Sooo much...

Ah...the sneak peek of what would have been my Christmas card this year...if I could have found a decent price on adding 3 more small photos of my kiddos' faces. {new header} Eh. I've moved on. Sort of. I tried my hand at getting a second choice photo yesterday. I didn't want to drive to Muskegon to get the necessary objects, so I made my own. Not really a fan, but Christmas is coming, man!

Saturday night was the church program. Major happiness. First, my eldest two...knockouts. I always dig Caleb in black. {it's why he owns 3 different styles in the same color} That night was no exception. Handsome. Mmm!! Caleb {did I mention this} is too old for the program now so he rang the bells. He was so nervous standing up front getting ready for the performance. The first song wasn't terrific. He had a death grip on his bells so they didn't ring. He loosened up and the second song was loud and clear. Then he prayed. Yes, my baby boy said a prayer in front of the entire congregation. By himself. I didn't mention that before any of this took place, I leaned over to Keith and told him I was going to cry. Caleb just looked so grown up, and handsome, and I could barely take. The tears welled up in my eyes. Do you judge me because I quickly pulled out my ipod and made a video of his prayer? Hehe.

Andrew was dressed in Joseph garb and had a slight speaking part. He's so small that I couldn't even get a glimpse of him the whole time. Keith snapped a few shots, but that was it. Until he walked back down the aisle at the end.

Kyle...backing up, Kyle has been joyfully singing Go Tell It On The Mountain for a couple of weeks now. He said he didn't know the words to any other song. Catchy tune I suppose. At dinner that night, before the program, Keith and I both spoke to him about making sure he sung loud and proud so we'd be able to hear him over everyone else. He practiced at the restaurant. We had to ask him to be a little quieter so he proceeded to lip sync the song in full Kiss mode. I'm pretty sure the tongue even slipped out. It was the only time I've seen a song enacted and the only time ever that a churchy, Christmas song was treated as heavy metal. In my humble opinion. Kyle did us proud, especially during the finale. We heard. EVERY. SINGLE. WORD. of the chorus. It will be a remembered night forever. {yeah, that's on video, too}

Sunday was fun. We got together with family for the annual Schmieding Christmas party. Arrive at school. Kids run around like banshees. Set up food. Chat. Pray. Eat food. Kids run around like banshees. Chat. Exchange cookies. Take millions of pictures. Go home. Short and sweet.

Yesterday, as I was getting ready for the game, it dawned on me that basketball season is officially here...

My tub will look like this through the end of February!! Black and red are both my favorite colors but I get bored easily with them this time of the year. I need to freshen things up. {last night I wore the polka-dot skirt, in case you were wondering. :)}

Andrew tried out for the play last week and he got one of 35 munchkin parts!! Hooray!! His rehearsals start tomorrow night. I will post when I figure out the date of the play. Way to go, baby doll! Right up your alley.

I said in my last post that this would be more geared toward the holiday, so...I come into some money Friday and cannot wait to finish my shopping. I thought I was doing well until I noticed all the gifts I haven't purchased. My December Daily has also not been started, but I do have a list of what's going in it.

I cannot wait until Saturday!! No interruptions, no other plans!! We are spending the day baking treats for the office ladies and bus driver, watching our Christmas movies and checking out Christmas lights after dark!! It's almost the best day of the season. {almost}