Advent Observations

The flurry of Christmas activity - family visits, parties, shopping, eating, drinking and making merry - make it is easy to lose one's sense of awe regarding the miracle of Christmas. Something I read on the subject this morning said, "The season of Advent means there is something on the horizon the likes of which we have never seen before... . What is possible is to not see it, to miss it, to turn just as it brushes past you."

With this in mind, we have decided to incorporate the observation of Advent as one of our family Christmas traditions. The daily moments of remembering to anticipate and meditate on the birth of Jesus, and all his coming encompasses, is good for Philip and me. It has also proven to be great for the little ones! The girls and I have made a construction paper advent chain with hot-pink glitter numbers. Everyday we tear another link off and tuck it into one of the Christmas tree's few remaining bald spots. Kylie gets excited as we discuss pretty much the same things everyday: "When we get to the end of the chain it will be Jesus' birthday, Christmas morning! You will get lots of presents and we will also go visit your cousins!" The discussion varies a little, elaborating on topics like who Jesus is and why he's important, and reminders of who the cousins are, and what gifts she might be craving at that moment, but the excitement grows all the same. Adult and child alike, we are preparing ourselves for the experience of Christmas, not only the observance of another holiday.

Lightning Strikes Twice

The last time Kylie found a pair of scissors we were packing and moving to Texas. She butchered Avery's baby curls. This time around Kylie found a pair of manicure scissors and worked on her own head.





I tried to fix it with a long-layered look, but I'm no hairstylist and it didn't quite turn out as I'd envisioned.


Alas, we took her to a professional. She relished the salon experience, feeling as if she'd stepped into the pages of a Fancy Nancy book. I forgot to take my camera along, but this was the result. She is looking quite grownup and promises she'll never cut anyone's hair again! Time will tell.

Giving Thanks

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day with my family. Every year the whole clan congregates at my grandmother's farm for a day of food, football, and catching up with one another. Everyone doesn't make it every year, so the attendance fluctuates, but as Gan always says, "we all know we have a table to put our feet under." For this I am thankful.

Apparently, something serious is happening, but they really did LOVE their cousin, Lilly!


Avery trying to do her frowny face for the camera but Kylie is just too funny!


Chowing down on Thanksgiving goodies at the "kid's table"


Philip was with us for Thanksgiving and then left for Israel to work on "The Messiah". No ketusha rockets have been lobbed from Lebanon since the 2006 war, but of course the week that my husband is only a few kilometers from the Lebanese border they start raining down! I'm not really worried about it, but we'll be glad to get him home all the same.

Surrounded by storyboard images


Hashing through the script with the team


In the meantime, us girls are decorating for Christmas and feeling very crafty! Earlier this week I asked Kylie if she thought girl time with Avery and me was going to be really fun. She replied, "Nope. We can't have fun without Dad." Despite her prediction it has been a pretty good week! My girls love their Daddy.

Kylie's first acrylic on canvas! Still a work in progress, but honest truth, I have only provided the outlines! She's darn good :)


Working on their United States puzzle


Homemade Christmas wreath - I can't decide if this is cute or tacky...leaning toward tacky. Feel free to weigh in on this!



Yay for Houston's Butterfly Museum!!!
While visiting my parents we took the girls for their first visit. Thanks for a great day, KiKi!

Looking at some kind of bug


Grocery shopping with KiKi