Christmasy Things

What a fun time of year!

It doesn't get much better than this: watching tv in the morning in front of the Christmas tree while wearing cute Christmas jammies.

We went to the Polar Express put on by the library.  We've gone the past several years and always enjoy it.  Mason knows exactly what to expect and couldn't wait for the cookies and chocolate milk!

Mason wasn't interested in sitting on Santa's lap, so we opted for a family picture instead!

We posed in these two spots last year, so of course I needed to recreate the poses for this year. 

Last year's picture for reference, minus one child.  (I was pregnant with Micah, but you can't really tell.)  Mason has grown up so much in one year!

Afterward we went to Dairy Queen for a hot fudge sundae. Mmmm!

We were in serious Christmas mode… the next day we loaded up and drove to Columbus to spend the day with the Froese family with the intention of going to see the Zoo Lights. It was so cold, but we bundled up and had fun.

Carson and Mason shared a stroller while Hudson and Micah shared the other.  Bundled babies are the cutest!

We got there before dark and it was fun to see the few animals that were outside while looking at the lights.  If you've never been to see zoo lights, you'd be amazed at the number of lights they use! We all decided we'd have no interest in decorating for Christmas at the zoo!

Love this woman!

Mason and I rode the train with Ben and Carson.  Mason had the best time on the three minute train ride!

Rare picture of just mommy and daddy! Thank goodness for friends who stop for a few posed pictures!

Once the sun went down it was fun to see the full effect of all the colorful lights!

There was a timed light show to music which we watched for a few minutes. We spent several hours at the zoo and then went out to eat.

All four boys did great and we had a fun day together!

Continuing our marathon weekend… Brian (and Mason) played bass in the band for the second service. Mason went to practice with Brian earlier in the week and was so excited to stand up front and play.  He nearly fell off the stage waving to people!

A few days later we went to the library again for Reindeer Games. Mason glued all the pieces on to the brown headband to make the reindeer face.

He loves all the gluing projects he does at the library!

Pardon the horrible picture, Brian is trying to take it while Micah is trying to escape his arms and I'm trying to get Mason to pay attention and sit (relatively) still for our daily Advent reading.  I bought Truth in the Tinsel, an ebook, which included a (printable) paper chain with each days' theme word, scripture reading, and thoughts.  The "talk about it" was usually way above Mason's head, but it was nice to have a plan to follow for each day.  We also had an Advent calendar that included a chocolate heart, obviously Mason's favorite part, and then ended each night with a Christmasy book.

 Mason with the paper chain and Micah chewing on the Advent calendar.

Brian's face says it all! Micah's does too!