A Festive Saturday!

The first Saturday in December has become a very special day for our family.  We have created a few great transitions for that day.  We start the day with breakfast at church.  Since we can't have the types of things served at breakfasts, the kids and I make pancakes to take over to church.

After the breakfast it is time to decorate.  In the early years of our time here, decorating day took ALL.DAY.LONG.  After getting into the groove, things now go so smoothly.  We can get all the decorating done is 90 minutes or less.  It is such a fun morning because people of all ages are working together.  It feels very much like a family getting ready for Christmas.

This year the kids both did GREAT during the decorating.  T played with baby Jesus for a while and then had some good bonding time with J.  They started talking by comparing braids!  So sweet! Every year when the trees go up, my heart skips a beat.  They are so beautiful and festive!

T: Just hanging out with "Baby Jesus"

T: This dude was my buddy for the morning!

Lovely!

After decorating morning we headed home to play and eat lunch.  We attempted to give T a nap, but she was not having it.  Sadly, she ended up without a nap that day.  Our dear neighbor/friends came over after their nap time.  T was so dysregulated she looked like she was part of WWF.  She scratched and grabbed M and he ended up bleeding two places.  Our dear friends offered to take M home with them while Brandon and I both attempted to get T calmed down.  M had a great time drawing with his buddy S.  He drew a picture of Santa and she drew one of Mrs. Claus.

Busy at work!

After I picked up M we came home for a quick dinner and then headed downtown for the Christmas parade.  We were planning to stand with S and her family, but I got turned around and noticed half way through the parade that we were standing at the wrong spot.  Oh well.  We got to stand by some other good friends.  The kids received A LOT Of candy.

T and M: Bring on the noise, our ears are protected.

This guy is awesome!

The kids were in awe because they were looking at...

This!  This float is a favorite every year!

After the parade we begin the walk home, but stop on the hillside at the bottom of our block.  It is a great place to watch the fireworks and we can quickly get home after the show.  The fireworks were beautiful and they lasted much longer than we expected.  We actually were getting ready to head home twice, but stopped when we heard more noise.

It was a full Saturday, but very festive and very fun!

T liked every one!

I love the white ones over the Lake!