Back to the Manger

"It's time to get back to the tiny gift born in a stable...The heart of God, born in Bethlehem...
Back to what matters. Back to what is real. Back to a Savior. Back where wisemen kneel...























Back, back, get back. We're going back. Back to a starry night. Back to the manger. Back to a Gift of Life. We're going back!"


The Sunday before Christmas was the Kingdom Kid's Choir musical at church. Even without the music behind them, the words are so sweet! Alyssa and Emma love Kid's Choir so much! They sing the songs and act out scenes from the performances for months after they are over. This year the musical was called Back to the Manger, and it was a cute and funny spin on the Back to the Future movies. All of the children did such a great job!

Thank you very much, Tracie, for these next few photos. {Tracie takes the best pictures!}






For the preschool program, Kamele's class dressed up as sledders. On stage for the Christmas programs, she always looks like such a baby, but this year she seemed so big!


I can't believe that next year will be her last preschool program. While this year's costume was pretty simple, I remember putting together some really complicated outfits for these little five minute performances over the years :-) It doesn't even seem possible that our girls are so grown up we won't have to think about that anymore. Maybe I should consider some time travel of my own.

A Little Angel

The Saturday before Christmas we were invited to a party hosted by the cultural club that Rebekah takes German dance with. We weren't planning on going because we just recently joined the cultural society and we didn't know anything about the party or what a special treat it is for the children. During a weekend that we already knew was going to be quite full, we didn't think that Rebekah would mind missing it.

Then came the Thursday before the party when their dance practice was a rehearsal of all the songs the children would be singing that night. Rebekah sang all the way home and she sounded so excited about it, that I asked Dave if we should reconsider going...and I'm so glad we did!
 
Rebekah has learned the traditional dances from a sweet little girl named Ava who has been so patient with her. And no, we did not coordinate their outfits for the party :-)


We've only been going to German dance for about two months, but it is such a fun way to learn more about German culture. The teachers are pretty strict, in a nurturing kind of way, and they speak loudly all the time. Rebekah loves it!


 Singing Christmas Carols.


After dancing and singing, the program part of the evening culminated in the children staging a nativity scene while one of the teen members read the story of the birth of Jesus.
 The girls in Rebekah's class were the angels.


 




















"The Littlest Angel." We recognize and appreciate that the girls' school is unique from many public school experiences (it's not perfect, but we certainly have a lot to be thankful for!). While this was not a school sponsored Christmas party, the school and Rebekah's teacher simply happen to be how we were introduced to the cultural society, it was great to see so many school friends and classmates celebrating the birth of Jesus together.

What a great Christmas party we would have missed had we decided not to go!

Christmas Morning, Children Waking...

to hear the sacred story told...Joy to the World, the Lord has come! {oh wait, that's a line from a song related to a different post that I'm very late in putting together :-)}

Christmas Eve gingerbreads the girls made:
Alyssa worked so hard on her proper ginger man wearing a tie and her sparkly ginger girl, Emma made a St. Nikolaus that she loved, and Rebekah coated the Gingey Twins in sprinkles. A sugar overload with all that frosting and sprinkles, but so cute!


Sleepy eyed, excited girls.


Sweet Ka'iulani spent all her classroom dollars to buy her little sister this precious puppy in their most recent 5th grade auction. She was so excited for Kamele to open her present, and she also made Kahiwa a fleece poncho. I always help the girls get each other something small for Christmas, and I was so touched that having her own resources for the first time this year, her first instinct was to get her sisters something special. She didn't buy anything for herself.


 Excitement over zoobles, pretty necklaces from Aunty Kui and Uncle Tommy (Thank You, Thank You!), and fleece! Thank you also to Aunty Ku'ulei, Uncle Addison, and cousins for the beautiful kimonos and bracelets, I know what we will all be wearing to church during missions week this year.


Fluffy pink robes from Great Mommy and Great Daddy ~ the girls loved them so much that they wore them most of the day. I don't think Emma took hers off! Thank you, Great Mommy and Great Daddy!


We never heard of the German pickle ornament tradition until after our girls started school, but I've come to learn that lots of families have some variation of this tradition. There is supposed to be one pickle ornament hidden on the tree, and whoever finds the prized pickle, gets an extra gift. Well, in order to avoid a Pickle Battle Royale, we bought three pickles when we were in Epcot, Germany. And while we took the "competitive" aspect out of the game, it's always fun to watch the girls find them!


The girls big gift from us was Band Hero. They love to sing, and apparently, we have a couple of aspiring drummers too. After playing several songs, we practically had to pry the drumsticks out of their hands to pack up the car and head to my parents house. Time went by too quickly at G & G's, as always, but it was a great Christmas!


 "Uncle Teddy Bear" and Emma by the tree.


