Christmas Happenings Part II

We had so many activities in December, that I didn't squish them all into one post.

 As part of our Snowfest festivities, Shane always makes sure that there is a great fireworks display and this year was no different. As soon as the switch was flipped to light the community tree, a choreographed fireworks show complete with music followed. It was very impressive and was met with tons of "ooh and ahhs."

 The kids met up with our personal Santa - Santa Joe. In fact, they never question whether he is real or not. He has a beard year round and we run into him at a couple of different events each year. He always has a petting zoo, remembers the kids' names and brings a reindeer in December. He is fantastic!

 Hayden lost his first tooth and had his first visit from the Tooth Fairy.

 This year we started a new tradition that was really special for the whole family. We went out and bought stuff to make "kits" for the homeless people that we see regularly in our area. We filled each kit with toothbrushes, toothpaste, flashlights, snacks, and other goodies.

 Shane and the kids filled them while I fixed dinner. Then we took off and delivered them. It was truly one of my most favorite things that we have done as a family.

 Landry had several really great days at school, but this one was by far the best. 

 In addition to pajama day (and they all watch The Polar Express and drink hot chocolate), the day of their classroom parties, they get to make gingerbread houses. All of the teachers help them with their antlers and paint their noses red like Rudolph. It is just about the cutest thing ever.

We enjoyed our church cookout, light watching and hayride. It was super cold and I have decided that if the temp outside is not above 70 degrees, I may die.

We attended our church's Christmas Eve service and it was really special for all of us.

 We finished all of our special holiday happenings with a favorite - sausage rolls. I can't say that Shane married me for these, but they sure have helped to keep him around! :)

Banana Hannah December

November and December were big months for Banana Hannah Designs. I was very excited about that, but it also meant lots of time making lots of tags and cards. I made what felt like a zillion tags for the store in Houston that carries my cards, Roundtable Goods; my Etsy site, and gifts for teachers and others. By the time that I got to my gifts, I wrote on a piece of scrap paper. :)

These are just a small sampling of my orders and designs for the month. It was a good month!

 The tags in the top left hand corner were custom made.

These were pre-holly being added to them.

I had a custom request for a clown. These turned out super cute!

Now it's time to get ready for Valentine's!

Christmas Happenings

December was a month that was extremely busy! I was determined to grab on and enjoy as much as possible. I didn't blog much, hardly creeped Facebook and barely tweeted. Now that life has slowed down a little while we enjoy the rest of our break, I thought that I better get some of this up before school starts again and we are back to our fast paced shenanigans. 

Our orange tree delivered a huge number of oranges. Last year we got just a few, but this year...whew! I had laundry baskets, huge bags, bowls, and other vessels full of oranges. I have just about been "oranged" out! We have had juice, muffins, cookies and cakes with oranges, lots of eating them whole as a snack. I took a bag full of them and kept them in my fridge at school for quick snacks. We gave away TONS! It has been fun and they are delicious.

I used my juicer to "juice" a gallon jug full of O.J. I have decided that it has a better flavor to hand squeeze it rather than run it through the juicer, just in case anyone wanted to know.

My kids had to come along to the community tree lighting as my elementary choir performed. That was fun. (not) I paid Grace to be my babysitter and she was not very impressed with the whole thing. She informed me afterwards that I would not ever be a grandmother because of her, she planned to not have any kids, ever.

We got our tree. The whole tree lot could hear us coming. There was some excitement in the air!

I had one of my best ideas ever! Of course, I completely made it up on the fly because I had not thawed out any meat for dinner. We will keep that part a secret. :)

While we were getting our Santa letters ready (see the catalogs and such on the table), we had a "Santa Dinner." I made hot cocoa with marshmallows, sugar cookies with icing and sprinkles, and popcorn. Of course the kids were thrilled with such a great menu!

Shane and his staff hosted Snowfest 2012 and we managed to get there a smidgen early and ride the snow hill a couple of times before everyone else showed up and the lines got really long.

Landry was very concerned about getting the stockings up and ready.

We also managed to catch a parade. The kids caught lots of candy. I'll have to post more Christmas happenings later...

I Thank God For You

While we were out and about traveling for Christmas and extended family, my lovely Hayden walked into the kitchen, grabbed both of my hands, looked deeply into my eyes and very seriously said, "Mom, I thank God for you."

My heart melted, "Oh Hayden, I love you and thank God for you too!"

As I was squishing him in a hug, he manages to squeeze out, "It's no big deal, Mom. I saw it on a sign in the bathroom."