Nate wanted to ride MARTA for our outing. When I mentioned that a cupcake shop was within walking distance of one of the stations that sealed the deal. On the way back I put him in charge of navigating: identifying the right track, the right line, and the right stops. That was right up his alley.
Saving all the frosting for last.
Mommy and Nate
What a great boy!
Meg also liked the idea of lunch at AG, so she and I went together the next day. We arrived at the shop early and she helped me choose some clothes for Kit as a gift for Kate. Mia would have been wearing the green formal in this photo, but Meg graciously let Kit borrow it again as Kate was going to a friend’s house and really wanted Kit to dress up for that outing as well. (Since Kate/Kit received several lovely dresses for Christmas, in the future the borrowing can go both ways.)
Matching hairdos
Mommy and Meg
Precious little Meg!
To all you gingerbread house decorating friends out there: have you discovered the bliss of pre-assembled kits?! This was the most pleasant gingerbread experience yet, due to our already constructed houses (Thank you Maria!) and helped, no doubt, by the advancing age and dexterity of the children. They were quite independent in their artistry, ate a high percentage of the embellishments along the way, and had lots of fun! Kate won the prize for perseverance (read: she was the only one still at the table when I remembered to take pictures.)
A few years ago my parents sent the kids a book containing the Christmas story and striking illustrations. The text is directly from Luke 2. They included with it a cd of my dad reading the story (and ringing a bell for the page turn signals). During the whole Advent season the kids listen to it over and over at home and in the car, following along in the book, and most of them have it pretty well memorized.
This year Nate wanted to recite it at the Christmas hymn sing we hosted. At the last minute he decided (although he had it down cold) he wanted to read it from the Bible. When it was time he hopped right up in front of 50 people and “read” the whole thing beautifully.
This part isn’t included in the clip, but after the final verse he automatically said “The End,” which is how my dad ends the recording. We had teased him before about remembering not to say this, so as soon as it slipped out he got a shy and disgruntled look on his face and sped to his seat.
One afternoon I heard Caleb reading to himself “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” so I snuck over to record him. I wish I could post the whole thing, but it’s too long. This edited version actually cuts out very little of his speaking--just most of the long pauses, back-and-forth page turns, and pondering about what should come next, which really made the whole thing as cute as the talking.
Transcript: “…that doesn’t light up, so I’m taking it to my shop…my dear…I’ll fix it there and bring it back here…and he went to the chimney and stuffed the tree up…and the next thing was the brick for the fire…and the crumb was too small for a mouse…and he did that to the other Whos’ houses…and left crumbs so small for the other Whos’ mouses”
I had fun inventing table decorations for our women’s Christmas brunch. We had a great musical program, and a wonderful chef in our church prepared crepes—yum!! A lovely morning all around.
