This And That

Our weekends are so full packed, cramped and stuffed that I have had no time to even look at the blog, the blogs that I follow much less my email.

The last two nights now we came home so late, the Ls were already sleeping in the car. Twice we skipped toothbrushing (yikes!!!) not to mention bath time or at least a shower for them.
I don't even want to know what color the bathwater will have tomorrow morning.
... I love their stinky smell so .... who cares :)

Like the other THIS and THAT post, this will be a long one! Go potty, get a drink, a snack, your warm slippers and ENJOY :)

We started with THIS Friday night ....

Our Advents Activity of the day was "Have a Family Movie Night"

The Ls went to work and made brownies for dessert. 

We then had a typical movie dinner, hot dogs, sweet potato fries, LOTS of pickles and soda out of the bottle of course.

Then it was time to buy the tickets and condiments ...

L had set up shop in the play room and provided the sweets and tickets

We made TOO MUCH popping-corn with our new (used) pop-corn-pot (or whatever you call that thing)

of course the brownies

Then we set up camp in the "theater" ....

 ... with ALL the sweets, the popcorn and drinks

 got ready and ...

the movie started

The next morning I got up took the Ls to German School to do THAT,

 with 20 super excited kiddos ...

Our main teacher was ill, so it was up to me and the second assistant teacher to take over ...

We kept them busy with salt dough ornament creations &

Gingerbread man chain making

 

Here is the chain we made to send to our main teacher to wish her well.

We had super fun and I was mighty proud that we could "control" the VERY active group so well and every kid left class with a huge smile on his/her face.

I think we actually did really good.

Then we went home and got ready for THIS

Our annual trip to the Livermore Christmas Parade

With our best buddies Abby, Ella and mom + dad

set-up was RIGHT in front to see the parade up close and in color :)

 

the dads and their girlies

Ls little friend Megan was on this ride ... and we didn't find out until later :(

Livermore is farm country ... I LOVE, LOVE this town! Every time we visit I want to move back right away. We bought our first house there and L was born there ... GOOD memories and a VERY nice community!
One day we'll be back!!!

 

 

The main attraction is Santa (of course), who arrives in fashion on the ladder wagon of the Livermore Fire Department. He turns on the lights on the towns' Christmas tree and then has to sneak away since EVERY kid in town wants to come and see him. He actually has security on site!

Here are the TWO girls that were still smiling after all that sugar and excitement.

 

 Here are the two who were not so smiling ...

Grumpy-Head Lulu

and her BFF "Talk to my Back" Abby :)

And this morning we did THAT,

two Candles were lit on our Advent Wreath

(this one was made by Lulu in German Class on Saturday and she was MIGHTY proud of it!)

We had lots of left over salt dough so we decided to make an ornament for each kid in Ls German class to add to their own creations.

And the Ls made some more for our trash tree as well. 

These are all the creations from class that we had to bake today. It took us all morning to complete the task.
We had the oven going for hours straight.

Lulu's assembly line

After THAT I ran out of time to take pictures. The kitchen had turned into a complete disaster of flower and salt dough and we all were sneezing ill because of THIS

Our weekend sleep over guests

 guinea pigs Sheila and Sharon,

who belong to Ls former Pre-School class room.

Our MOST favorite Mrs. Tang had asked L if she wanted to piggy-sit over the weekend and we (of course) said YES and were super excited.

Until ...

we all started sneezing and wheezing whenever we came near them.
Their main food source is dry hay and apparently hay and our family are not matching so well.
L had to be on Benadryl all day and night and Pat was so congested that his ears got plugged and he became dizzy from it.

SO SAD!!! We wanted these guys to come back and have fun with us but ... I don't think so.
NO piggies for us again :(
However we did have lots of fun watching them "popcorning" around and listening to their cute, little noises.
L was VERY responsible and fed them every day and took good care of her little buddies. She was VERY proud that Mrs. Tang had entrusted her with such a BIG honor!!!

SO much for THIS and THAT ... we have lots of stuff to do. St. Nikolaus will come and visit our house tonight and I better get the Ls stockings ready for him.

This night is really when the Christmas season begins in Germany and I remember being so excited , shining my biggest shoes and placing them on the stairs so Nikolaus was going to find them right away.
Once he actually came and visited my house. I was so scared I hid in a bench until my mom made me come out and say my poem for him. I think I almost peed my pants ...

If you read the Wikipedia link about Nikolaus you'll see that he is the reason we celebrate Santa Claus here in the US.
He was a Greek Bishop, known for his many, many acts of kindness. He slipped coins into the shoes of poor people, who left their shoes outside in hopes he would ride by. Thus we have today Stockings hung at the chimney ... for the coins you see.

So much for Christmas history for today :)

As I said, its my MOST favorite season of the year and it has so much tradition and magic that comes with it.
I just wish everybody would enjoy this season for what it is, family, sharing, love and kindness, baking cookies, reading stories and enjoying this VERY special time through the eyes of kids.
This is the BEST part of it all!

The Ls have sparkles in their eyes when they talk about Nikolaus, Santa Claus, when we do our Advents crafts and share our fun with others.  They are so full of dreams and hopes during this season. Its so contagious!

It is not about how much you get or want and what you buy and for whom, it is what you give and the joy you receive out of giving. The joy you receive when you spend time with family and friends and the joy of seeing the kids in awe of it all.

I must be off ... Nikolaus will come soon and I better get things ready ...