good time cheering this season.

last game

the **sparkles*** last game of the season today (17-1 win over the littles) buttoned up their season with a 9-1 record - almost undefeated!  we'll take a few months off and start back up again in february.

cheer extravaganza!

the girls have been working extra hard the past few weeks to get ready for the EXTRAVAGANZA – the night all the squads come together and perform for parents.  the girls were excited to get dolled up with fancy hair and makeup.  they really did enjoy cheering for the past 3 months and made some good friends.

little sister’s squad did three cheers, then danced to “girls just wanna have fun!”

big sister's squad had an awesome performance.   they were very loud and very polished.