Holidays

The holiday season, beginning with Halloween, has flown by. I kept the Disney magic alive as long as I could and borrowed a costume from my friend to be Snow White for Halloween. Violet dressed up as Cinderella, Sam was a mime, Ruby a peacock, and Owen wanted a costume that would include a really big gun so we went with army. Since we only have seven houses on our street, Scott took the kids to another neighborhood and they got lots and lots of candy! We didn't get any trick or treaters at our house, which was was expected, but kind of sad. At least our neighbors got four.

Thanksgiving was delicious. Thankfully, our friends invited us again for dinner for the third year. She says she can't have Thanksgiving without my sweet potatoes. We also continued our pie tradition. Sam made strawberry pie, Owen made chocolate, Ruby made apple, Violet made pumpkin, Scott made chocolate pecan and Bethany made buttermilk. I thought we would be eating pie forever, but it only took a couple after dinner desserts and it was all gone. 

Christmas this year was very musical. Back in October, I auditioned and was accepted into the Eastern Connecticut Symphony Chorus. My first concert  in the group was the Saturday before Christmas and it was amazing to be a part of. I loved singing with the orchestra! The music was challenging and our weekly rehearsals really helped stretch my vocal abilities. At the end the audience sang along with some Christmas songs and we finished with the Hallelujah chorus.It was powerful to hear so many voices of people from all backgrounds singing of Christ's birth. Sam and Scott came to my concert and even brought me flowers.

The symphony chorus at Harkness Chapel. The orchestra is sitting below and hard to see over the audience. I especially liked listening to the violins and the flutists. 

  

I sang a solo in church a few weeks before my concert and then was asked to play the flute for another number in church the following week. They asked Scott to sing in an ensemble for church and surprisingly he said yes. 

At our ward Christmas party they asked our family to perform. Scott played guitar, Sam sang and Owen learned the drums for Blue Christmas. They did really well, especially for only having a couple of practices. Ruby was too shy to perform, so we let the boys take over.

Sam wanted very much to go caroling this year. I made some Christmas treats and we took them to all of our neighbors (we only have seven, so I figured we could handle it).  It was fun and a good way to get acquainted, since it is our first year in the neighborhood. 

I made matching skirts for all the girls this year. I didn't get them done by Christmas, but we wore them on the first Sunday of the new year. We already all had black tops and red shoes, so that was fun. I bought the fabric last year, so I'm glad I finished a project.

Also, for Christmas we had a baby. Some friends of ours left their darling 4 month old baby boy with us while they went on a cruise with their extended family (babies under 6 months aren't allowed). I was diligent and got all the Christmas shopping and baking done before the baby arrived, so that I could focus on taking care of him, which I'm glad I did. He is a really good baby, but did not sleep for me very well. It was an adjustment having a little one again. Violet and Sam adored him, Ruby thought he was cute and Owen tolerated his presence. Violet kept kissing him and hugging him and Sam was very helpful holding him while I fixed dinner. 

On Christmas Eve we usually open up new pajamas, but I felt the kids had plenty, so instead I got them each a Disney ornament to remember our Disney year. I also made a photo book of our fun vacation, so hopefully they won't forget where all the money went this year!

We spent New Years with Scott's family in Virginia. We left at 4 am and arrived by 10 am. We packed up the night before, put the kids in the car with pillows and blankets and they slept until about 7 am. I made muffins the night before and packed juice boxes for breakfast. We stopped once for gas and potty breaks and the drive was over before the kids could start really complaining! The kids had a great time seeing cousins and Grandma and Grandpa Jensen. We also went to the National Zoo. We didn't get to see the baby panda, but we did see the tiger cubs and bear cubs. They were very active on such a cold day. The bears were playing around and reminded us of our own little cubs when they like to wrestle with each other. Scott also got to use his new cool camera lens for some great close up shots.