YG Christmas Party

Well, it was delayed by a week due to December tornadoes, but these kids love getting together! I still wasn't feeling great, but there are limited leaders and LOADS of kids, so I got myself together (it was pajama night, so it wasn't that much of a stretch, lol), and away to the church we drove! Things got off to kind of a slow start, as they only ordered eight pizzas (with no sides) and more than 50 kids showed up. We had about 10 just wait until more pizza arrived, which took until halfway through our normal time together. But once everyone got a little more food in their tummies, the games began.

The entire night was set up as a competition to earn items to build the best gingerbread house as the evening's finale. I lead the upperclassmen ladies, and we only had a team of five (a few of our teammates left at halftime after the pizza was eaten). Their major rivalry was the boys' high school group, but we were pretty even at winning and losing. I got wrapped as a Christmas gift, we won that one (but I don't have a picture, because I was wrapped between two chairs that looked like they formed a Christmas box :) There was a Cindy Lou Who rock-paper-scissors game, an eat all the things in the Christmas stocking relay, a cheese ball tossing/mouth catching competition, cereal sorting using only straws, a Christmas trivia challenge; I can't remember them all! But the winner could give a disadvantage, and while we ended up with the best building kit, we could only use one hand each to build it. High school girls are smart and work well together, so we got the task accomplished. I'll let the photos tell the tale . . .

The high school boys had to use Golden Grahams as their disadvantage; the back of their house collapsed pretty quickly, but they had fun building it with Nutella :)

One of the oldest girls in my group had never built a gingerbread house before! She did a great job with the treehouse trunk design.

The evening concluded with a sock exchange and a LOT of clean-up! Before they left, the PaTch group, plus one, minus one took some pictures which were photobombed by the Grinch! (our youth leader's wife :) They surrounded her for a selfie, as they should.

Super fun and LATE night--a whole extra hour late. Buck had my spot on the couch all ready for me to sink into at home . . . batteries charged in social settings, drained the second I leave. Very fun Christmas party with the youth group kids!

One Door, Two Door, White Door, Blue Door

Our lock broke (I started a blog post of broken things, but more things keep breaking, so I may have to abandon that never-ending topic, lol :) It seemed important for our family to both be able to get into our house and also to lock it when we leave. It's the little things. 

So, Buck and I stopped by the home improvement store and looked at the vast selection of new locks. But couldn't remember what door handle we had (because the kit replaces that, too, and we are STILL over all the brassy gold extras they included in this 90s house :) 

Brennen texted a photo, and all I saw was, "Our door looks so gross!!!" So, we decided, as we were already at the home improvement store, we would expand our improvement to include repainting the front door. We thought we picked a pretty unique color, but one that matched our deck, swing set, and coop. Well, it turns out the neighbors on either side also have a navy door, but it's all good! Ha! 

Because neither Buck nor I was feeling well that day, it took ALLLLLLL day to get this simple project finished. We'd remove the door handle, nap, paint, nap, paint, nap again, third coat, pull the tape, nap, put the new lock on and handle, rest. It was a doozy! But it works so well now and looks so much nicer than it did before! Yay for little projects that become huge ;)

Quick Chicken Post

It feels like I have one million things to do, but a chicken post is probably the best of them all to accomplish ;) We put a second rainbow xylophone in the coop with a little bell or something at the bottom (part of my birthday gift collection) and one of the new Prairie Bluebells went right into making some sweet tunes! Which one played piano in Little House on the Prairie? I think it was Carrie Chicken. She's a natural . . .

I forgot, we also tried a "trick" to keep the chicken water from freezing . . . you fill a water bottle with 3/4 salt, 1/4 water and float it, sealed, inside the main chicken bucket. Something sciency happens, and the big bucket doesn't freeze! Well, as you can see, the sciency thing didn't happen quite like it was supposed to :)

Night at the Theater

We are scooping up every chance we can to get out and support theater and music! We've been very performancy lately :) This show took place in a renovated warehouse, and it was Buck's first time exploring the property. He was impressed! The kids went into modeling mode--moody, right?! Buck and I did our best to emulate them later. We are not good at moody OR selfies ;) But, we're working on it. Practice makes perfect, I've heard. 

The show was very entertaining, there were some powerhouse voices, and Caelan knew a couple of the actors from her choir, which makes it more fun. Also, our piano teacher, my NGF's sister, was there; she said it is her favorite show! This was the first time any of our Crew had seen Joseph, but we knew several of the songs. Such a variety of musical styles incorporated, and sooooo funny! The kids were cracking up all the way through. 

I think Caelan is surprised that there is a light saber in the theater! Ha! Idk, funny kids. Love hanging out with them, doing artsy stuff :)

Fruitcake Delight?

Not so much. Lol! I've since learned that traditional English fruitcake bears none of the mysterious fluorescent-colored jellies found in American fruitcake. And despite its frighteningly festive appearance, this little bugger cost $20!! Gabby brought it home from the bakery, it sat in our fridge for a solid week or more (but allegedly could have lasted years longer ;), and I finally sliced it up for some fun family time!

Select your plate carefully (see how tiny the original is?!!)

Do I have to??

Graysen is (was) so intrigued by fruitcake lore, that he put it on his Christmas wishlist (along with a moped and a moped helmet :) I didn't want him to be triple disappointed on Christmas morning, so I'm glad the pre-Christmas taste test worked out. As you can see . . . the sticky gooiness of orange/raisin/papaya/nut/etc./etc. cake was not his favorite :)

Staring into the distance as I listed off the ingredients . . . did I really put that in my mouth??

