Long Nights, Beautiful Sunrises

Enjoying Christmas Treats,

and more Christmas treats.

 Seeing what St Nick left in their stockings!

Today is going to be a great day!

Canadian Pacific Holiday Train

We've been having some crazy warm December weather, so it was nice to get out and see the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train all decked out in lights. From Nov 28th to Dec 18th it travels across Canada, the Northeast and Midwest, and we saw it roll in to the Amtrak Station in Racine on December 4th.

   It drew a crowd like a 4th of July fireworks show would.

 They took a collection for the local food pantry and opened a train car for a concert!

Country stars Doc Walker and Kira Isabella performed some holiday classics.

Christmas Crafts

Cozy Girl Snowman, Movie Star Snowman

Our fabulous Snowman craft using all repurposed materials!

Abigail instructed me how to paint hers and Lydia painted her own!

We had fun making a Gingerbread House,

and playing Gingerbread House.

Our cute little elf named Magic, couldn't help but get into our gingerbread cookies. He's supposed to keep an eye on the girls, but it seems we have to keep an eye on him!

Thanksgiving Weekend

 Before Thanksgiving, Lydia and Abigail helped lick and seal our Christmas cards. Doing that with Christmas music...

  and getting our first snowfall really put us in the Christmas mood. 

BUT FIRST, Thanksgiving!

 Abigail had a parent-led party at her preschool, and Lydia had a 'friendship breakfast.'

The kids sang the Turkey Tango in their turkey hats-so cute-and read us their writing work. I'm proud of my little author!

We then went down to Grandma & Grandpa's.

 We attended the family friend's 'Dobie Dash' 5K in the morning. Abigail got swept up in the group running and really dashed, only to poop out a block away, and with the rain coming down, that's as far as we got.

 We had the big meal at Grandma Jan's, then had dessert at Dan & Kaitlyn's. Will is waiting patiently for his chocolate graham cracker. The girls are digging into pumpkin pie!

Grandma Jan took these three girls to a fun Rudolph play the next day while Mom and Dad did a little Black Friday shopping.

 We went over to Grandpa & Kathy's for dinner. Abigail has turned the corner from being scared of big dogs. She was commanding Ginger and giving treats like a confident big girl!

 On Saturday, we got up to my mom's. We drove through the holiday lights and found out that Santa was seeing kids at the Quarry. It was quite nice...we had hot chocolate and listened to musicians.

Abigail told Santa she wants a doll.

 Lydia explained to Santa that she gave her list to an elf at the Rudolph play.

They were both very happy to see Santa. Gone are the years of scared of Santa crying.

We put up Grandma's tree, then went home to put up ours.

 Only a little redistribution of ornaments was needed.

Lydia grabbed some Christmas decorations in secret and has decorated her room. They both still love the Little People nativity set. Oh yes, Lydia is the Turkey Queen again this year. She was quite competitive with it. Even though some of her entries were drawings of things she couldn't remember what they represented, we couldn't penalize her growing Thankfulness at the time. God's blessings are abundant every day!

Father-Daughter Dance

Daddy & Lydia are off to their first Father-Daughter dance. It's for all the city K-5 girls and their dads. They are to have games, refreshments and crafts in addition to the music and dancing.

Abigail is jealous. "My Daddy. Hmph!"

 But we are going to have our own Mommy-Daughter dance. 

 Light ball, Radio Disney, party dress, and we are all set!

By the end of the night, we are dancing on the tables! ;)  

Abigail is in bed by the time Lydia gets back from her date. She comes home with a decorated crown, pink rose, and says she had a fantastic time! 

picture taken at the dance!

Racine Holiday Parade

It was a beautifully mild night for a holiday light parade. We brought hot cocoa and cookies from home and pulled them out as we waited for the parade to start.

 Besides Oaf and Santa, we saw the Grinch riding a Harley, a live nativity and gigantic walking scrubbing bubbles! (Who knew Johnson Wax headquarters is in Racine?)

Let the holiday season begin!

Don't Break the Ice!

Remember this game?

They get so nervous for the other to knock out a block.

"I can't look!"

"This is killing me!"

But seeing the snow princess fall through the ice is the biggest thrill!