Catching Up

We have been pretty busy lately, here is what we have been up to. I took about 50 pictures of the kids one night trying to get a picture for our Christmas cards. This was the winner.

Ethan really wanted to put Aubrey on his back and take a picture, so I told them they could when I finally got a decent shot. They are in the phase of really goofy smiles.

Grandma and Grandpa were able to come to visit and able to see Aubrey's Christmas program at school. I was allowed to leave school and come over and see it as well. It was very cute! Aubrey was part of the choir.

It was Charlie Brown Christmas. Aubrey's friend Landon from church was Linus.

We had the Living Nativity at church and Friday night Ethan helped me in the Market Place. He really liked kneading the bread.

This was my first year actually being in the Living Nativity. It was such a big help to have my parents to help out.

Derek singing in the choir. He is the one with his arm up being silly in the back row.

Saturday night Aubrey and Grandma helped in the Market Place. We were not sure how long Aubrey would last, so Grandma was back up in case she did make it the whole time. Aubrey surprised us all and was quite the show stopper. She loved "selling" her items to the cars that drove by. My favorite was when she was trying to say "wheat" and instead told a few cars to buy "weed." She loved switching to different items and was just adorable! She is growing up on us.

While we were at the Living Nativity, Grandpa and Ethan went to the Magic game. This was part of Ethan's Christmas present from them. He loved it and got a nice hat as a souvenir.

We have quite the collection of singing Christmas items and the kids always like to do a show with all of them singing at one time. Grandma and Grandpa were the lucky audience members for this wonderful performance.

I saw this bundt pan advertised in a magazine and I had to have it. This was a trial cake for the one that I am making for the Parkview staff as a Christmas present.

Ethan said it was the best cake ever! Yes, he is eating it with chopsticks. After church, we went to the Japanese steak house with Grandma and Grandpa. The chef was wonderful with the kids and even let them participate. See the video at the end of the post.

Aunt Nancy and Uncle Ken sent the kids some money for Christmas so we got started on Zhu Zhu pets. The kids had a couple of the hamsters already, but this is the first of the city items. They had a great time playing with them. I found great deals on more stuff at both Walmart and CVS, so we will have quite the city on Christmas Eve. It can be addicting trying to find just the right pieces!

On Monday, Grandma and Grandpa left and we made our annual trip to the Daytona Mall to see the Gingerbread Houses. Ethan's favorite was the Vince Carter restaurant.

Aubrey and I both liked the bride and groom wedding chapel.

Derek's favorite was the Toy Story scene.
We ate dinner at the new Applebee's in the mall. We had to wait a few minutes for a table so Aubrey and I were discussing what she would like to eat. I asked her if she wanted to branch out and try something besides chicken nuggets (her staple at just about any restaurant we go to). She answered in all seriousness "I don't want to eat a branch, that would be yucky." The people waiting within earshot got a good little laugh too. And yes, she sure did still order chicken nuggets!

These are the videos of the kids helping the chef at the Japanese restaurant.

Video of Aubrey's Christmas program