Sweetest Gifts

So, this year we started what I hope will become a new tradition.  We've talked a bit about how Christmas is about giving: God giving us Jesus and to emulate that, us giving each other presents.  As a parent I think you always hope your kid understands deeper lessons like "We should give generously because God did" but worry they only hear "I have to smile through other people opening stuff until I get my hands on the presents for me."  So, one afternoon the week before Christmas my lovely Sister-in-law Stacy offered to take Ella and her cousins shopping for presents for their families.  This was wonderful on many levels:

1.An opportunity to live out giving to others! Plus, I have very fond memories of getting to shop "by myself" at a little kids' Christmas store they used to have at the Mall where the parents couldn't come in and I could actually buy them presents they'd be surprised about on Christmas Day.  It was REALLLY fun to get to see Ella have the same joy I remember.

2. They shopped at Five below which is awesome because she got 4 presents for $15.  Wish I could say that for myself.

3. Having your child whisked away for an entire afternoon a few days before Christmas provides invaluable time to get things done.  Score!!

Also, Stacy did an awesome job of having the kids make a list before they went to the store.  That way they could:

1. Pick the people they wanted to buy for ahead of time to avoid impulse buys for random people (Ella had already suggested buying a gift for one kid in her class at school (cause that wouldn't cause a riot among the other 16 four-year olds!) and one for her "new best friend from church" whose name she didn't know).

2. Think about what those people actually would like (not what the KID would like).

As far as I know, it went off without a hitch and Stacy even closed her eyes at one point to let them pick out a gift for her (white, sparkly sunglasses, of course!).  Stacy helped the kids secretly wrap everything before the family members saw anything and the joy and surprise on Christmas was both heart-warming and fun.  Ella couldn't wait to hand out her gifts. With a genuine smile she couldn't wipe off her face she remarked that "giving really is better than getting!!"  And that, my friends, is success. Praise the Lord for a little girl getting to live out a principal that she now really believes because she lived it!

Helping Sadie open her present (she couldn't wait any longer so we let her give this one on Christmas Eve morning!)

Sadie's new dog!

And Chris' present was....stick on mustaches "because Daddy is so silly!" HILARIOUS present!

I got gloves with a fold-back fingerless option "for when I need to do things for Sadie."  So SWEET and thoughtful.  I love this little girl!

INSANE Garden update!

Ok...so remember this picture of zucchini? Taken on Friday?

Well this is the SAME zucchini on Wednesday!! Less than a week later!!

It's a horrible picture of Ella but OH MY GOSH the zucchini is HUGE (well, not anymore, we ate most of it). I'm in shock at how fast things can grow!!! (PS-Thank God for spell check because I have no idea how to spell "zucchini" and spell it differently (and wrong) every time I've typed it!)

Here are some of our grape tomatoes. Ella was carrying 4 and then all of a sudden she had 3... then 2 and we were looking all over for them because we knew she didn't eat them (if it grows outside there's very little chance of her eating it without prodding). Finally we discovered the culprit...Raleigh (the dog) had been walking behind her and when she dropped the tomatoes, she scarfed them down!

Aunt Stacy is in town from Colorado! We got to just sit and talk for hours-great to have time with her.

Ella had a great time with sidewalk chalk while we chatted

And taking pictures of her favorite plant :-)

And chasing bubbles! Fun afternoon outside :-)

Duckpins

Stacy had the great idea to take the kids duckpin bowling and it ended up being a lot of fun. All 3 cousins could do it with varying degrees of success. Ella's balls often took 5 minutes (literally) to make it down the lane (or stopped midway) but she improved with time. Christopher (almost 4) was a pretty impressive bowler and Hannah also did pretty well. The adults had a good time getting to throw the tiny ball reallllly hard (with mixed results). Good times!


Ella getting a lesson from Daddy

Stacy leading the kids in a rousing round of "Go Mommy Go!"

Ella's flourish after basically dropping the ball while we watched it inch down the alley

Amy is an intense bowler (not really but this picture cracks me up!)

Christopher actually took this picture of Chris! I love it! Leave it to a 3 year old to capture Chris' essence :-)

Jazz & Wine Festival

This weekend we went to a Jazz & Wine Festival about 30 minutes from here and had a lot of fun and took a lot of pictures! Here are some of the good ones :-)


Grandpa, Aunt Stacy and 2 of the cousins


Ella spent most of the time running and dancing to the live jazz band

She spent some of the time doing this because the music was too loud (or bad)

chillin' post-running around like a wild girl

Christopher, my nephew, posing with a fish flag-he kept calling people over and saying "Whoa! Look in it's mouth!!! There's fish guts!"

Ella and Aunt Stacy relaxing

Headed home a couple hours later. The kids were not very cooperative so it soon looked like...

this :-)

And finally a family pic before we left.

Just for comparison, this is us exactly two years ago at the same festival!