Christmas Part II

And it's charged...

Christmas 2011!!!!

I think you can see from the pictures below, this is one of the best Christmas's we've ever had.  Micaela loved everything.  Her big gifts were an electric guitar (thanks Grandma and Pappy), a $100 bill (thanks Grandpa Oscar), a Netflix box for her TV in her room (thanks Mom and Dad), and finally a new touch screen cell phone (thanks Grandma Ginny and Grandpa Dennis)!!! We made Micaela go on a little scavenger hunt to find the phone, see the movie below.  Jon also had a wonderful Christmas.  He was much slower and more deliberate at opening his presents.  He's at a great age where all his presents are of equal coolness (the cheap cars tin with the lock and key and the Pez dispenser were as big a hit as the interactive lightsaber).  He has also been into these Trio blocks, so those were a hit as well.  Kurt's big gifts were his bike seat, his helicopter millenium falcon (currently charging), tracks and parts for his Christmas trains, and finally an atari with a ton of games (Micaela's gift, she scored a great deal at a flee market).  The funniest gift of the morning were the pink pants that Kurt got.  I'm not home so I can't share the wonderful picture that was the inspiration for them.  I got some great gifts as well.  My closet has been looking very aged lately (i.e. most of my clothes are 5-10 years old), so I was thrilled to get a bunch of new clothes, plus earrings, perfume, easy cooking appliances, candy, cereal bowls (thanks for remembering Mom!), and a heart rate monitor.   Oh yeah, and about a month ago I got an iPad that I've used daily since :)

Another Christmas First

Tonight one of our friends from the neighborhood, also named Liz, invited a bunch of friends to go Christmas Carolling.  I was a little leery at first, as I am pretty sure I'm tone deaf (despite many years of elementary/middle/high school band), but apparently so is everyone else!  We went so that I could say I had gone caroling once in my life, but ended up having a great time.  We were out for about an hour knocking on doors and singing to those brave enough to open them.  Our group had as many or more kids than adults, so it was a little crazy, but everyone had fun.

I don't think the lady is below is as grumpy as she looks, she did clap when we were done...perhaps it's just the natural reaction to our beautiful voices (listen to the movie below).  The little girl was very cute!

We really liked this house, but no one was home, so we told the kids to hurry up and get behind the decoarations so we could take a picture :)

Jon didn't really sing, but he found other things to keep him occupied, like babysitting.

More Christmas Fun

It must be because I missed last Christmas, that I'm more excited thanever for the holidays.  I started Christmas shopping well before Black Friday and convinced Kurt to get a tree while we were in PA.  We've dug up all our decorations that have been boxed up for two years and tonight we're working on another project (see below).  I'm not very patient, so I'm going to have a glass of wine and watch Kurt and Jon while they clean, oil, and set-up this train set under the tree.  It's actually pretty cool - there are sounds and lights and steam, oh my.  Can't wait to see the finished project!

Christmas Tree Farming

Liz: I didn't know there were such things as Christmas Tree farms

Kurt: Where did you think stores got their Christmas Trees from?

Liz:  I just thought they went out into the woods and cut some down, like in Christmas Vacation.


Needless to say, we got our Christmas Tree this weekend.  From a Christmas Tree Farm.  In Pennsylvania.   We got a saw, rode a tractor out to where the Blue Spruce trees were, picked one out, cut it down, drug it out to the road, loaded it on the trailer, and watched Kurt and his dad strap it to the top of our Minivan.  Then we drove home to MD, cut a couple feet off the bottom (I thought we had taller ceilings...oops), got it set up in the living room, and then watched as the kids decorated it.  Something I learned along the way - Blue Spruce are spikey!!  They are pretty though.  Overall it was a fun experience and now I can say that I've cut down my own Christmas Tree.

The map that tells you where the different trees are

One of the trailers that took people out to the various tree lots (if you didn't want to walk)

What a Christmas Tree farm looks like

An 11 year old with a saw, and a 4 year old... what could possibly go wrong

Dragging the spikey tree back out to the road

She actually saws better than I do

Unloading the trailer

The final product.  We decided to keep it simple and only used our "special" ornaments this year.