 The girls love the Pillow Pets that he brought them!! Thank you, Uncle Ted! The girls have been asking for Pillow Pets for such a long time and you picked out the perfect pets for them.


 Alyssa was so excited about this cute sweater outfit and boots combo from G & G!


 Emma loving her cute Panda that she named Poof, and her new books. Probably two of her favorite things ~ stuffed animals and books!


 Rebekah with the teeny tiniest stick on finger nails ever made! We will have a lot of fun with those, she wanted me to put them on immediately :-)


 Alyssa and my dad playing Band Hero. I have wondered at times, where Alyssa may have picked up her singing ability. Since getting a Wii, I've discovered it likely came from my Dad. He's really that good!!


 The pet shops that these girls have barely put down since they came out of the boxes. Thank you for everything G & G!


 My dad taking Alyssa and Rebekah out to plow snow in the mule. He later pulled them behind in a sled, which they loved. This was the day after Christmas, and Little Emma was sleeping at the time, but she did wake up to have her turn in the afternoon. She had been fighting off a cold for over a week before Christmas and on the 27th when I was finally able to get her in to the doctor, she had an ear infection and likely the start of pneumonia as well. She got some antibiotics and steroids, and is doing much better, but I felt terrible. My instincts had told me to take her in before Christmas, but she kept insisting that she was fine. Other than sleeping unexpectedly for nearly three hours on the day after Christmas, she enjoyed a merry Christmas despite being sick. She's very convincing, but still...I should have known.

I hope everyone enjoyed a wonderful Christmas!!

Merry Christmas

{image}

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6, NIV

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Our Little Rudolph

 
 

the good thing about missed snow days...

So, I didn't get the quiet snow day I was hoping for (we maybe got one tiny inch of snow), but the day was plenty wonderful all the same.
 Just one of the good things that resulted from a regularly scheduled school day was that Emma didn't have to miss out on her Basteltag (Craft Day). She has been feeling under the weather for the last few days, but missing this day at school was not an option for her!! The crafts are supposed to be a present for us on Christmas, so per Emma's request I was doing my best to help out and take pictures without looking at what we were doing :-)


 Emma and her friend, Grace.


 




















Rebekah had a Basteltag too. I think each child went home covered from top to bottom in glitter glue, frosting, and applesauce. It was a lot of fun!

Alyssa's class earned a pajama party for today as well, but I spared her the embarrassment of having her mom show up to photograph that :-)

Tonight instead of wishing for snow, I'm tucking the girls in at the start of a long awaited break, so thankful they each had a fun day.

secretly wishing for a snow day

I just sent the girls off to school and even though tomorrow is their last day of school before Christmas break, with snow in the forecast for tonight, I'm secretly hoping that we'll end up with a one day head start on Christmas vacation! After a few really busy weekends in a row, I would love an extra day at home, baking cookies and snuggled up watching Christmas movies.
 I even ran by the store to buy some baking ingredients right after getting the girls to the bus this morning. The fact that I'm prepared for a snow day will likely push the winter storm system directly to the north, and we'll escape with minimal snowfall amounts!


 Even the birds who have been visiting our yard lately look picturesque for a winter time scene. Emma spotted the owl yesterday, and earlier last week I looked out the window and the cardinal was greeting me. Now all they need is a little snow and the picture would be complete...
I'm dreaming of a white Tuesday :-)

Excited for Christmas!!

Rebekah brings Christmas excitement to a whole new level in our house.
 




















I had to move our glass nativity scene up higher because she kept rearranging it. Somehow, the less breakable Veggie Tales one isn't as interesting. She keeps carrying gift bags around the house trying to wrap up treasures she finds as Christmas gifts for everyone.


By December 15th she had polished off all the chocolates in her advent calendar {she's a Christmas enthusiast and a chocolate enthusiast!}
 She admires the Christmas decorations everyday saying things like, "This is the coolest Christmas EVER!" She said the same thing last year. At dinner one night she stood up on her chair and declared, "Merry Christmas, and a chicken nugget for all!" She has decorated and re-decorated our tree several times, calling each ornament "gorgeous!"

Her excitement over every tiny thing is sweet and funny. I love it and it keeps Christmas at the forefront of all our thoughts with her bringing it up about twice every minute. It's no surprise though, that we are having a record breaking year for broken ornaments. Rebekah was standing on a wooden stool trying to hang a snow confetti filled glass globe ornament when the branch she chose to hang it on proved to be too flimsy. The ornament slipped right off, bouncing on the stool she was standing on and it shattered. Her feet were surrounded by shards of glass and the soft fake snow. Her little chocolate chip eyes were as big as saucers and I had to yell at her not to move because I didn't want her to step in any of the glass that had miraculously missed her feet. She was fine, the ornament, not so much.


