Then One Foggy Morn'

It has been foggy here the last two days. I think the fog is so pretty in the winter with the barren trees covered by the ethereal white mess.

So after we dropped Payton off at school, Ian and I went around town a little so I could take some pictures.

Then we stopped at Starbucks for Ian's favorite - whipped cream!

Augsburg's Christmas program

Yesterday was Augsburg's Christmas program. Payton was a star. Ian refused to be in it, so he sat on my lap. Saturday was the only practice that Payton had - the program is pretty simple for the little ones. Process in, stand quietly(while the older children sing other songs and say their lines), sing one song , walk out in a line. Payton did a great job. She sang 'Away in a Manger' beautifully.

I wasn't sure if we would make it to early church yesterday or not. It was raining and 32 degrees. I think it only hit freezing for 2-3 hours. Only our deck and the tops of trees had ice. But, me being from Tx, I wasn't sure about the roads. Our neighbor across the street is a nurse and had just come home from a night shift. I yelled from my porch to her to ask about the road conditions and she said that they were just wet. So I rushed the kids out the door so we could make 8:30 church. Actually, I think the trees looked quite beautiful - partly because I knew the ice would be melting soon.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take the camera to church :)

The Christmas Tree

Last Sunday afternoon, we went to the farmer's market to pick out our Christmas tree.

Scott and I think it's so cool that we can get beautiful Fraser fir trees from farms just a couple of hours from here. We got our tree from Holly Farms which is close to Sparta, NC and the Blue Ridge Parkway.

It was 38 degrees out, so the kids got pretty cold quickly. I thought it was perfect weather for picking out our tree.

We got the tree home, and I think it took Scott and I almost an hour to get the tree in the stand and semi-straight. See what you think.....

Our tree stand is somewhere between 30 and 40 years old. It was my parents' stand before they went artificial. We think the problem with the straightness lies within the tree stand - we will make due for one more year.

The kids enjoyed putting on the ornaments - all in the same spot - 3 feet or lower. Favorite ornaments this year were the ornaments from the movie Cars! What is this world coming to. Nothing says Christmas like Cars.

Ahhh, there's nothing like a fresh Christmas tree all decorated to start off the season :)

Sometimes you just gotta....

lay down and take a nap.

Ian fought it. He really tried, but I guess he just couldn't keep his eyes open any longer.

As I was taking pictures, Payton was watching. I told her that if she fell asleep in the hall I would take her picture too. I went to the kitchen to put away the camera and when I came back, there she was.....

Silly girl.

Gingerbread House

Daddy had to moonlight today - noon until tomorrow morning.

The weather outside was dreadfully wet and cold, so kept the kids occupied today. We did lots of the usual, but we also made gingerbread houses.

Payton saw an episode of Challenge where they made 6 foot gingerbread houses. Our homes were quite a bit smaller, but awfully cute.

Catch that Elf

We started to break out the Christmas decorations yesterday and found our elf hats.

Payton decided that the camera shouldn't take an elf's picture.

They kept running away from me and the camera.....

That's just great!

Daddy and the kids put up Christmas lights last weekend.

OK, so Daddy put up the lights and the kids ate their snack.

Actually, they helped with the plastic stakes.

The Count Down:

But, it was fun playing around with the lights on.