The Christmas Season Thus Far

I know I've been focusing on catching up on past events, but I also want to talk a little bit about the Christmas season up to this point...or else I'll be catching up on it in February, maybe March. :-)

This season has been a ton of fun so far, and it has been a good balance of doing fun things and just chilling out at home and watching Christmas movies and baking goodies.

I'm doing another December Daily album this year (this one is my fourth), so most of the photos are from that; if you see something fancy (and for me, "fancy" is a collage or words on a photo, as you see in the photo above), that is why.

We kicked off the season by going to a Family Fun Night at Amelia's school, where we watched The Polar Express on the playground while enjoying some snacks and hot chocolate. Oh, and food trucks were there as well. Amelia enjoyed hanging out with her friend G, and here they are after about four cups of hot chocolate EACH.

The next day, we broke out our Christmas decorations and decked the halls. I must confess it was fun decorating a new (to us) place this time around.

Last week was a busy week at Amelia's school. I helped out one day at the Book Fair. Here's Amelia's class listening to a story. (Y'all. I've always loved a Book Fair. When I saw it as a volunteer opportunity at the school, I signed myself right up.)

Another day, I had lunch at school as part of the Book Fair promotion. (They take this Book Fair seriously, y'all.) I took out my phone to take get a photo of Amelia and me, and her friends wanted to get in on the action.

And if you ever wondered what 4- and 5-year-olds like to talk about at lunch, I can tell you: they LOVE to talk about pee-pee and poo-poo. And the various places one can pee-pee and poo-poo.

Gross.

Let's change the subject.

Friday night, Darryl and I had a date night. We went to eat and then just strolled around Perkins Rowe shopping center. My favorite decorations were the Christmas Alligators, seen here in the bottom right photo.

Amelia's next-door friend A spent a lot of time with us Saturday while Darryl helped her dad move some palm trees in their backyard. These two girls kept me hoppin', but eventually they settled down with their dolls and stuffed animals to eat some popcorn and watch a Barbie movie.

Saturday night, we went to the Christmas parade downtown. I'll just say it wasn't our favorite parade experience, but Amelia was happy she caught some Mardi Gras beads. Apparently Mardi Gras beads aren't just for Mardi Gras anymore.

Sunday, we went to church and lunch with my friend Martha and her family. That night, she met us at her church again so we could take Amelia through the live Nativity. I think Amelia's favorite part was a cage full of baby bunnies in a makeshift petting zoo. (The church had brought in live donkeys and such, so I think they just brought in a few extra animals for the kids. Unless I'm forgetting something about rabbits as part of the Christmas Story.)

 

A couple of nights ago, Amelia was in her first little dance recital. She is taking a VERY informal dance class at her school one afternoon a week (really, all she cares about it is putting on a tutu and dancing around), and they had a little program. Y'all, it was HILARIOUS. Here's Miss Amelia getting her groove on to "Jingle Bells."

And that brings us up to date on Christmas season, I think. We have a few more fun things planned...and I REALLY need to get a jump on some Christmas shopping. And some baking. And...