Advent Fun

We had a busy weekend with some fun pre-Christmas activities. On Saturday, we went down to the firehouse to see Santa after dance class. Wendy confidently asked for a chihuahua, her number one gift request, which will NOT be honored if we all want to remain sane in 2012. Mami was making frantic "no" signs at Santa, who fortunately caught on and got a few other gift ideas from her which are more doable. Fer did not want to speak to Santa at all, as she found him a bit scary (?), but we do have some ideas for her from the letter she wrote after Thanksgiving. When we got home, we all watched "Elf," a holiday favorite.

And then on Sunday, I took the girls to the Episcopal family service as I have really been missing Communion and the Episcopal liturgy. We lucked into the Bishop's visit, which was pretty interesting. Before the worship started, the kids were asked to put their shoes by the altar, which I assumed was some connection to standing on holy ground. Imagine their delight when, as part of his sermon, he filled their shoes with candy! Which I then allowed them to consume freely as it was special church candy given by the Bishop!! There really couldn't have been a better way to ensure a positive attitude about going back again with Mami in the future. After the Episcopal service, we raced to Target to buy our Advent candles, then back to the Presbyterians for pageant rehearsal. Gigi and Grandad came for Advent lunch and tree trimming, and took us to see a kids' version of the "Nutcracker" at the Performing Arts Center in town. After the ballet, which was really lovely, we had a treat at Starbucks, and then back to church for Advent fellowship and decorating night -- crafts, a potluck supper, caroling, and decorating the tree. I will say we slept well and long, getting up almost an hour late this morning!

Of all the events, we only got 2 photos, both of the girls with Santa (Fer did agree to have her picture taken with him):