Christmas Eve Nativity

Lolee took her role as Mary quite seriously.

Elyzabeth, as the angel, held the star (an ornament off the tree) over Mary and the baby Jesus.

Christmas Pie

While visiting Tricia in Palmyra for Christmas, we recreated the Wilkinson family tradition (passed on by the Wigginses) of Christmas Pie. On Christmas Eve we brought out a bowl, rather than a wash basin, with ribbons attached to presents for the children. The girls thought it was great fun to hear the story of Christmas Pie.

Hayes and the girls in their Christmas Pie hats and gloves.

The things we do

We had a lot of snow, and it was very, very cold! Hayes doesn't like his mask so well, but it keeps his cheeks from getting frost-bite.

The girls earned a reward for doing their chores and being obedient. They chose to have a sleepover in their tent in the living room, at the suggestion of their dad.

Hayes discovered the bean jar. He introduced them to the floor.

Mason Light Parade

Daddy took Elyzabeth and Lolee to the Mason City Lights parade the day after Thanksgiving. (Hayes didn't have a nap that day, and he was out cold before the festivities even started.)

There is this huge mailbox for kids to climb up to and put their letters to Santa in.

The highlight of the night for the girls was the live Nativity that was put on by a local church. Lolee was very distraught that it was a baby doll, and not a real baby, though. Since then she has been asking constantly if baby Jesus was a real baby. The things that go on in a child's mind!

This huge Sant Claus decorates the courthouse lawn. The girls thought it was pretty cool.

Thanksgiving

Elyzabeth made a turkey hat at school. It was too sad for the younger ones to not have one, so she made matching turkey hats for Lolee and Hayes.

Yeah, so we forgot to take pictures to start with, but as you can see, we enjoyed our Thanksgiving Feast.

Our first attempt at the famous Lund corn patties. Kara, they were not as good as yours, but they were better than nothing:)

We cooked our very own turkey for the first time. Can we just say, those oven bags are awesome. It cooked to perfection, and we have enjoyed it every meal since Thursday afternoon.

Lolee's Preschool

Three other gals and I do a weekly preschool with our kids. We rotate houses each week. These pictures were at our house. We did the letter "F" for frog, fruit and fingers. The kids each made a frog they could play catch with.

Here's Lolee with her frog.

Aunt Tricia's Visit

Tricia showed up to surprise me for my birthday, and spent a few days with us. We had a wonderful time with her. Aside from a lot of time laying low at home and hanging out, we did venture out to the kids science museum in Lansing. We had a grand time.



Hayes really like aunt Tricia. He also liked pulling her hair while riding on her shoulders.