Christmas Kick-off

Iria and the kids put up the Christmas tree yesterday.

The ornaments always represent a good mix of our interests and passions.

And look who is back...

Mikel, the elf on the shelf! 

The kids have been looking for him to appear over the past few days, but I guess he was waiting for the tree to go up. 

For those who don't know, he is basically Santa's scout for Christmas and keeps his eye out for good and bad behavior. At night he flies back to the North Pole to make his report, and then he finds a new perch the following morning.

A little freaky, but the kids dig him.

Upon sighting him, the kids quickly got to work on creating an assortment of offerings to place under the tree and get on the elf's good side.

Below are scans of all of the pictures. 

Keira has been working on hers for a few days, so this was serious business.

Keira

Lennon

Lukas

Katharine

Play Doh Creations

This is a portrait of Erik by Lennon



Lukas made pepperoni pizza



Keira's portrait of me


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Kassidy examined the Christmas tree at church this afternoon.









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Wall Art

Here is a photo of Keira that I took in church today. 

She is wearing a pair of Katharine's old slippers, which we dug up for her last night when she was jealous of Kassidy's footsie pajamas.

I think the drawing is of me... but the subject of any of her art is usually dependent on when you ask her and who is doing the asking.

A Night at the Nutcracker

Family and friends met up to watch Katharine dance in the Frisco Ballet's performance of "The Nutcracker" tonight. She did an awesome job, and had a lot of fun. 

We are so proud of her!

There were no opportunities to photograph her in her costumes (I'm sure they will try to sell us those), but I think I like this candid picture that I took of her after the show more than any posed costume shot.

The family dressed up, but they don't charge for pictures (well, maybe I need to offer a bribe every once in a while).

Ummm, yep. 

That's Lukas... and Keira with a bob. 

The lice came back this week and the hair came off. I actually like Keira with the shorter hair, but miss Lukas's longer locks. He was really distraught at first, but it will grow back pretty fast.

Here are some pictures from after the show:

Kassidy is starting to walk a lot now, and is getting a little more challenging to keep in focus.

Everybody was really tired afterwards, and eager to get back home.

Back at home, Iria and Katharine leafed through the program- a great mother/daughter moment.

This was quite a week.

 my car was totaled / cats peeing in the dance class duffle bag / Katharine's long rehearsal hours / Kassidy, Keira and Lennon puking all over Iria's car on different days / the return of the lice for all five kids / head shaves and haircuts / looking around and buying a new car / The Nutcracker performance

I would like to say that we are going to take it easy tomorrow, but it's going to be all day at church and then the turkey dinner. Iria and the kids will leave the house around 8 AM and not be back until almost 12 hours later!

Sleeping Arrangements

...and where do Erik and I get to sleep?



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Destination: Tyler

This is the last of the photo sessions taken during Anita's visit two weeks ago.

The group took the 2  1/2 hour road trip to Tyler State Park, out in East Texas where the pine trees grow. 

We always like to visit there at least once a year during the Spring or Fall to scavenge for twigs, leaves, and pine cones to bring back home. The kids call it the "Pine Cone Forest". There is also a really nice zoo nearby, but they didn't make it there for this trip.

Photos by Iria.