unidentified angel

There's no documentation here so you'll just have to take my word on this.

I grabbed the church bulletin this Sunday (after singing the 7:00 am Mass . . . NOT my favorite time to sing) and found this lovely photo of the recent Nativity Story production we did.

I happen to know one of those angels!

Audrey couldn't keep her eyes off of the Holy family the entire time she was sitting there.

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

O Holy Night

I just wanted to quickly comment that Audrey and I took part in my church's Nativity Story a couple of weekends ago. I haven't posted in awhile and I just got these photos up . . . so there you have it.

I tried to get Audrey to sing in the children's choir, but she was much more interested in wearing an angel costume. In the end, I'm glad she made that choice. She was an adorable angel and got to sit near the baby Jesus in the manger. She was ecstatic!!

I sang a solo and dressed like a shepherd.

The strangest thing happened during the production. There was a loud CRASH during the singing of "O Holy Night." I was backstage so I didn't know what happened, but I thought perhaps one of the trees fell down. However, they kept singing so I figured everything must be fine.

I later discovered that the sanctuary candle had fallen and exploded! How very bizarre.

Jesus had left the building.

I turned to the mom who was holding our baby Jesus for the show and said, "I guess he's in charge now."

Cookies be damned!

I've been baking and eating too many cookies lately. I spent a good portion of my day on Sunday baking and decorating Christmas cookies with the girls. I only got three of the six things done that I wanted to make but I plan to squeeze the rest in this weekend.

But why?

Why do I tempt myself with this stuff?

In addition to baking, I've been cooking healthy meals at home lately. This is both an attempt to eat better and to save a little bit of money. Mostly to eat better.

And then I make cookies. Huh?

On Monday night, I made a scrumptious black bean soup filled with spices, veggies and lots of flavors. Last night was Moroccan chicken and lentils. BOTH nights I topped off my clean-eating dinners with cookies!!

And just now, I finished off my healthy lunch at work . . . I walked to the kitchen area to get some hot water for my sugar-free chai tea. And BAM! There were some gooey chocolate chip cookies sitting there calling out my name.

I can't win.

And I also can't resist.

My religious daughter

Audrey goes to religion class on Monday nights. In addition to making a stained glass ornament of the nativity scene last Monday, they also talked about different religions.

That discussion inspired this piece of artwork from Audrey.

Translation:

Hanukkah!
even though I don't celebrate Hanukkah
that one doesn't count (with an arrow pointing to the middle candle)

You better watch out . . .

I always knew that Curt would make a great Santa Claus!

It turns out I was right.

And I got to witness it first hand right beside him as Mrs. Claus (mind you, I have never had the remotest thoughts about portraying Mrs. Claus . . . I'm far too young for that, you know.)

But when Lucy Ann from CTN asked us about pretending to be the jolly old couple for their annual "Santa Live" broadcast, how could we resist?

We spent several hours in the studio last Thursday night taking calls (with the help of an extremely precocious 12-yr old Elf Graeme) from children in the greater Ann Arbor area.

Our first hour was a little tough due to some technical trouble in the control room. We never knew exactly WHO we were talking to since calls kept getting cut off. One of my favorite moments was when Curt asked "Caleb" if he had been a "good little boy this year" to which the caller sternly announced, "I'm a GIRL!" Oops. Santa put himself on the naughty list after that one.

Another memorable call came from twin girls who only wished their mother's cancer would go away for Christmas.

Sniff.

I wasn't prepared for that but Curt very eloquently handled it. That's why HE'S Santa!

In case you missed us, the CTN network will be replaying SANTA LIVE all day on Christmas Day.

I'll just have to keep my girls away from the television . . . or Channel 17 in any case. They have no idea just how special their Daddy is!!

A budding artist

Vivian was in the game room as usual when I picked her up from daycare yesterday. She was sprawled on the floor with a piece of paper and a purple crayon.

She jumped up when she saw me (as she usually does) and very loudly said, "Mommy, I made a face!"

And by George, she did!

This is a picture of Vivian's first-ever face. [A little scary, perhaps, but it IS a face.]

She proudly carried it downstairs and out to the car. She kept staring at it and making comments. She finally stated that it needed "some hair. We'll have to find a purple crayon."

I dug up a purple crayon so she could finish the hair when we arrived home. That's when Audrey added her little note to Vivian (in first-grade-teacher-style).

Good job, indeed!!