Various Christmasy Things

(So I had this post cued up on December 27th, but had trouble uploading the videos, and then kept forgetting to get back to it until now. Enjoy...)

We had some fun times leading up to Christmas this year.

We cut our own tree...

...decorated it...

...decorated some more...
...but didn't really get a good picture of the finished product. No matter, though, as the kids moved the ornaments around on a daily basis, sometimes with less than ideal results from an aesthetic standpoint.

The kids decorated cookies as well...
...and had a lot of fun with it...
...leading to this:

The kids' Sunday School classes both performed at church a couple Sundays ago, as part of a Christmas-themed program. Norah, however, was in a mood and didn't want to join her class. Here's her "performance" from that day:


Haddon did pretty well, but for some reason the video of him didn't want to cooperate in the uploading process. Just imagine him kind of bobbing back and forth and attempting to sing on occasion.


Later that night we went out to Mission Mill Museum for their "Magic at the Mill" night. We had never been before (or even heard of it, for that matter). It was worth attending though, especially since we had half off admission coupons.

The kids got to see Santa Claus...
...although Norah was making every effort to prolong her bad mood.
The entire grounds were lit up, which looked really nice.
Everyone had fun. There were concerts, exhibits, model trains, lights, treats, and craft projects.
Norah tried to keep her pouty mood, but eventually admitted to having a good time.
She made a paper "quilt"...
...so did Haddon...
...and everyone enjoyed the yarn-making demonstration by the lady at the spinning wheel.

On our way out, Haddon joined this quartet for a rousing rendition of "Jingle Bells."


I'm not sure if we'll go back to Mission Mill next Christmas. If there's another coupon, though, I think it would be highly possible. If you've never been before, we'd recommend it.

Finally, here's a Charlie Brown tree I made out of old Christmas tree branches and some spare plywood I had laying around.





I'll try to get to the actual Christmas celebrations soon.

Hanukkah Night

Okay, it's time to get caught up on the 2010 Christmas season. Kelly's working this week, so I'll be your tour guide. A few weeks ago, we decided to have a Hanukkah celebration (one night only though for this goyim family). We invited my brothers and their families over for the fun. Here's a rundown.

This was our centerpiece, prior to the lighting of the Menorah:

Here Norah is punching the holes out of the dough for the donuts.And these are the finished products, after Kelly fried them up in oil. Most traditional Hanukkah foods are fried in oil, to commemorate the legend of the miracle of the lamp oil in the temple. The donuts were good, but the donut holes were even better.

Here are some more of the foods. There is homemade apple sauce in the bottom left, which tasted much better than it looks in this picture (the picture almost looks like marinara to me). There are also some matzo crackers with cheese. We also had a beef brisket (not pictured) and some latkes.We forgot to take a picture of the latkes (fried potato pancakes), so we had to settle for this shot when there was only one left.

This is me telling the Hanukkah story to the kids. I think Norah got it pretty well, but the littler kids weren't too interested (probably due to my storytelling).
Each of the kids got to light some of the menorah candles. I'm helping my nephew Miles with one:
Miles and Isla (my niece) admiring the menorah after all the candles were lit:
It was a good night. The story of Hanukkah is part of the time between the Old and New Testaments, and understanding it is helpful to understanding the New Testament (the only reference to it in Scripture is in the New Testament, in John 10:22). It can be celebrated in a Christian way as well, remembering Jesus as the true light of the world. Also, all of the foods which we ate (some of which were new to us) were delicious. Hanukkah songs, however, while mostly fun, are even more repetitive than Christmas songs (at least judging by the selection on the Pandora Hanukkah station). And the dreidel game was basically a flop. All in all, though, it was a fun night. We'll probably do it again.

Here are some bonus videos.

This is Haddon, Norah, and Isla playing "Ring Around the Rosie" later that night. Notice Haddon taking a shot to a particularly painful location when they all fall down.

(It wasn't fake.)

And finally, here's Haddon's take on the dreidel song:

The Two Most Important (Little) People in My Life

Hey, what's all this white stuff?

Before Thanksgiving we got a dusting of snow. The kids were pumped. Warm, sweet drinks were made, boots were brought out, and hats were worn. It was a lovely day.

Uh, there's no creative title for this. So, Thanksgiving 2010!

