The Spirit of Christmas is Alive

This is the eighth straight year that Sarah and Kelly have taken a day to dip chocolate. It is crazy to think we have been doing it for this long. Although the day itself is beyond enjoyable we might need to pick a different activity since now you can buy almost every single thing we once thought was a rarity. Regardless, it was another wonderful day for the two of us and our families certainly appreciate the product.

As a special treat, Sarah surprised Callie with a pedicure before her second Coto dance of the year. The color choice was Holly Jolly Red, which was a perfect pick for the Peppermint Ball.

Callie wasn't sure what to think about all of the scrubbing and massaging of the feet, but appreciated the fact that her feet were much smoother in the aftermath. For a girl who has played non-stop sports, this was probably more necessary than her mom wanted to admit.

Callie tried one outfit on for the dance and it was a perfect fit. She was very comfortable in it which made her first attempt at wearing heels that much more forgiving. And while we didn't want to admit it, the whole look also made her appear older. She also soon found out that her attire was also perfect in relation to her friends who had purchased dresses that were less forgiving in terms of her length. Callie was prepared to assist with picking up dropped items and was more flexible with positioning for photo ops.

For this dance, one mom hosted a dinner for her son, his friends. It was a very generous move since this meant she had twenty eighth graders around the table. 

We do have to say that from our experience this is a good group of kids. Yes, they are middle schoolers, but they are not too crazy. The dance itself sounded like it was fun, though from Callie's report there was not necessarily a whole bunch of dancing went on. 

This year Reese was asked to assist with lighting the advent candles at the beginning of our church service the day after her birthday. As part of that activity she along with two other children led the congregation in the welcome to worship. She was very good at her task and clearly feels comfortable at our church, which is important to us.

As the preparations for Christmas continued, Reese was especially interested in decorating gingerbread houses this year. Indeed, she had been bitten by the crafting bug for much of December, and by this time had already made and wrapped a number of presents that were underneath our tree. 

However, when we went to go and get our gingerbread houses, we couldn't find the prefabricated ones we typically use. This meant we had to get the "some assembly required" kit, which brought back some memories of Christmases past when the activity went awry.

Fortunately, the girls are older and more crafty. We were able to put them together and still get gobs of candy on the gingerbread structures. On our outing to find gingerbread houses we also found matching pajamas for all four of us. Since the Grinch is one of our favorite Christmas movies it seemed only fitting that we now all have PJs suited for watching that film.

With everything going on in our lives, it is sometimes difficult to stop and take a breath. In part because of Reese's desires, however, by the second week of December we were all starting to feel the spirit just a little bit more than usual.

And truth be told, the Grinch pajamas are pretty comfortable. We look forward to a Christmas movie night in Christmas PJs being added to our Christmas traditions.