Christmas events

Lots of fun this December!

Snagged a photo for Gigi's Christmas card...Aunt Caroline's work!

Gigi took AM and me to the Nutcracker.  What a treat!

AM's class went on a field trip to learn about Christmas around the world at the Mayborn.  She played a shepherd as they acted out the Christmas story.

With her best bud, Allie Clair

Miss Smith's first graders!

Her ballet program had a "Parent Observation Night" so we all got to see what they've been learning this semester.

Stretching!

Watching Ms. Mindy lead

Clark's school had a little Christmas program, and his class sang a few songs.  

Here he is looking angelic.  NOT foreshadowing of his performance.  :/

This picture does not show what was really going on.  Let's just say Sean and I were in constant fear of our "ticking time bomb" son on the stage who was liable to explode at any minute!

You can see the bull coming out of the shoot a little more in this picture. 

And in this one...
Luckily though, there were just a few out of control moments, but he never went completely wild.  PHEW.  We were scared!  :)

AnnMarie sang in church with the 1st-6th grade choir that she's now in this year.

Sweet thing.  She's a big girl now!

And then it was time to party in first grade!

Wow, I had forgotten about the utter chaos that ensues in elementary school parties!  Don't miss that...

And then I was put in charge of the musical chairs station.  I'll pass on that next time!  OUT.OF.CONTROL.  This picture looks pretty tame.  The boys were NOT. :)

One quiet night we took our little family to a live nativity in town.  Pretty small scale, but the kids loved it!  Love finding new things to do!

And then the week before Christmas, Mom, Julia, and I drove to Dallas to go to the Michael W. Smith Christmas concert with the Dallas Symphony. Absolutely AMAZING. I mean it.  If you ever get a chance to go, GO.  The Meyerson is breathtaking.  The music was beautiful, and the worship brought a tear to your eye.  Don't know if it's my choral background or what, but it was so meaningful to me.  Such a fun experience!  

Thank you, Caroline, for inviting us to come along with your family!

No wonder we're so worn out by Christmas!

East Waco Ballet

AnnMarie takes ballet from a program called, "Praise Him Ballet" at a local church.  The director mentioned to the parents that she'd like to hold a ballet workshop in East Waco as part of their outreach ministry.  My ears perked up when I heard this because I love love love those kids, and since I've stopped teaching, I really haven't had an opportunity to work with them. We asked for donations of ballet shoes and brought along tutus and tshirts for all the girls.

Sooooo, the locale was decided on: an East Waco apartment community center.  A group of us from PHB headed out one Saturday morning at the beginning of the month and brought our daughters with us to dance as well.  

I volunteered to be the resident photographer (even though I am in no way a professional! ha!), but I do love taking pictures.  

***Because of privacy/custody issues, I can't show any "faces" of these precious girls, but you can imagine how dArLiNg they were, and we were all definitely blessed by our time with them.***

Warming up before the girls arrived

It was a sweet day and really helped AnnMarie and I focus on what it means to truly "love" others during this busy Christmas season. 

Thanksgiving

Just before Thanksgiving Clark's class had a little feast and performance.  

Here comes Chief Puppy Dog Eyes.

Chanting his little heart out.  :)

"I'm a little Wampanoag on the go.
Here is my arrow.  Here is my bow.
When I go hunting, hear me shout:
Bear and buffalo, you better watch out!"

It was SOOOOOO cute!

After the performance they went to the tables and joined the pilgrims for the feast!

He was really done with pictures at this point.

Loves Papa.  

For Thanksgiving we went down to Sean's grandma's farm in Wallis.  

Playin with Gamma

And Allison!

The weather was bEaUtIfUL and so was the farm. 

Allison and Jonathan took AM fishing.  

Lots of Svoboda women!  Sweet ladies

Clark got some new dinos.

One of my favorite pics with Mary Claire

Playin with Joyce and James

MC loved ridin the gator to go see the cows!

AnnMarie helped Judy bake.  Everything was so yummy as always!

We had a great time as you can see.  :)