One broken ornament that Rebekah had no hand in breaking, is this poor guy who has been through a lot:
 He lost his hands and the sword he was carrying in an unfortunate incident in Pick N Sav back in 2005, when a then 6 year old Alyssa insisted that he wanted to help us shop. The limbs were so delicate and small, it was impossible to reattach them, so we decided he looked better without them.

Fast forward to November 28, 2010 when he was the most seriously injured victim of the very unexpected tree tipping over in the living room, only one short hour after we finished hanging all the ornaments. Poor nutrcacker character has no legs from the knee down now either. I haven't tried yet, but I do think with the right kind of glue, his legs can be repaired, and those boots are too snazzy to not give it a try.


 No tears over broken ornaments and missing chocolates, Little Bekah. Christmas is only five days away!!!

Frau O'Connor's Blankets

Last Friday, Alyssa's class had the opportunity to do something really cool.
 They made over 40 blankets to donate to a NICU at a nearby hospital where their teacher's oldest daughter spent the first several weeks of her life. Every Christmas since then, Frau O'Connor has her class make blankets for the babies who are currently being cared for there.


 All the blankets came out so nice. I loved seeing the different fabrics that the kids brought in. I didn't take a photo of ours, but it was a pastel striped pattern that had shades of blue and pink along with greens, yellows, and oranges. We figured that way it would work equally well for a baby girl or boy.


 Although the kids did a fantastic job, the moms who came in to help stayed really busy too ~ there was a lot of serious chit chat going on, especially among the girls. The establishment of sewing and knitting clubs in the past when kids weren't so bombarded by technology suddenly made perfect sense to me.


 The class holding up some of the finished products. The blankets were the fleece kind that have lots of knots tied at the ends. By the time I left I felt like I was developing carpal tunnel from all the repetitive knot tying, but it was a great afternoon in her class! They are a wild bunch.

A Very Busy and Wonderful Christmastime Weekend

 The Christmas musical at our church this year was held last weekend, and it was a new adaptation of Charles Dicken's classic, "A Christmas Carol."


 There is so much effort and creativity that goes into each Christmas and Easter musical, and this year was the largest cast and production yet. The messages of the musicals are always very meaningful with a lot of fun and humor mixed in.


Alyssa and Emma were privileged to be a part of the cast.
 




















Alyssa had a small role as Elizabeth Stone, Ebenezer's schoolyard crush, and she sang with the children's choir. It was her first experience in any of the adult musical productions, so it was exciting for her to see how everything works in the rehearsal process and backstage! It was also her first time trying to speak and act with an English accent ~ I think she pulled it off and did quite well!


 Emma was a last minute addition in the tiny role of "The Child of Want." All the costumes were so beautiful and she came out in these rags...but she was so happy and proud of the tatters and the dirt smudges that we are still working to get off of her.


 Here are the girls on Friday night laughing at the reflections of their different characters as I got their hair ready for the opening night show.


 Very excited to see her sisters perform.


 Emma was very sad (sad is not even the right word, it was far beyond that) to find out that her sweetest friend Halle's birthday party was right during one of the Scrooge performances. The morning of her birthday, we picked Halle up so she could spend a few hours celebrating with our girls. We were so happy she could spend part of her birthday with us, it was perfect and sweet time spent between friends, and the next best thing to being at her actual party.


 




















On Sunday morning after church, we headed to the art museum for their Next Generation Artists Family Sunday. Alyssa's class had their art on display there and this is her and her friends' recycled art project that they titled, "The Party Fridge." She and her classmates also had a Hand Chime Choir performance in the atrium of the museum.


 For the Family Sunday, the art museum had some great Christmas crafts for the kids.


 The girls loved them.


 They decorated special wrapping paper, painted tiny gift boxes, built tiny chairs, and made colorful noisemakers.


 The picture quality here is terrible, but this is a very typical pose for our girls. A and E ready for the photo and laughing at Rebekah as she runs away.


 




















After crafts and hand chimes, we were off and running back to church for two more showings of Scrooge. On the drive back the girls enjoyed these cute ornament cookies that my mom got for them to snack on.

It was such a busy weekend, but also a huge blessing to the girls to be able to be part of Scrooge. It was amazing to see the musical, all the work that went into it, and see how so many people came together to share the message of God's love at Christmas. It is my prayer that many people who were able to visit the church for the musical were ministered to greatly by the message.

Thank you so much to my parents who braved a drive through snowy, windy conditions just to see the girls!!! They were so happy you were there! With 5 performances we tried to split up our viewings so that one of us would always be there, either helping out in the building or watching. My parents were there Sunday and even though they didn't complain, I'm sure the drive up and back was rough.