More Christmas

This is turning out to be a very fulfilling Christmas. I'm reading The Christmas Carol (original version) with K -- I had forgotten just how beautiful Dicken's language really is. G doesn't have a lot of patience for the flowery words, but he does stop in and listen once in awhile. We also read (and re-read) some other Christmas classics: The Nutcracker, The Night Before Christmas, and The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, as well as some winter themed books (like The Snowy Day -- very artistically inspiring).

We had a wonderful time choosing our giving tree gifts. The food drive was a success as well -- over 450 meals were put together for children in the local school system. The boys were really excited to participate in this, and had a lot of fun choosing nutritious food.

Oh, and K and I learned about one of our Christmas gifts early -- R is taking us to see Blue Man Group in February! He arranged everything, including babysitting for G and A. Yay!

On a different note entirely, A has become a complete Elmo freak -- he HAS to wear something with Elmo everyday, usually his Elmo pajama pants (that he got for St. Nick's Day, fortuitously). He also loves Dora and Biscuit, but Elmo is his favorite by far.

Now I'm off to plan some Christmas food for when we visit my ILs next week, and to get the boys ready for ice skating.

Holidays

R took K to the Holiday Pops concert on Thursday night. They reported that it was a wonderful experience, and particularly enjoyed the Christmas sing-a-long. This Sunday, I'm taking K to see Oliver!, and I'm excited to say that we have good seats. Yay! It sort of makes up for missing the Nutcracker this year.

We've finally shaken off the sickies for the most part, and so are getting back into the swing of things a bit. K has been reading about Laura Ingalls Wilder, and also about Australia. He and G have been way into playing with their Wikki Stix:






and are also way excited about the wizard capes that my mom made them for St. Nick's Day. K's cape is a deep maroon with a shiny star burst pattern; G's is a watery blue with iridescent swirls; and A's is a dark purple with sparkling butterflies. To say that they are smitten is a serious understatement.

I had my showcase performance for my Improv class last night, and it was AMAZING!!! It went very, very well, and I can't wait to take another class. I'm not taking the 201 class until after the babe is born, though, because I'm getting big enough that it makes doing some of the comedy a little awkward (being visibly pregnant during some scenes can weird people out a bit -- kind of like being visibly pregnant and barefoot while stage managing a production of Hurlyburly). So, instead, and for a lovely change of pace, I'm taking a storytelling class starting in January. Yippee! I may also be starting the ESL training in February, but I haven't decided -- I may hold off until the fall.