In the Christmas Spirit...

Week 27: This is one of my favorite times of the year. I love to have the house decorated with all of the lights and the greenery. I have been working at Mary Virginia's school this week in Santa's Secret Shop. The kids have been so cute coming in to buy gifts for their parents and siblings! Since I have been at the school everyday this week, decorating went a little slower than normal. We finally finished decorating the inside of the house on Friday! Ed still has a few additions he wants to make to the outside! It was an uneventful week - and very chilly! I believe it was Friday when then weather finally cleared up and we headed out to the barn! We were so excited that Ed was able to come watch MV ride. She showed off riding Jack - he is a very stubborn horse and she is getting really good at giving him directions! Now, she also showed off with her other favorite activity at the barn and that is the rope swing!

Then the kids showed off their horse skills on a different type of horse!Saturday, we accidentally ran into Santa at Wal-mart. He was a sad excuse for Santa, but we made the best of it! The kids sat on his lap and told him what they wanted for Christmas...well, MV did, John Bay forgot! He was very upset that he forgot to tell Santa about the Bat Cave that he wants! Don't worry, we will be finding another Santa soon! After a fun morning at Wal-mart (the most crowded spot on Earth), MV and I headed to a zumba class! Her Girl Scout Troop was taking zumba and we went to earn her Fitness Patch! We had so much fun that we are going to start going on Saturdays in January for the kids class!

Sunday, after church, we headed to the mall to see the "real" Santa! Too bad the line was out the door of the mall - a few hour wait. We will try again soon! Instead, we rode the carousel...

and had a treat at Menchies!Another great week in LA! We are counting down the days until our trip home for Christmas!

Beignet's Elfcapades

On Monday, Beignet decided to take over the chalkboard and make a self portrait! Tuesday, he made gingerbread man crayons and brought the kids coloring books. Who knew that an elf was a great artist! Wednesday, he brought the kids some new Christmas PJ's! Beignet was covered in ribbon, labels, and tissue paper!

Thursday, there was a Marshmallow "Snowball" Fight between lots of our friends. This snowball fight did the kids in. I went to the back to get ready and when I came back into the den, the kids had put all of their stuffed animals and toys away and scooped all of the marshmallows into a pile. I was told to clean up the marshmallows and put them away. It seems that the kids did not like Beignet playing with their friends!Friday, Beignet brought an advent chain tree. He left a note telling the kids to cut off a chain each morning and then on Christmas they would be left with the gold "star" link!Saturday brought another rough situation...Beignet built a Lego house and was playing on some of the construction equipment....John Bay quickly put the blocks away and the equipment. Let me say though, he DID NOT touch Beignet....just dumped him on the floor - so the magic is still there!And finally, on Sunday, Beignet zip-lined through the kitchen! The kids got a kick out of this!

We are enjoying the holidays and the adventures of Beignet! He is one crazy elf!