Drive Thru Nativity

One of our favorite Christmas activities is the drive thru nativity put on by Calvary Chapel in Bellevue.  It is right up the road from us so it doesn't take too long to get there.  Last year they didn't have it so I thought for sure they would skip it this year but they didn't.  It was a great activity to get out of the house and we LOVED it again.  

 

We did have to wait in line for about 30 minutes but I pulled out some Christmas trivia and that kept the kids quite entertained. 

 

Christmas Lights

 We took the kids to Starbucks to get hot chocolate, vanilla steamed milk and some frappuccinos.  Then we drove around our neighborhood to give ratings to all the houses with lights.   It was a fun evening and we will probably do it again since we only made it to half of them. 

Little Si

I snuck out for another hike.  Jen and I started in the dark and made it to the top of Little Si just as the sun was coming up.  It was the perfect way to start the weekend. 

 

Ugly Christmas Sweater

For the last soccer practice before Christmas, Darby's practice team had an Ugly Sweater Competition.  She was really excited about it.  But the night before practice she had an emotional breakdown and said she didn't want to go to practice.   I chalked it up to being tired and told her we would talk about it in the morning.   5 minutes later she came into my bedroom bawling.  She didn't want to go to practice but she didn't want to miss all the fun stuff they would do at soccer.   I knew there was a different issue going on. 

The next morning we talked some more and I showed her a few pictures of some "ugly" sweaters at Fred Meyer.  This was just what she needed.  So, we found a break in her school day and quickly drove to the store.  She picked out this outfit.   

She got all ready for practice without any problem.  But as soon as we got in the car she was a ball of nervous energy.  "I am going to be so embarrassed.  I can't believe I'm doing this.   This is going to be the worst thing ever."   But she wasn't protesting the act of going.   I tried to talk her through it then I changed the subject.   

She got out of the car and started walking towards her practice but came hustling back moments later.   "It's ok, Darby.  You are good."   Then I drove off as quickly as I could, but of course watched her walk to her practice. 

When I picked her up an hour later, she was holding a big paper bag.   I asked her what it was and with a smile on her face she said "I won the ugly Sweater Competition."  

We think she won the adorable competition.  

(Phew, glad we made it through that range of emotions) 

 

Lego Christmas Village

Papa Bob & Grandma Shari brought over this Christmas village for the kids to work on.  It was a great activity to do.   But when you have 5 kids working on the pieces it gets put together pretty quickly.  Less than 24 hours later it was finished. 

 

We have another LEGO project in the works that is much more time consuming so we will see if that gets finished. 

 

The Droopy Reindeer

We had our first really wet day since our Reindeer came to our house.  I sent Ollie outside to help him out.   It was a success but then we noticed his antlers were still having trouble.   

Ollie is our Reindeer guy now.  :) 

 

Sugar Cookies

Darby and I attempted to do a virtual cookie decorating event through True Girl.   But I didn't realize the broadcast time was going to be at the same time as her soccer practice.  So we decorated the cookies but still haven't had a chance to watch the event.