Brennen thought, "Eh, not so bad!"

Caelan thought, "Ew. REALLY bad."

Gabby made it all possible, hee hee :) I don't know that we'll be buying Christmas fruitcake again anytime soon. But a trip to England to get the real deal is not out of the question (by the way that's now on MY Christmas wishlist, lol :)

What a Wonderful Weekend

And a very busy weekend, at that! The news amped up the excitement of the first potential sticking snow (which they always do, and it never does :) as the Crew prepared for musical engagements. Caelan's jazz band provided music for the college staff's Christmas party (and they got to eat what the culinary department masterfully prepared for dinner and dessert). The younger trio attended rehearsal, then went Christmas shopping for their weekend party. While they arrived home in time to eat and get ready for their show, we still were somehow almost late AND I didn't get any pictures of them together. Drat! But on the bright side, Caelan was able to scoot out of her event in time to see the first snowflakes fall at her siblings' concert venue, Buck was able to slip into his seat at the last minute, and my NGF caught some pretty great moments on stage (one, as you will see, that made us LOL ;)

Gabby, reluctantly, sang a double solo and a duet. It was a super powerful song, and soooo many people (her dad and I included) were in tears when she finished. One man shouted, "Amen!" Our pastor's wife said she was wiping her eyes, as was the older gentleman in front of her. Another friend told me she'd studied vocal performance all through college and didn't notice any nervousness in Gabby's voice. It was so pretty! See, now I'm making you want to hear it. I wonder how I can do that? 

Graysen gets a face palm from the choir teacher ;)

My pics aren't quite as clear as my NGF's, but here are a few snaps I took at the concert :)

After dashing through the snowflakes, I certainly enjoyed my fancy hot cocoa while relaxing post concert. In fact, this is the only cocoa bomb that I've actually thought tasted good! Mmmm, chocolatey!

The next day, Caelan left early to sing at the college's winter commencement. She had just enough time to pick up Brennen from work, before she and I started a four-hour drive to attend my brother's sister-in-law's delayed wedding reception, from last year's covid cancellations. We checked into our hotel and then drove, in the very dark, to a beautifully lit barn behind a lake (at least I think there was a lake, like I said, it was dark :) The parking area was made of giant limestone chunks, ankle-breakers in heels, which led to a dimly-lit mulch path. I was hoping for one of those carts that carry fairgoers from afar to their intended destination ;) But we made it safely inside and were greeted with a beautiful scene--and SO many people. Some wore wedding attire, some wore ugly sweaters, one was even dressed AS a Christmas tree (lights and everything). We found my brother and sister-in-law and nephew at the family table. It was kind of the bride to seat us with her mom and grandparents. My mom arrived soon after and our table was complete.

My brother's prayer for the evening started off the festivities. I liked when the Christmas music played over the speaker system a bit more than some of the dance music that played later, eek! I haven't been to a 20-something wedding in a loooong time :) The newlyweds began with a videographed walk down memory lane to their nuptials one year past. They were all dressed the same as that distant night on this, their first anniversary. It was a sweet video and helped us all catch up on what covid didn't allow us to experience in person in 2020.

Shortly after the video, dinner (and it was tasty!) was served, with help-yourself cupcakes, cocoa, and cider in the corner. There was also a memory table set up with photos of all those who couldn't be at the wedding. There was a special table for my sweet sis-in-law who passed away before she got to see her little sister get married. Many tears fell during the otherwise happy occasion; she is gone but still loved and missed.

And at the same time, it was so much fun to spend the evening with my new sister-in-law, listening to her stories, seeing her support and love my brother, and snuggle Miles--that is, when they weren't cutting it up on the dance floor! I like her more and more the more I get to know her, such a special person!!

While Caelan and I were off on our adventure, the trio at home enjoyed their PaTch Christmas party at M's house. They decorated sugar cookies, made friendship bracelets, watched Elf in their matching Elf pajamas, enjoyed a gift exchange from names they'd drawn earlier, and overall just had a fun evening together!

The next morning, Caelan and I woke up a little late (like 9), realized we'd missed breakfast (which ended at 9), and instead got gas, chocolate milk, and donuts at the gas station for our trip home. Meanwhile, the trio served at church (well, G$ caught up on some sleep until Gabby arrived home between services and yelled his name :) Caelan and I were a bit bummed to miss Ugly Sweater Sunday, but we sure enjoyed looking at the silly pictures the PaTch captured in their domination of photo booth time (this is just a sampling), ha!

After another three plus hours of driving, I was ready for a nap, but did my best to stay awake because Buck and I had more big fun planned for Sunday evening. It actually happened kind of last minute. Our neighbors were given tickets to a concert through work. But the day before the concert, the husband started feeling coughy. He didn't want to go in public with a cold, so they offered the tickets to us. Buck was able to rearrange his work schedule to get done early enough to pick me up. My brother and his wife were basically directly across the arena from us, so we took pictures of each other and waved through the stage smoke and lights (I think my brother's camera wins for clarity and identifiability under such conditions :)

I took a bunch of videos of all of these events that are too big to upload to the blog, but hopefully this taste will help you experience the variety of music we did and give a more complete view of our super busy, but super cool weekend :)