December 9th and 10th...

Yesterday I edited photos until my mouse died. Well... it didn't die, the batteries did. I went up and got two more batteries out of the charger and put them in. They didn't work... found out that the charger had been set to 2 instead of 4 batteries. I picked the half that didn't get charged... I figured it was a sign and walked away from my computer for the evening. :-)

So... backtracking to Friday...

Friday's post is all about hair! First we have Clara...
Ah... there's a smile!
It was dress rehearsal day for Nutcracker, so I had to French braid her hair. Have I mentioned that I really stink at French braiding? Well, I do. But since it's covered by a wig, I don't have to do a great job, but Friday's braids didn't look too bad...(got the right side in one try, but it took about six for the left!)

My friend picked Clara up and took her to rehearsal and then I was off to pick up Alex from school. He had another early release day and had to picked up by noon. He was in desperate need for a haircut, so he got one on our way home...I'm going to be so glad when his other teeth come in! Just having those four teeth up top in the front is killing me! :-)

Mango got jealous and wanted in the photo as well...I really think she was just seeing if Alex had any crumbs left from lunch!

Thursday, when we were at the market, Alex and I found this little angel...
Looks a little like the snow tree angel costume, don't you think?(photo from last year, taken by the children's ballet mistress)

So, I got Clara and her friend one for opening night. They got out of dress rehearsal at 4:15 and had a call at the theater at 5:30 for the opening night show. I picked the girls up and took them to dinner during that time.

They were anxious to get back to the dressing room, but they did let me take a quick snap before they disappeared down the alley to the stage door...Her friend's mom volunteered backstage that night and brought them home. They stopped for a snack and ice cream on the way home!

They even brought them flowers!She was getting a little loopy by this point...
veeeeerrrrrrry loopy......
December 10th...

I took a TON of photos yesterday, but I can't post them (yet, at least)! Clara went to ballet and while she was downstairs, I went upstairs. I had been asked to photograph the trainees' production of the Nutcracker Suite and yesterday was dress rehearsal. It was tough, but really cool. I got some shots that I'm really proud of and can't wait to share them when I can!

Clara skipped her last hour of classes and was picked up by her friend and her family. They took her with them to the Nutcracker Family Dinner! She had a really great time! She had her camera with her, but I don't know if she took any photos since she left her camera in her friend's car. From the dinner, they went straight to the show and got to watch the second act with the other cast members. She was one tired girl when she got home... but still incredibly wound up!

And then there's Alex...
Really crappy random photo... but it's him still half in his ski gear. He joined a ski club and yesterday was his first day. The bus left around 7:30 am and returned at 5:00pm. He had such a great time.... he's already asked us to sign him up for next week's trip even though he had something else that he had planned to do that day. He made new friends on the bus, which was great. The day starts with a ski lesson based on their level and then the rest of day is free for skiing (or snowboarding, if that's your thing). He loves to ski and is thrilled that he can do it more often now... plus he enjoys being part of a club with the lessons and other planned activities.

December 8th...

Yesterday was a crazy day! For Clara it was tech rehearsal for Nutcracker, so I had to pull her out of school at 11:15. For Alex, it was a half day because it was Student Lead Conference day, so he had to be picked up by noon. I managed to get both kids and have time for lunch before Clara needed to be dropped off at the theater (thank goodness for cabs!).

After dropping Clara off, we were supposed to meet up with friends, but given a meeting that ran over and some missed connections, it just didn't happen (maybe next time!). So, Alex and I decided to make a quick stop at the Christkindlmarket on Daley Plaza....

There were lots of cool vendors (wish we would have been hungry... the food smelled wonderful!). The sweet shop was probably Alex's favorite though...
I had the wrong lens on for taking a shot of the nativity...
I have temporarily misplaced my wide angle lens :-}

After that, we went on home and waited for it to be time to go to Alex's Student Lead Conference. It went really well and we're very proud of the boy!

What the boy has been up to at school...

The boy emailed me this video he made of the Rube Goldberg machine they were building at school for their "boss level" challenge...

... he was soooo excited about it! Unfortunately the machine "failed" during judging since the balloon that releases the weights didn't pop... but he still had a great time with the project! We are so fortunate to have found a school that is so "Alex" :-)

(Alex really enjoys adding sound effects to his movies!)

December 7th...

Last night, after I picked Alex up from his after school game club (he just joined game club and he LOVES it), we rushed home to do some baking for his school's bake sale and teacher appreciation dinner.

We decided to make the easy, but fabulous, Brownie Covered Oreos that I found on Picky Palate. They're my "go to" recipe for school bake sales. But yesterday I had gone to Trader Joe's instead of the regular grocery store, so technically they were Brownie Covered Joe Joe's. I also couldn't resist picking up a box of the Candy Cane Joe Joe's...
Alex and I mixed, coated and baked them all evening...
They are so incredibly good! Alex especially loved the candy cane ones. Now all I have left to do is to get them to school!

