Here's a photo wrap-up of the second half of December. I'm not quite sure where the time goes, but somehow it slips by without me getting a chance to update this blog. So, here goes.
Megan had her school program on December 18th. They were super cute with their "Hot Chocolate" song. Here's the class photo:
She had a class Christmas party after the program where we made gingerbread houses, decorated cookies, and made a little foam gingerbread girl. Here's Megan with her teacher, Mrs. Bergl.
Jake had his program on the same day, so Darin went to that one and got it on video. Sorry - no photos here. He ended up singing (he had been threatening for weeks that he wasn't going to be in the show). He's still singing the Christmas songs like crazy....along with Lady Gaga & Miley Cyrus, etc....Maybe he'll be a theater guy -- happy in the spotlight like his dad.
The day after all of the programs, I chaperoned Megan's field trip to the Museum of Science & Industry. That really is such a cool place. We saw quite a bit in the two short hours that we spent ther. Here's the U-505 exhibit:
On the 19th, we met Will, Lili & Pierce in Wilmette to see a Mrs. Claus Christmas play. Here are the kids and Mrs. Claus (Mrs. Claus happens to be my friend, Sharon - from my old golf league).
On Dec. 20th, Megan got to go to the American Girl store with Mimi and Aunt Jenny. Here is a photo of Megan and Julie Albright:
I think Julie is her favorite gift of all time. That doll has been by her side since then. She took Julie to the O'Donnell's house on the 21st (Debbie watched them that day) and 22nd. On that Tuesday, the 22nd, Debbie took all of the kids sledding and Megan had a run-in with another girl at the snow hill. She came home with a red mark on her face and woke up the next morning with a nice Christmas shiner:
On the 23rd, I took the kids to the Children's Museum. They had a fabulous time running the Potbelly Sandwich shop. They were so funny - I should have just brought a magazine and hung out. I sat at a table, Megan worked the register and made sandwiches, while Jake took orders and delivered sandwiches to all of the adults that were sitting in there. It was so funny to watch him bring food to people that he didn't know and say things like, "Here's your order". Then he would come back and say, "Are you done with this yet?" and clear the table for them. They worked the grocery store too, but that one didn't last as long:
That night, Uncle Jimmy babysat while we went to Naha for Darin's birthday. Woo hoo!
We spent Christmas Eve at the Cleaveland's. The kids had a great time playing with their cousins.
And I like this photo -- 3 generations of Collings boys:
And Megan and Lili hanging out with Kai Lan....and acting silly!
On Christmas Day, we hosted a casual gathering and got to visit with Scott & Grandma Helen, Grandpa Jim and Ruth, Brian, Christina, Damien & Ada. (of course Jimmy was here too since he lives here!) This is a fun photo of the kids acting silly:
After Christmas, Aunt Jenny and Uncle Flipper came over and we all went sledding. It was a pretty lame hill, but the kids still had fun. We're gonna have to find a better one before the season is over.
And we'll finish here with an action shot:
P.S. We also went to a crazy New Year's Eve party at Ben & Jen's house, but I don't have any photos of that. They hired babysitters for all of the kids (there were probably 35 kids there - yikes). They had a DJ and a balloon drop. Megan was bummed that we didn't stay for the balloon drop. We left at about 10:30. We were home by 11:00 and did a little 10-second countdown, said "Happy New Year" and put the kids to bed! She finished off her two-week school break with a Northwestern Women's Basketball game. It was Scout day, so she got a fun patch for her vest. When they got home, she had her first ice skating experience on our neighbor's backyard ice rink. She loved it. Today I got her a pair of skates and she was back out there for another round tonight!
