DAYS 8 & 9--Decluttering & Christmas Decorating!

I didn't post yesterday because we didn't do much worth documenting.  We went through the kids clothes, toys, books, and other "stuff" around the house in major declutter mode. Then I cleaned while the kids spent some time at the neighbors house.  All this to prepare for today, which is Christmas Decorating Day at our house!  We put on some jolly Christmas music and got to work!  The only thing missing is the tree (oh, and the outside lights, but Peter is going to do that tomorrow morning, since it was drizzling most of today and it isn't supposed to rain at all tomorrow).  We don't have a fake tree, so we don't like to get one any earlier than about 2 weeks before Christmas, so we have a bit longer to wait for that.  But, the house looks festive and it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas.  :)  After dinner and showers, we sat down to read from A Christmas Carol.  It is our first time reading through as a family--we are going to try to complete it before Christmas!  We read for about 45 minutes, taking turns reading out loud (Peter was at work during this time, unfortunately).  We are reading an abridged version, made for families, so it isn't as "wordy" and formal as the original version.  It may be a huge undertaking, but we are going to give it a shot.

Stockings 

Front window

 Where we will hang Christmas cards

Manger scene 

(Note the absence of the Magi, who were not actually there the night he was born.)

Table

Abridged version of A Christmas Carol

Reading

Even though it was an abridged version, it still had some challenging words for our newest reader.  

Big brother helped sound out words.

Now, it really feels like Christmas is close.  I love this time of year!  Can't wait for December 10th, so we can get a tree!!!!

DAY 7--Pioneer Square Tree Lighting

We spent this afternoon/evening in downtown Portland today for their annual tree lighting event at Pioneer Square.  I absolutely LOVE downtown Portland.  The sun was shining bright today, but it was still cold (high of 49º).  There was singing of Christmas carols and messages from sponsors and at 6:30pm, the tree was lit!  It is so pretty!  One of the highlights of the night for me was when some of the Von Trapp Family grandchildren/great-grandchildren performed some songs from Sound of Music!!!  I got a little video but the camera was starting to do its "shut off" thing by that time (I am posting it anyway).  And the photos aren't great, but I edited as best I could.  I have a feeling we will be spending a lot of time downtown this season just to be around that gorgeous tree.   Pretty sure we will go down there next week and get a family photo in front of it for Christmas cards!  :)  It makes me anxious to get our Christmas tree up at the house, but since we get a real one every year, we don't like to get it much earlier than 2 weeks before Christmas.  Can't wait for December 10th!

Before

Daddy and daughter

Mommy and kiddos

Candy Canes from sponsors

Sponsors

Von Trapps and local choir

All lit up!

Us

These are a few of my favorite things....  :)

DAY 6--Thanksgiving!

For the first time since 2007, Peter had Thanksgiving off this year!  We were so excited about it.  This year is special because for the first time since 2004, we actually got to share a meal with other people (besides each other) for Thanksgiving.  We went to a pot luck feast at our friends' house in the afternoon.  Lots of food and fun and friends.  It was so delightful.  Again, we feel so blessed to have found this community of believers here in Portland.  "Linner" was wonderful!  My favorite part was the homemade falafels (and the apple-crisp I contributed; recipe here: YUM!)   So so good.   Later in the evening, we had my sister and her boyfriend over to our house for some dessert (my sis made pie!) and then headed over to our wonderful neighbors' house for some games.  It was truly a delightful evening.

It was a very special Thanksgiving for us.  We are thankful for our life here, for our family and friends, for our health and provision, and most of all, for our Lord, Christ Jesus, who gives us life.  :)

Linner!

Toys

Cozy fire

Hot cider

Carcassonne 

Spot It

Family Pic!

Love

Kiddos

With Auntie and Aaron

DAY 5--Zoolights

After a mostly lazy day (except for some errands and art projects), we headed to the Oregon Zoo for the Members-only preview of Zoolights (I LOVE that it is FREE to members here--in AZ, they charge the members a fee to see Zoolights).  It was awesome!  It was cold and there was off and on drizzling most of the night, but we had a wonderful time.  We got there early, so there weren't many people there at all.  It was nice to finally be doing something together.  Afterward, we made the spontaneous decision to grab some pizza for dinner.  We went to the Flying Pie Pizzeria and it was FANTASTIC!  It was a great Thanksgiving-Eve.

Days 3/4--Taking Care of Business

I must confess, there wasn't much "fun" going on here yesterday or today.  They were more "business as usual" kind of days.  Conferences with the kids' teachers, grocery shopping, and other errands.  It has been raining all day today, so we opted to stay indoors and have a pajama day.  We watched a couple movies, read some books, made peanut butter cookies, and I had some school work to finish before the Thanksgiving holiday.  Tomorrow and Thursday will be much more exciting, with a lot planned.  And some good stuff lined up for the weekend too!  Till then....

DAY 2--Bike Ride and Playground Fun

Today we mixed some work with play.  We have no photos to document this, but after church this morning, Peter and the kids cleaned out the garage (so we can put the car in!), mowed the lawn, and raked the leaves (while I was helping with the preschoolers during second service).  It was great to come home to some organization.  We woke up to ice covering the car this morning, so we decided it was time to get our act together and organize the garage so we could keep it in there.  Thanks Peter and kids!

After Peter left for work, the kids and I decided to take advantage of the sunny day and go for a bike ride!  It was COLD!  I think the high today was 39º.  But, it wasn't raining or even cloudy, so we wanted to be outside.  We bundled up and spent the afternoon biking through our neighborhood and then went to the kids' school for some playground fun.  Once home, and after the kids took warm showers, we had some hot cocoa and watched Muppets Take Manhattan.  It was a great second day of Fall Break!