The Preslars: More Holiday High-Lights

This is going to be a long one....

December Highlight #2

Best Gingerbread House EVER!!

That doesn't mean I don't have plenty of room for improvement. I'm just saying that I really enjoyed carrying out our annual tradition of gingerbread house-building with the Mayfields, especially because I'm discovering that when your youngest child is 4 1/2, you might actually have a chance at being as obsessive as you would like to be while painstakingly creating your house of ginger and bread. Which then just makes you see how much MORE obsessive you would like to be next year. It is probably a sign of an illness that as soon as I'm through making a gingerbread house I immediately being anticipating the following Christmas so I can do it again. CRAZY!

Stomper took the fondant icing I wasn't using and instantly started sculpting reptiles with it

Worst part? Didn't take a picture of the final product, which we tossed a couple of weeks ago.

Sigh. It was great, ok? All perfectly red and white and green! You should have seen it! It even had a red fondant portico over the wreath-hung front door. (Now that I don't have a picture to prove it, you'll never know that it was quite lopsided. But it was for dang-sure color coordinated.)

Oh well, guess it's just reason to make another one all the sooner next year! Love you, Mayfields.

Highlight #3

Dancing and Singing

This was a good year for music. I will keep it short, just want to say that we really enjoyed another fabulous cello concert put together by my splendid sister Margaret. My kids had a rough December with all the practicing and busy schedules, so we didn't feel that prepared, but in a giant group of kids...well, it was hard to tell! It was a fun night. Except for Bundle, who basically spent the entire evening taking the same picture 1,000 times on my phone and doing seat-yoga in her chair.

Also we enjoyed the MOST WONDERFUL night of singing with our friends the Bucherts. They have this collection of notebooks just packed with music and momma Becca can play the piano really well, so you eat yummy soup and then gather around the piano and sing your heart out, at least as well as you can, to all sorts of Christmassy music, everything from Up On the Housetop to In the Bleak Midwinter. So. Much. Fun.

Another very musical night that came at a bit of a cost to our family was the evening that Stomper performed in a play that was an extracurricular activity at school - for two months he spent at least two days a week after school until dinner time practicing this play with about 15 songs in it. I was actually quite surprised that he chose to take part; not a single one of his gang of friends wanted to be in it. But he decided to do it, and though there were a few days that he was so exhausted that he talked seriously of quitting, he pushed through. It made those two months of homework miserable for us and his teacher pretty much needs to wipe December from the books (if only she would!) but he really had a great time in the long run. He was befriended by a small gang of sixth grade girls who look at least 5 years older than him. That may explain the sudden stop in his threats to quit..... I was glad when it ended honestly but it was fun to see and I was very proud of him for taking part and doing a great job.

Highlight #4

A Visit From the Southern Romneys, During which I Got to Spend A Lot of Time Holding a Cute Cute Baby

December zipped past as it is prone to do, and we didn't think we were going to get a chance to hold one of our favorite traditions, that of Waffles and Wassail, in which we eat waffles, drink no wassail, and watch A Muppet Christmas Carol. Happily for us, the Southern Romneys decided to brave a trip up north despite snow (Our valley stayed white all December long!! How I LOVE a white Christmas!) and the difficulties of traveling with a small baby to come see us. It was the weekend before Christmas, and we made the most of it with zoo trips (duh, of course), sledding, gathering with family, and of course our Muppet movie tradition. It was such a nice way to spend the weekend before Christmas. What a pleasure it is to have brothers and sisters I am close to, and for our kids to love their cousins. I just love it and them.

The Actual Waffles night - we had a surprise when my sister was able to come with all three of her teenage girls plus one boyfriend plus one roommate - we were packed in but it worked and was even more fun than we expected.