December 6th...

Alex very animatedly reading last night's book (Froggy's Best Christmas) to Clara...


Alex used to LOVE the Froggy books when he was little :-)

In other news... Clara had an orthodontist appointment yesterday (to fix a broken retainer... sigh) and the orthodontist pulled the rest of her tooth out! So she's snaggle tooth free!

December 5th...

Yesterday at school pick up time, it became "one of those days"... sigh.

First off, Clara...

While walking home she announces to me that she lost a tooth today! I asked her to show me the new gap and when I looked in I was horrified to see snaggly bits of tooth still in the space! I asked her if she was sure she lost a tooth and she said yes, it was in her bag and she was surprised that she lost it since it wasn't even wiggly.

When we got home, this is what she showed me...
... approximately half a tooth... the rest is still in there! Apparently it's no big deal, but the dentist wanted to see her anyway... so we'll be off to the dentist on Thursday.

Next up we have Alex...

He looked completely normal when I saw him, but then, much like Clara, the truth started to come out on our walk. He slipped during recess... he was running to get the ball, put on the breaks and his feet went out from under him, so now his backside looks like this...
Thankfully I had a change of clothes for him since he was going straight to his young ensemble performance. The verdict is still out on whether the pants will come clean or if they'll become another statistic... but he did rip the sleeve of the long sleeved shirt he had on under his polo... that's a new column to add to my count.

I had to drop off Alex early for his young ensemble group, so with 1 1/2 hours to kill, I wandered around and did some shopping. It's not a great photo (or even a good one) but here's a quick shot of the tree in front of the Hancock building...
If it hadn't been so windy I might have tried to get a better one, but I was over it and wanted to get back inside.

The fall project of his young ensemble group is probably my favorite (until spring when I'll declare that the spring project is my favorite). In the fall they write an original work and then perform it. It always amazes me. Last fall I was completely blown away, but I had no clue what to expect. I thought I would enjoy it this year, but it wouldn't be quite so unexpected. Once again, it totally exceeded my expectations. They have some really talented kids in this group, both actors and writers. I was choked up, near tears for a lot of the performance. They based their theme on that of the professional theater's theme this year... in one moment, everything changed. To see these kids be so honest and insightful is just amazing. Alex had a monologue near the end and it took my breath away... not just the way Alex performed it, but the way it was written. He pointed out the boy who wrote it to me (no one performs their own writing) and it was almost unbelievable that it was written by a 13 year old kid. They are a truly talented group. A bonus with this year's fall project, instead of being over with this performance, it will continue to evolve as they turn it into a touring piece. After the holidays, we will learn more about when and where they will be performing it.

We stayed a bit for the party after the performance, chatting with the other parents from Alex's school. It was nice to get to catch up with them, especially since the boys get along so well and share so many interests.

Then it was time to run to get Clara from ballet. Once at home, they did their Christmas stuff... opening a new door on the Lego calendar...
and reading their book!

December 4th...

Not a very exciting photo, but it represents something pretty exciting...
... we had our final production meeting for Nutcracker which means it's almost time for the shows to begin!! The kids also got their shirts and yearbooks which is always exciting as well!

The meetings... not so exciting... especially when for the first hour and a half meeting I was sitting on the floor (and that meeting was only supposed to be an hour). For the second one, I scored a chair!

After church, Clara had an extra rehearsal for Nutcracker and then was off to a birthday party for the rest of the day. Her rehearsal was supposed to be earlier in the day, but mid-week we got an email saying that they time was pushed back and the rehearsal time was increased by 1/2 an hour. That meant she would miss the party. But, her friend's mom was so understanding and since it was a very small "girls' day out" type of party, she pushed the start time back so Clara could attend the whole thing! We took her straight to the restaurant to meet them for lunch after rehearsal and then they were off to design custom purses, have cupcakes and play at the park! She had a great time (even with coming home with a red lump on her forehead from where she hit it when she wiped out at the park!).

Alex, on the other hand, came home after church and vegged. The boys decided to drive home from Indy after the game and finally made it in at 3:00am. He needed an afternoon with nothing much to do!

December 3rd...

Just a quick post since we're running out the door to church and then an afternoon of chaos (rehearsals, birthday parties and meetings... oh my!).

Yesterday started out with the boys getting all decked out...
... for the Santa Hustle 5k! They really enjoyed it... especially Alex since they handed out cookies, candy canes and Hershey kisses at the aid stations! :-) Not really sure how they did officially since in their hurry to get out the door they forgot their numbers and their timing chips!

Once they were home, it was a mad dash to get them ready to head to Indy for the Big 10 Football Championship game! They made a last minute decision with some friends to go since it was Michigan State vs. Wisconsin (our friends are Wisconsin fans)...
With the boys gone and Clara at a full day of ballet (11:30-5:00!!)... I settled in to work on our Christmas card... and it's almost done!!

Okay... that's the Cliff Notes version of our day! Gotta run!

