Beginning to Look Like Christmas

Today we went to the Grinch with Grandma Jan and Grandpa Bruce. The actors and actresses for the show were impressive. We all loved the costuming and special effects. We stopped by Cafe Latte to get some cake for Dan's birthday celebration. Thanksgiving was laid back with board games, quilling and putting up Christmas decorations.

Gymnastics Meet

Analise's team won gold for their first meet in Woodbury. The meet was five hours long, but Analise had a blast hanging out with her friends and watching other teams perform. She feels she did best on vault and bar at this meet. She is excited for her next meet in a few weeks.

Working Hard

We have been working hard this past month with conferences, competitions and big school projects. After a weekend of overload and continous homework, Mom decided we needed a tropical break. We turned the tub into a lagoon with tea lights, sand paper shores, shells, lost treasure and even a bubble wrap jelly fish. Analise and Emma had a blast hanging out together and using the hot tub jets. The bubbles got a bit out of control but it was a great stress release.

Besides work and more work, we served with Operation Christmas Child. 1,500 boxes were packed for girls and boys ages 4-14. Emma had a great time organizing boxes by color or based on the stuffed animals she chose. We hope that lots of children are happy on Christmas morning.

Fall Service and Crafting Opportunities

The past few weekends have been really busy with soap making, stained glass lamp designing, confirmation classes, birthday parties and service projects. We spent some time packing boxes for people in Appalachia who were affected by the hurricanes in the past month. Our church packed 109 boxes of clothing, winter gear, kitchen supplies and items families that lost everything will need to rebuild their lives. We also sent 32 bikes to the churches in those areas. Our team was put in charge of packing infant and little kids clothes.

Besides helping at church Emma and her friends served at Feed My Starving Children and partied with Nevaeh.

While Emma was out partying, Analise and Erin did a mother daughter soap making class. We made soap that smells of jasmine and tulips. Now we wait until Dec. 7th for the soap to fully mix and harden.

Since Analise got to do a project with a parent, Emma wanted in on the deal. She is currently making a stained glass lamp. Erin went to the first class to help Emma design the lamp and Dan will go to the second class to help her finalize the design. Erin's friend Sandy came to our AHG meeting to teach how to make paper flowers and shadow boxes. The girls will be putting together bouquets for different hospitals to have in their waiting areas. The shadow boxes will also be on display at hospitals. They give encouraging messages to people that may be facing hard treatments.

There has been lots of singing of Christmas songs in the shower to get ready for the holiday performances and lots of research work taking place for the big 7th grade project. Emma selected Mary Tudor for her research paper...guess we'll find out why she was called Bloody Mary. Emma entered a few national and state competitions for art and writing hoping to make some money to go towards her flying trapeze classes. If she wants to continue classes, she has to help out with payments. She does babysit Chica on a weekly basis but that comes nowhere near the cost of her classes. Maybe she'll win something.