Our Christmas

Our Christmas in pictures (and words too):

Our Christmas kicked off with the kids taking selfies on my phone in our bed while they waited for our annual reading of the Christmas story from the Bible to start our Christmas morning.  New Christmas tradition???

Time to open gifts...but not before I insist on our annual Christmas morning in front of the tree pictures.

Socks, underwear, loofahs, mints, chapstick...stockings are just the best!!

The kids love to buy and make gifts for each other.  This year Briggs made an ornament for Staley and a perler bead creation for Adelie.  He and Adelie pooled their money and bought some bath gel Staley wanted, while Briggs bought Adelie some Altoids for her purse.  Adelie bought Briggs some monster trucks and a Gameboy tin of mints.

Staley bought Briggs a Harry Potter Squishmallow, and she got Adelie this 'Jolene' shirt and some stroopwaffels.  'Jolene' is Adelie's favorite song!  I love how the kids put so much time, effort, and thought into what they give to each other.

The kids all got things they were really excited about.  Briggs got a Harry Potter Lego set he wanted, although I think he was most excited about the Mario Bros Wii game that Zach got.

Adelie was pumped about her 'Keeper of the Lost Cities' set of books and her new running watch.

Staley loved her new wall art, running shoes, and bluetooth speaker.

After gift opening, we enjoyed a relaxing day with a yummy Christmas brunch, playing Zach's new video game, building Legos, and enjoying all our new Christmas things.

Staley and I put our new Christmas running shoes to good use with a festive holiday run.  (She wasn't initially on board with the Santa hat idea, but she ended up humoring her mother.  Merry Christmas to me!!)

We did go to my parents' house for a scrumptious Christmas lunch/dinner with my parents, Ethan, and my parents' friends James and Anna.  It was such a nice, relaxing, family-filled day!!

We continued our Christmas celebrations with brunch with Zach's family on the 26th.  Yummy food, more gifts, time with cousins...so many of our favorite things!

We spent the morning eating, opening, visiting, and playing.

We then headed right over for time with my side of the family.

More gifts, more time with cousins, more yummy food.

It was all our favorite things all over again!

Time with family is our favorite!!

It was a very Merry Christmas!!

Frozen, Jr.

As part of our December busy, the kids performed in their Stage Kids show 'Frozen, Jr.'  This was Staley and Adelie's second time performing this show with NTA, with their last time back in 2019 with 8 year old Staley as Olaf and 6 year old Adelie as ensemble.  This time Briggs joined the mix as all 3 kids took the stage.

Briggs and Adelie performed with the Eureka/Peoria cast...

while Staley performed with the NTA Thursday cast.

Adelie was asked to fill in as middle Anna for the NTA Tuesday cast for one night of the show when their Middle Anna got sick.  She was thrilled!  (Not thrilled that the other little girl got sick, but very excited to be asked to fill in...and to get to be middle Anna with her friend, Riley, as middle Elsa.)

Although Staley was really busy with dance team, she was still able to work tech for the Eureka/Peoria cast.  She always enjoys working backstage with her friends.

Briggs was in the ensemble as a villager, party guest, and hidden folk.

He always knows his songs, dances, and what he is supposed to be doing.  I love watching his confidence grow on the stage.

Adelie had a number of different parts in the show.  Her biggest (and favorite) part was playing middle Anna.

As middle Anna, she had a few long solos in "Do You Want to Build a Snowman" as well as a few lines.

Adelie was fantastic!!  She did a great job with her solos and lines, and she created her character so perfectly on stage.

Adelie was also a summer dancer, hidden folk, and a villager.

Adelie has gotten so much more confident and is becoming one of the more experienced performers.

Staley was so many things in her cast.  Her primary role was that of Pabbie (one of the lead hidden folk) with multiple lines in her 2 scenes, as well as solos in the song "Fixer Upper."

When not playing Pabbie, Staley was also castle staff...

a ballroom dancer (her favorite costume and dance of the show)...

a summer dancer...

 and Oaken's family.  She was also a villager.

She had multiple lines in her other roles as well, as well as SO many costume and wig changes.  I think she had 6 or 7 costume changes throughout the show.  She always handles it all like a pro and brings all her characters to life so well on the stage.

I love watching my kids grow as performers.

Each show brings new friends and new opportunities.

The kids love NTA and the experiences (and friends) it brings.

Grandparents are always in the audience, supporting the kids...

even when it involves multiple shows and multiple casts.

Adelie and Briggs also enjoyed having the Swansons (church friends/Sunday School teacher) in the audience for their show this time.

It was fun to have Lila come with Uma and Papa as well.

I measure success by how much the kids enjoy the experience and grow in their skills and confidence.  Frozen, Jr?  SUCCESS!!

Countdown to Christmas

Our December flew by with so many activities and performances leading up to Christmas.  To catch up a bit, here is a photo recap of our countdown to Christmas...

The Christmas season is always filled with Rising Stars and Singapella Christmas performances.

The performances generally start in mid-November and get progressively colder as the season goes along.  (I prefer the indoor performances during this season of the year.)  This year both Adelie and Staley were in the mix for singing the solos in "Somewhere Hovering Over Indiana."

Adelie also did a Christmas solo of "Sparklejollytwinklejingly" and got to perform it on 2 occasions.

The girls did the frigid Santa Claus parade performance with their NTA friends, but missed the equally cold Festival of Lights Parade and the Pekin Parade this year.  I can't say I was sad about that.

The NTA Christmas Cabaret is always a highlight of the season.  The girls performed with Rising Stars.  Adelie did her solo.

Staley also performed with Singapella and Kickline.  It was a fun night watching all the kids showcase their talents!

Speaking of NTA and the busyness it added to our December, all 3 kids were in NTA's performances of Frozen, Jr.  That will be its own post, but provided plenty of opportunities for us to be at the theater during the holiday season.

Apart from NTA, we also filled our December with our last ever Davenport Christmas Concert for Briggs.  I can't say I'm sad to say good-bye to the hot, crowded, chaotic gym full of people watching their grade schoolers sing a few Christmas tunes every year.

Briggs was also our only kid in the church Christmas program.  He was a great Joseph and knew all his songs and motions to the songs that they sang.

Adelie had her Christmas band concert and Staley had her Christmas choir concert that we slotted into our busy December schedule.

I enjoyed a special lunch at the Mackinaw tea room with Vickie and my mom to celebrate the season.  It was beautiful, scrumptious, and a special way to spend time with special people.

Eureka hosted a dance team competition right before Christmas break, so Staley got to spend her entire first official day of Christmas break dancing and helping out at the competition.

Staley's team got first place for their jazz routine in the middle school division, and they also got a qualifying score to advance to the IDTA State competition in February.

In the midst of the performances and competitions, as well as all the rehearsals and practices and lessons and other activities, we did find a little time to soak in the Christmas cheer with our Christmas traditions like decorating the house (including the tree that the girls and I picked out that Adelie named Jimbella)...

making and decorating cookies...

attending Christmas parties at school, dance, and Penguin...

shopping and wrapping, making gifts (and superhero costumes, apparently), watching Christmas movies, eating peppermint ice cream and treats...

and looking forward to a break from the busy.

It was a full, fun, and festive countdown to Christmas.