A Very Merry Hayride

I'm always on the lookout for fun seasonal activities we can do as a family. I came across this in the paper on Saturday: www.lightsontheneuse.com and thought it would be a fun thing to do. I wanted to go on Saturday but it rained so we decided to go last night. I hadn't heard anyone I know mention this so I was a little apprehensive to go spend $26 (plus the drive to Clayton) to go see the lights but in the spirit of the holidays we decided to go. On the way our friend Frances happened to call..she lives in Garner and happens to have 3 adorable little girls about the same ages of my kids so she piled everyone in the car and came to meet us. And we're so glad she did. Turns out they don't take credit cards (a major detail they should really put on their webpage) and thankfully she happened to have one check so she paid for us to get in.

Turns out a lot of people had the same idea as us..as Paul said "what did you expect..it's the Sunday before Christmas..did you expect it to be empty?" umm..yes..did they not know we were coming?? Anyway we finally get the tickets for the 11 of us (we're a scary party - there are 7 kids between our 2 families...we come and people run) and get in line for the hayride - the main attraction. Again, so thankful Frances came with us as we had to wait so the girls kept each other occupied and we all actually pretty good.

Finally we get to the hayride and it was really cute..there is a stop at Santa's workshop where it snows and lots of places where the tractor triggers the lights and they do a "show." The music is pretty good and everyone on the hayride was singing along. Though it was cold (well cold for here) we had everyone bundled up pretty well and no one complained. After the 30 min ride we went into the Sweet Shoppe for some hot chocolate. They also have Santa (in a cool sleigh) available for pictures. We let all the girls visit with him but we cheaped out on the pictures. All in all a fun family activity! Oh..a quick tip if you go: sit on the left side as you walk on the trailer - you have a much better view of the lights...luckily the girls sat on that side so they got to see the most...

"Star" of the Show

Lily had her Christmas program at preschool on Wednesday. There are few things funnier than watching 3 and 4 year olds sing in a program. The 3 year olds went first and they sang a variety of Christmas tunes. There were a few children who sang (shouted) very loudly, a few who didn't open their mouths, one who wouldn't even be up on stage and one who kept pulling up their sweater. It was very cute. Then the 4 year olds got to go and this year they put on a little show. They sung some songs then acted out a version of Jesus' Birthday. Lily had a part as she was the Star which meant she had to carry a star for approximately 30 seconds. She was very proud and did a good job. She actually sang all the songs this year and did the hand motions...it was very sweet. All in all it was a great show and all the kids did great. Sadly I didn't get a picture of her carrying the star - no flash photography was allowed as to not disrupt the actors (as if cameras were the only thing that would distract them) and I couldn't figure out how to do video on my camera. Anyway here she is after the show:

New Member of the Family

Meet Elfie...

he's the newest addition to our family. Elfie joined us on Wednesday when my mom bought us the "Elf on the Shelf" as an early Christmas gift. The girls are wildly fascinated by him..especially Julia. If you don't know about the Elf on the Shelf it's a cute story about an Elf who comes from the North Pole to watch over the kids. Each night after the kids go to bed the Elf magically flies back to the North Pole to give Santa a report. Each morning he returns in a new spot to keep watch again. Every morning the girls look for Elfie (that's what Lily named him). Today he's sitting in the Christmas tree where he can see everything. The hardest part is remembering to move him each night! But I must say he's doing a good job of keeping the kids behavior in line...

Random Acts of Kindness

Apparently I have been better than I thought this year as I've had 2 random acts of kindness bestowed on me in the last week. Seriously I feel so blessed and thankful this holiday season!

You may recall I blogged about Emma wanting the American Girl typewriter a couple weeks ago. Well.. my blogs go to my Facebook page and my high school friend Amy read my note about it. Turns out she lives in Atlanta where there is an American Girl Place..she happened to be going out near there so she popped into the store and found the typewriter for me! They had just gotten a shipment in that morning! I found out just as I was about to bid for one on ebay for more than 2x the price (thankfully Paul had already lost one auction). So, she shipped the typewriter to me and I got it today!! And, Amy just wants me to donate money to the food bank to repay her. How nice is that?? I'm so excited..Emma has told everyone she knows that she wants that darn typewriter..she'll be SO happy Christmas morning! So, my friend Amy is a rockstar and I hope lots and lots of good karma comes her way.

