December Christmas Festivities

We did some fun things this month to celebrate the Christmas season. One evening after church we went to see the Piper Lights off Fixit Shop Rd. The boys LOVED it! That particular night Santa had come to their candy shop, so the boys enjoyed seeing him.

Cheesin' with Santa!

With both boys! I wonder what each boy is thinking here...

Riding the train to see the lights (and Henry's "Cheese!" face..).

Brothers! LOVE this picture. 

Sweetie Charlie's cheese face.

We try to get them to stand still and take a picture together.... but to no avail.

Christmas cookie playdate at Amy Grace's house! (This was also the playdate during which Henry tried to ride down a flight of stairs on a tricycle... in a Minnie Mouse helmet, no less. I was very thankful that he was okay. He wailed for a minute afterwards then cried to have his "mot-ah-cycle" back- i.e., the trike).

Working hard!

Happy boy, cutting out cookies and eating raw dough. This was before his Evel Knievil stunt.

That night we had our community group Christmas party, where people brought a delicious variety of appetizers and desserts! I forgot to take a picture, though.

Making gingerbread houses with Granana. Fun times!

Focused!

Mom was in charge of the icing.

I love that he was very intentional about how he decorated everything.

Our sweet-toothed boy with his mouth full of candy! Just like last year, he wanted to keep eating his decorations!

Once again, what we get when we try to take a picture....

I still haven't found a particular Advent devotional thing that seems to be a good fit for our family. I know there is no shortage of resources, but I haven't found our tradition that sticks yet. This year we just read and reread the Christmas story in their Bible a lot, and I was content with that. We are in the process of trying to help the boys learn how to be respectful and focus when other family members are praying, and they like their Bible story time at night. I thought trying to add something else was pushing it a bit. 

Also... no Christmas cards sent out this year, but that's okay too. Maybe next year!