Busy Sunday

Our kids really enjoy our pastor's kids. They all homeschool, one even shares the same name, and she happened to be having a birthday! A texted invitation came in . . . "We weren't planning to have a party for her 10th birthday, but she talked us into it. Can you come?" You bet, we don't birthday party with friends very often, and we genuinely enjoy time with this family. In fact, after dropping mom and the boys at the airport at 4:30 this morning, Buck came home to sleep and then took our boys to the woods to help prep trees to keep this family warm this winter. He really likes opportunities to use his chainsaw--they were few and far between . . . until now :)

Anyway, back to the party. It was muddy and slushy outside as the big snow finally started to melt. The boys went out to the trampoline with shovels, a little unsettling, but the bouncing snow seemed less dangerous when they came inside whole :) The girls were busy taking a snowflake making tutorial from the birthday girl.

This family doesn't eat sugar, pork, or gluten, so we weren't sure how they would celebrate dessert. After gifts, which were very enthusiastically accepted (again, we were just supposed to bring hand-me-downs and not purchase anything, but I'd already scored on art supplies during a Hobby Lobby sale), out came the cake. Cheesecake, genius! And homemade ice cream, made with honey. Very tasty. We couldn't stay the full two hours because we had Christmas show tickets that evening!

Testing, Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Hi, This is guest blogger Graysen

We went to this Christmas show over the river. There was this song called Nutcracker Goes Wrong. So they were all dancing, and there was this bee buzzing noise; they were all ducking and then the conductor said, “It’s a bee!” And then this pop music came on [via the full orchestra] and the [ballet] guys [who were wearing tights] slid on their knees and were playing the air guitar. Then they went backstage and the Nutcracker was doing the walking man offstage. [It was very funny, and one of our collective favorite parts. Another was when the conductor selected a couple of cuties for audience participation in orchestra training].Then they brought up two little girls; one had bells and the other one had a whip crack, and they were playing Jingle Bells with the orchestra. The orchestra was outstanding, it was super cool!

As we were leaving, I (Jess) heard a couple of older ladies discussing our family. "My grandchildren would NEVER enjoy a performance like this. They wouldn't even want to come!" "Mine either, I'm so surprised those kids are here!" "Julie might like it, we took her to see Sesame Street one  year." "Oh, yes, and isn't Paw Patrol coming?" I was cracking up. Any chance to get dressy, and my Crew is in :) Right, Gabby?

I've been wanting to see this particular Christmas show for several years. We were very excited when a little Christmas money from California arrived to help cover ticket costs! Ours was the final performance of the entire series run this year, and we really enjoyed it. We'd never been at this venue before, but it seemed very professional and friendly, at the same time. A nice combination in theater and symphony, and I do love Christmas music. Oh, the kids were joking on the drive over about a Christmas Santa Rockette kick line . . . I just looked down the row and grinned at them when this actually happened on stage!

And although the next adventure didn't happen on the titled "Busy Sunday," I'm adding it to this blog post because it is the grand finale of what I need to catch up on, yay! So on Wednesday we told the kids we were taking them out for a surprise . . . but then it started raining and the roads, according to the radio were icky. Instead, several of the youth group kids had talked the worship leader into opening the church for a game night (they didn't want to not have youth group til next year, love that!) Buck felt up to taking the kids, but I needed a break. Our Crew was  delighted with the opportunity to spend a couple hours with friends at church, and I was delighted to sit by the Christmas tree and read a book. It was so peaceful and relaxing. It's one thing I want to do every year, but usually only get to if I get sick, which I don't want to do every year :)

So yesterday, Buck and I put together some venison stew for the crockpot, set out rolls to rise, went about all our crazy day activities and appointments, and then loaded the kids in the van for a second go at our surprise destination. It was an hour both ways to a farm in the country that is well-known for its Christmas light display. We didn't know what to expect, but it was fun to see fields of darkness with a spot of bright and festive color glowing on the horizon. We drove past twice, not sure if we could actually go into the driveways or if the muddy, dirt road was our only path.

I'm not sure we'd make the drive every year, but several friends said this place stuck out in their family Christmas memories, so we thought it was worth the drive. Our kids enjoyed the five minutes of festivity after all that time on the road :) The combine was my favorite. I've never seen Christmas lights on a farm before, and I do love Christmas lights!