As if that wasn't enough I was at the mall today (Cary Town Center) doing some last minute shopping. I got an idea and decided to pop into Kirklands to grab a throw. As I was checking out the mall manager came up to me, said they were doing Random Acts of Kindness and paid for my throw! Seriously! How lucky am I? She even asked me if we were going to the food court because she was headed there to buy lunch for shoppers. How nice! We didn't get the free lunch as we had to get Lily but seriously..how kind!

So, now I am compelled and challenged to do 2 Random Acts of Kindness..pay it forward you know! I am reminded that though the holidays can be crazy, busy and stressful there are really kind people out there who are doing good for others. I want to be one of those people...

3rd Time's the Charm

Yesterday marks the 3rd time I've been locked out of my house. Seriously how do I keep doing this? Once I locked the keys inside then over the summer we'd gone to the pool and I took just the garage door opener and for some reason it didn't work when we got home. Same thing happened yesterday. We walked down to our neighbors' for a brunch and I grabbed the garage door opener...it worked to close the garage so who would think it wouldn't work to open it. Yet, that's what happened.

We had an appointment at Portrait Innovations to get the kids Christmas picture done so we rushed from the brunch to go home and get the kids changed to get to the store. We got home and the door wouldn't open. So frustrating!! Anyway 20 minutes later we try our neighbor's battery and low and behold the door opened. So we rush in, grab the clothes and race to the store.

Except when we got to the store and checked in they told us they were 30 minutes behind. However, they were an hour behind. I'm sure you can guess how fun it is to wait with 4 kids for an hour to get pictures. By the time we got to go Paul and I were super grouchy and we actually didn't have time to view our pictures. So, we get to go back today to view them. Lucky us....I learned some lessons though yesterday:
1. Always take keys
2. Ensure at least one neighbor has your key (we did this but when my purse got stolen and we re-cored the house I hadn't updated our keys)
3. Don't go to Portrait Innovations on the weekend during the holiday season
4. Even though you think it's a good idea don't take your husband with you to PI on the weekend during the holidays...his grumpiness will rub off on you and the whole experience will be one you want to forget....

The Weekend

Whew...I'm glad to be through the weekend! It was super busy starting with an adults only Christmas party on Friday night. My cousin and her boyfriend came over the keep the kids (all 4! Thanks Em!!)..they seemed to have survived and even offered their services again! The party was for my neighborhood Bunco group and it was tons of fun..we played a new to me dice game called left, right, center..sadly Paul and I both lost but it was fun.

Saturday I got to sleep in a little bit..it was SO nice to have Paul home to help with breakfast and getting everyone dressed. We then went to Rocky Mount to celebrate Christmas with my dad's wife's family. Natalie's parents have 3 grandsons so my girls had a big time playing with their boys. Saturday night we had another neighborhood family Christmas party. Which was lots of fun until Jacob decided he was sick of parties and lost his mind...

Sunday we saw the Christmas production at church, which was outstanding! Sunday afternoon we had a lovely brunch at our neighbors..then pictures for the kids (a whole other post). Then Paul needed to go to a Wake for a friend's grandfather and I took Emma caroling at a retirement community with her Daisy troop. Needless to say everyone slept very well last night!

Paul's Home!

Paul got home yesterday afternoon and we're SO glad to have him safe and sound at home! We all missed him a lot. I was starting to have some big behavior issues with Lily and I think it was in part due to Paul being gone. It was so nice to be able to "sleep in" this morning..read: he got up with the girls and got them breakfast. We have a pretty busy weekend with Christmas parties and I'm so glad Paul will be around. I am over going to parties/events with all 4 kids by myself..the Breakfast with Santa on Thursday morning at Lily's school nearly pushed me over the edge. I seriously do not know how single parents do it!!