Christmas festivities

Just touching base.... everything is going well. The Christmas tree is up and the house decorated. Most of the shopping has been done, but there's still plenty of baking and little details to tie up. I'm trying to "get it all done", so I can relax Christmas week. Ask me next week how that is going for me. LOL.

My mom's best friend since high school, Peggy, passed away last week due to long-term complications with respiratory and congestive heart failure. We bought my mom a train ticket, so she can attend the celebration of life for Peggy in MA. My heart aches for Peggy's kids...all of whom I've known since birth. It's not fair to lose both parents at a young age, and it's particularly hard right before the Christmas season. I can't attend the celebration due to work and money restrictions and the kids' school, but I will be there in spirit. My love and prayers to the Robitailles. I'll be thinking of you.  

Strider was recently asked by his teacher to reprise his "Jack" role (from the nursery rhyme Jack & Jill) along with a small group of his fellow Kindergarteners to perform in front of the Currituck County Board of Education. It was cute, and he was on the local tv feed. No word yet on his testing for the gifted program. No idea of when that is supposed to happen.

Serenity got to spend a day with her best friend, Alivia to celebrate Alivia's birthday. Alivia's mom was brave enough to take 4 little girls to the movies, the trampoline park, some pizza, cake & ice cream at home, and then a sleepover! Serenity got almost no sleep, but she had a blast. LOL.

Serenity and her pals

Both kids are in the middle Christmas festivities at school (Polar Express movie in PJs, classroom parties, etc...) and then they'll be on Christmas break starting the 20th. Of course, Mario (their Elf on the Shelf) has been having daily adventures since Dec 1st and keeping them entertained. We've been to a Christmas party, a local Christmas parade (at night!), and we do the daily advent calendar with treats, and thanks to Mario's recent suggestion... we baked and decorated Christmas cookies for the neighbors.

And lest anyone think this is a picture-perfect Christmas feel-good scenario, it should be noted that it took quite a bit of cajoling to get them started with the cookies and then stick with it. They abandoned the decorating after about 6 cookies, and then this mama had to finished the rest. (**sigh**) I guess they don't have my baking gene. Maybe they'll change their mind once we deliver the cookies, and they see the neighbors' smiles.   



So does it sound like we have celebrated the heck out of Christmas so far?! I didn't realize it, but I guess I have some kind of Christmas checklist in my head....and the only thing I think we might do now is go see Santa somewhere, but I'll leave that up to the kids. Strider is shy as heck, and Serenity is too, to some extent. Two weeks left until the jolly St Nick arrives, and now if I could just convince Mario the elf to magically clean my whole house some night before that day!    



Mario the Elf