December 2nd...

After taking Alex to school yesterday morning, I noticed the CTA Holiday Train schedule at the L station. I saw that it was running through our station that afternoon and, if the stars aligned, we would be able to make it! So, Alex and I rushed home after school so he could change out of his uniform and we could catch the train! He had had a tough day at school (large group project that is both extremely fun and extremely taxing at the same time... building a large scale Rube Goldberg machine) and needed a little Holiday cheer!

We got to the station in plenty of time...
Here it comes!!
It always amazes me to see Santa riding out there on that flat bed car in winter...
There was a little boy by us who nearly lost his mind... he was so over the top excited about seeing Santa and the train! That really helped boost our spirits! :-)

The inside of the train is incredibly decorated as well. Workers dressed as elves handing out candy canes, poles wrapped in red and white, tinsel, multicolored lights, Christmas music playing, North Pole signs...
... and the kids' favorites... the jokes...
At first I wasn't able to sit by the kids so Clara kept texting me jokes!

I love all of the signs...
And this one on the outside of the train...
We rode the train all of the way to the end of the line. It wasn't a photos with Santa day, but we did get to snap a couple of shots of him in his sleigh as we sat at the station...

Then it was time to board the train to go back south.

I finally got a semi-clear shot of the sign that I, for some reason, feel the need to photograph each year...Then it was time to change trains, so another shot of the outside...And time to say good-bye to the Santa train...
(I was so proud of myself last night for getting a photo of the front of the train AND the back of the train... until I realized while downloading the photos that I just took a photo of the same end twice since the train just reversed directions at the end of the line... LOL!)

We then took Alex over to church for youth group movie night (The Nightmare Before Christmas).

Clara and I took advantage of the emptiness of the garth to take a few photos...

Then Clara and I headed over to the Bloomingdale's building for dinner...
We had dinner and did a little Christmas shopping (actually we didn't do much buying, just planning) and then Jeff picked us all up on his way home from the airport!

December 1st

The kids have been so excited about this day... the day our Christmas countdowns officially begin!

For the past few years, we've been getting the Lego Advent calendars. We usually get the City one... first because I think that's all that was offered and then last year, I didn't act fast enough to get the Castle one. This year Jeff and I picked up the Star Wars one early (thank goodness the Lego store has moved over by our church... easy pick up while the kids were in rehearsal for the musical).

The other countdown they look forward to is unwrapping a Christmas book a day. I'm pretty sure this is our 10th Christmas of doing this and the kids show no signs of wanting to stop. Some of the books have changed (the Elmo and Clifford books have been retired), but some of the classics have been there every year. I made a quick trip to the neighborhood used book store the other day and picked up a couple new surprises for them. I have no clue how many books we have total in our Christmas collection, but it's fun to have options to switch out from year to year.
This year our 1st and 24th book are wrapped in red and white. The 1st book is always the same nativity story book we've used since year one and the 24th book is always 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. The version has changed from year to year though. We started out with a board book, progressed to a regular hardback edition and now we have a beautiful, delicate pop-up version. Clara's books are the blue with candy cane paper ones and Alex's are the green with candy canes paper ones. If we had two boys, we could probably get by with wrapping them the same, but given the drama we had years ago when Alex unwrapped the Nutcracker Barbie book, we've learned to wrap them differently. Alex's still aren't finish though! I ran out of tape yesterday with just three books left! I'm going to make a tape run later this morning.

Alex had nothing after school yesterday and Clara had planned on doing a make-up ballet class. But I made a command decision that we should just all stay home and enjoy the 1st of December together. They opened the first door on the Lego calendar and built the little Star Wars ship. They unwrapped the first book and fought over the puzzle piece people like they do every year (the nativity book is a big board book with puzzle piece people and animals that you fit into the pages as you read... we all know they've outgrown board books... but this is just a tradition and they wouldn't have it any other way). Then we settled in on the couch to watch some Christmas specials together. It was such a nice calm way to usher in what always turns out to be such a chaotic month!

100% Chance of Rain

In addition to my plan to do the Daily December thing... I'm also going to make an attempt to get caught up on random other photos I've taken over the past couple of months (key word being "attempt").

The kids were so excited this summer when they learned that there would be another fall musical at church this year! Alex was in it three years ago, but then they took a break for a couple of years. And, as luck would have it, the break started the year that Clara was first old enough to participate! Alex always had a great time doing the musical, so she couldn't wait for her turn.

This year they did the musical 100% Chance of Rain. It was the story of Noah and his family. Alex played Noah's son, Ham. And Clara was Noah's son Shem's wife (got that?).

I only took photos at dress rehearsal this year so I could sit back and enjoy the actual show.

We were a little early...
Alex took advantage of the empty stage to ham it up a bit...
And apparently generate some static electricity! Look at that hair!Warming up...
And then running through the show...




They had such a great time being in the show with their church friends!

(oh... I took a ton more that I didn't post here... but they're on facebook)