There was a Santa sighting on our street that afternoon that got the kids all excited. The neighbors may or may not have been creeped out by seeing Santa traipse through their yards. :)
The kids were treated to some fun gifts from their grandparents. The girls got lovely Christmas dresses with doll clothes to match, and the boys got handsome shirts and ties.
Will got this giddy-upping, galloping, whinnying rocking horse that he fell in love with immediately. Unprompted, he ran to his room and got his cowboy hat. He put on quite the show after that.
The next day we enjoyed a delicious brunch made by Sarah followed by some quality family time playing Beatles Rock Band. I enjoyed watching my dad try on the guitar. :) Everyone got into it and it was really fun.
Will very reluctantly relinquished the guitar he was playing so he could go take a nap.
Once he woke up we took a little road trip out to Burnet where the Baptist church there has put together an amazing Bethlehem town. It is quite the attraction, and people drive in from all over to come see it in December. Our timing was pretty good, and we only had to wait in line an hour before it opened. Time was passed with some yummy snacks that Ann had packed and one huge bag of kettle corn.
Once we passed through the gates we entered Bethlehem as it may have looked in Bible times. People were in costume and role playing everyday life back then. It was really neat. Matt consulted the map and knew exactly where we were and where we were headed. We saw women huddled around a fire making food, candles and baskets being made, Roman soldiers arresting people and taking them to jail, merchants selling their wares, bread being baked, animals being tended to, and the inn was definitely full.
Shepherds were running around heralding the star that they had seen and that the Christ child had been born. Matt was fascinated with the tax collector speaking to citizens about whether they had paid their taxes or not. He loved seeing all those coins on the table.
We couldn't resist a photo op with the Roman chariot. At the end of our tour of Bethlehem we saw the manger where Mary and Joseph were cradling the newborn Jesus. What a neat experience we had that night! It helped prepare our hearts and to focus on what the Christmas season is celebrated for. I was amazed at what that church had put together; city walls, costumes, props, animals, the whole bit. Felt like we were really there.
How else do you end a meaningful evening such as that? Small town Whataburger of course!
The next night our church had a Christmas night of Praise. We got to hear and sing all manner of wonderful Christmas music. It's one of my favorite services of the year. Will was able to withstand about 30 minutes of it before I whisked him back to the childcare room. Matt apparently was exhausted from our weekend of fun and ended up falling asleep in his daddy's lap.
That next week we constructed our gingerbread house. This is a much anticipated activity that Matt looks forward to so much that he begs for it everyday in December until it is put together. He was very methodical with his candy placement this year.
Will didn't contribute too much to the decorating. Instead, he sat on the table and ate the candy out of the bowls, much to his brother's frustration. All that candy consumption may have led to the facial expressions in this photo. We had fun.
Did you know that Toaster Strudel has a special holiday edition with festive green icing? Will does. He's a fan.
Will had a little Christmas performance that he got to participate in one evening. The 4 year old preschool classes role played the Christmas story with much cuteness, and Will and his 2 year old class filled in as angels. They got to sing a few songs at the end of the program. Oh my, so cute! Will is standing next to his teacher with his little hands together next to his face.
He did a good job singing and doing the hand motions. He also spotted his brother in the audience and then got all goofy. The boys posed with the props afterward. Matt looks so natural holding that infant, doesn't he? No, no not really.
No comments:
Post a Comment