Christmas parties

There were lots of festivites before Christmas. I'm going to try to condense it all here.

I signed the girls up for a gingerbread house decorating session at the park district. I should have known that having candy covered houses in our living room would be a nightmare. The girls kept grabbing pieces and when the low hanging fruit was gone they'd do everything they could to detach pieces of stale gumdrops from the frosting front yards. Here are some pictures from the workshop. We definitely got our money worth. I think they consumed more candy than actually went onto the houses.

Another highlight was the University Club party to see the real Santa. They stepped up the danger factor with the animals this year. They had an assortment of reptiles including a LARGE alligator roaming around. Initially I was worried it would use it's tail to smack a child. When I took a closer look I realized he had a full set of teeth and no restraints. Rick asked the handler, since that didn't seem possible, but he confirmed that the gator didn't have his jaw wired and "reassured" Rick that he had never bitten anyone.

Here it is eyeing Ceci's candy cane. I'm not sure it was a wise idea to have the animals stationed right where the kids exited from seeing Santa candy canes in hand.

Here are the girls in their dresses in front of our tree which was kind of puny this year.

Shopping for that tree. It looked bigger on the lot.

The St Joseph Preschool Christmas show was the last of our pre-Christmas events. Ella did a great job with her partner...who else...Sean. I'll post video at the end that Rick took.
Katie and Ceci looked cute in the skirts Kelly and John gave them for their birthday.
Who's having more fun? The little girl next to them kept trying to get in the picture while her mom was yelling for her to move. I was just happy Katie and Ceci were standing still for ten seconds.
Just takes a hug from Ceci to get a smile:
The hug got a little crazy and they pulled down the sign. It was after the performance though so I don't think anyone noticed.
And here is Ella with her bff:

Thanksgiving

Two months later I'm finally posting some pictures from Thanksgiving. We had a nice, relaxed time at home with the Bergmanns and both sets of grandparents. I cooked dinner with lots of help.

Here's my beautiful turkey:

and Katie, my little sneaker, taking a piece of my garnish. She is obsessed with clementines. She eats one a day and would eat a 5lb bag if I let her.

The girls made place cards:

Here are the kids at their table. Aunt Bobby made beautiful scarves for them that they put on right away.

Ella wore the turkey hat she made at school all evening.