Christmas baking

Everyone in the family really wanted some Christmas treats this year. So, they were willing to help me make them!! 

Jennifer worked on these yummy treats....

Justin chose to do the peanut butter balls -which is one of our favorites!!  I did the rest for the most part.  And for whatever reason, we did mostly candy this year rather than baked goods.  Luckily, we have plenty of people to share our goodies with and also were having a party with a bunch of kids that would help us eat them!!

Medieval Times

Every Christmas season, we get together and do something with the Seelhammers. We don't get to see them too often, so we like to keep this tradition going.  As usual, we struggled this year to figure out what to do.  We have done all the "Christmasy" things, so we decided to do something that I have been wanting to do for a long time, even though it wasn't really "Christmasy". 

We ended up going to Medieval Times at Discover Mills Mall. I had no idea that it was in the mall until we got there.  We were early and they actually walk out in the mall and parade around and blow the trumpets announcing the opening.

The outside of the arena was decorated for Christmas and they had a huge fire going in the fireplace where we got a table to sit and wait until we were called in. 

Once our team was called, we went inside the arena and were seated in the second row-center section. 

 The food was really good!!  I think this was the first time I had ever had tomato soup, and I liked it.  I don't know if it would be my first choice, but it was definitely edible.  But the biggest thing is that you get no eating utensils- no fork with the chicken and potatoes, and no spoon for the soup!!  But that added to the fun of the evening!

 The show they performed was really good as well. The horses were just simply amazing at some of the stunts and tricks that they could do. The jousting and games that the knights performed were really good too. 

 Our knight (the one for our team) would occasionally stop by and throw flowers out to the ladies.  Jennifer caught one and immediately turned and gave it to Anna -who was thrilled to get a flower after wanting one so badly.  And then another lady missed hers and it fell to the floor, where it was really whoever could get there first.  Justin rushed over and got it, and then handed it back to the lady who missed it.  It was a proud mommy moment for me to see how giving my kids were that evening.  I am always proud of them, but they both gave up the flowers so automatically that night, that I was very proud of them for thinking of others. 

This was our knight- the one that we cheered for and threw out the flowers.  Sorry some of these are not focused well. I took my camera out of auto mode when it was dark and didn't realize until it was too late.  Angela bought us the photos and the kids went around getting the signatures of all the knights and King and Queen too. 

 This was the prince!!

After it was all over, we took a few more pictures before heading out to the parking lot where we exchanged gifts.

It was cool, but not super cold so the adults hung out for a while and caught up with each other. The girls snuggled in the van with the gifts and the boys played inside the van and outside the van. 

Everyone had an incredible time.  It was expensive but it was worth the visit, and a night we will always remember!!

Jennifer's first dance concert

Jennifer was super excited about her first dance concert at the beginning of this month. Actually, its not her first dance concert, but her first at her new school. So, they have been working everyday to get ready and they all did a SUPER job. I am telling you these kids just amaze me every time I watch them. If you have a chance, check out some of their pictures at http://www.cccepa.com/CCCEPA%20Gallery/?folder=The%202011-2012%20Gallery/Fall%20Dance%20Concert/&file=Picture-011.jpg You can scroll through the pictures but Jennifer is in pictures 340,348,370,1096,1107,1112,1114,1125,1128,1142,1146,1146-1510. She had a ballet piece and a jazz piece.  In the jazz pictures, she seemed to be behind someone each time.  In the ballet piece, she was in a yellow skirt and was more upfront as you can tell.

Me, Mom, Dale, Justin, Gabby, Courtney, and 2 of Jennifer's friends went to the Friday night show. We had a car full of people. We went to Zaxby's for dinner and then rode over there. Coming home, we had 8 of us in the van.  Saturday, it was just Jennifer and I. Both nights were awesome!!  Each night I go to something, I am learning more of the kid's and parent's names and a little bit about them. Jennifer is already looking forward to the next dance concert in the Spring.

Christmas Photo shoot

This year, we had Spring pictures made by a lady I met through school. I won a photo shoot with Elizabeth and thought it was my friend Elizabeth who had done our photos before. But it was a different Elizabeth. After she took our Spring pictures, she volunteered to take our Christmas pictures for free if we would let her use them for marketing purposes. So, of course, I said that was fine.

We met at Roswell Mill and got our Christmas pictures made. They turned out well. Thanks Elizabeth Bou and my family for putting up with another photo shoot.