Despite the lack of creativity for the name on this post, at least we thought outside the box for our Thanksgiving feast this year. For a while Casey and I have wanted to try turducken, and this was the year! We got to host, and so we took advantage of the opprtunity to try something different that the kids might get a kick out of.

This year we have a lot to be thankful for as my mother has had a relatively easy "cancer experience" and has been given the grace to deal with it in peace and strength. Adam and Amber went to Ethiopia and met their daughter, and will be travelling soon to bring her home. With hours to spare on New Year's Eve, we'll add her to our family and close out 2010 with great joy!

Norah and Haddon made place markers, and we had a very fun time anticipating all our guests for this year's celebration.


I think it's safe to say it was a hit. A broken gate, burnt out garbage disposal and a wounded bed later, we said good-bye to Thanksgiving 2010 and hello to the Christmas season!

 The Spread.

 A Place Marker.

(One of the kids' fingerprints for the turkey tail feathers, and then either mine or Casey's thumbprint.)

 Norah was pretty proud of their handy work.

 The Tur-Duc-Hen.

 The Exploding Tur-Duc-Hen.

 The Carver.

 Spiderman.

 Two Legs for Twins.

 One Twin Disgusted. One Twin Just Fine.

 The Centerpiece. A Collection of Questions to Get You Thinking.

Haddon as Trash.

Big Week

Saying that this is a big week for my side of the family is stating something a little too simply. I'm not trying to over-dramatize anything, but really, it's a very eventful and emotional week in several ways.

For instance, yesterday my mom had surgery to remove cancer. Today I'll be spending the day with her, helping her out as she recovers. We won't know if it's completely gone or the results of whether anything had spread to lymph nodes for a week. So we're waiting. We're praying. We're hoping. We're joyful. Her breast cancer was caught early, and we're blessed by the technicians and medical minds that discovered the abnormalities and for the development of mammograms.

Here's my little plug, even though Breast Cancer Awareness Month is over: Get your yearly mammogram. It literally may be the difference between life and death. I believe that it may have been the difference between my mom having a pretty minimally invasive surgery with a few weeks of radiation and a fight for her life.

In two days, my sister is leaving our country to go to her daughter's country. There she, her husband and oldest son will see things that they have never seen before. The most important: the newest member of their family. The baby girl that they have been waiting for, praying for, doting after and gazing at in pictures will be in their arms. Fears of flying, and anxiousness about the whole trip are plentiful, but to finally meet this little one, almost 5 months old now, is too sweet to even grasp. The pain of leaving her there is too heart-wrenching to comprehend.

While there, they will see poverty up close. They will get to understand the land that their daughter comes from better. They will see the orphanage that she is in. They will most likely get to see the church where she was graciously placed to be found. I can only imagine the emotions held in the hearts of my sister's family as their adoption journey continues and is in the final stretch.

So yeah.

Big week.

Pumpkin Painting

Silver Foxes and a Spirit Flame

We were finally able to go to one of our niece's soccer games, and it really paid off because Cassidy scored two goals! Way to go!

Also, we went to see our nephews, Zachary and Noah, play football. Norah was there to cheer them on (sort of).

First Day of School! First Day of School!

Remember when Nemo bounced over and over again on and around his dad chanting "First day of school!"? Well, that wasn't how the first day of school was in our house, but the kids were pretty excited to get going.... and a little nervous.

Norah started kindergarten, and we're really excited about where she is. We really like her teacher and her school and her principal- everything! We think that this year will be a great experience for her, and we are looking forward to how the Lord will use her school experience to grow and learn in new ways. She has been very nervous starting out, but it is good for her to be stretched. We're praying that her anxieties and worry ease and that she will learn to trust in the Lord.

Haddon is at the same pre-school as last year, but has a new teacher. We're praying that this year will go well and that his new teacher will become a wonderful ally as we help him speak more and communicate more and move towards being in a typical classroom setting. He's also meeting with a speech therapist once a week. During those times Casey or myself can learn more tools and skills to help Haddon progress his language development.

 Norah was a bit nervous. You can see it on her face! Poor dear!

 One final hug from dad... and a little nudge! Go on Norah! You're gonna do great!

No fear. No worries. He owns this school.

When we dropped him off, we just walked right in, and that was it. He's a champ!