HAPPY 5th BIRTHDAY, ELLIOT!

Dear Elliot,

Today is finally the day you turn 5. You talked about this day for months and were counting down the days.

5 seems such a big number and you are more than ready to go to Kindergarten next summer. During these past 12 months, you have not only grown in height but also mentally and spiritually. Learning seems to come very easy and naturally to you: math, writing and you are becoming a great reader. Since August we have practiced and now, only 4 months later, you are already reading an entire page of the book by yourself. In preschool, you are always praised for following the rules and being a great helper and everyone loves having you around. 

While you still love to cuddle with me and almost daily you tell me that you will be my baby boy forever, you have also become quite the big boy lately. Your favorite past times are rough housing with Daddy or throwing the football. You have also excelled in your first ever team sport to participate in: Basketball. Any sport that involves a ball, is your favorite. Elliot, I'm pretty sure you will be a great athlete when you grow up.

My sweet little boy, you are the silliest person in our family but also the most loving and caring. Not a day goes by where you are praying for others and ask about their well being. You make people smile with your happy face and silly antics. If you do something that gets a laugh, you keep on going and going. It's simple things like that bring you so much joy. Making someone smile, riding your bike, or building a new Lego creation. You are very easy to please.

You also love to explore new things and there is always something new to be found, even while just playing in the back yard. You love collecting things and while to others some things look like trash, there are treasures for you. Your imagination is endless and I'm amazed what you can create out of tiny Lego pieces. Maybe a future engineer in the making?!? If not, maybe you will become a biologist or scientist because your knowledge and interest in prehistoric sea monsters, dinosaurs and sharks is extensive and amazing.

I'm writing this letter to you with tears in my eyes. You are my last baby and seeing you grow up so much over these past 5 years, makes me realize how quickly those days, weeks, months and years have passed.  

Stay kind, sweet boy and never loose your adventurous spirit. No matter how big you get, my arms are always open for hugs and cuddles and I will never stop loving your kisses. You'll always be my sweet little boy. I'm forever grateful to be your mom. 

Happy 5th birthday, sweet boy!

Love, 

Mommy and Daddy

Living Nativities, Nikolaus, Cookies and a Dance Performance

One of our favorite Advent activities is to visit the Living Nativities in our town. This year, we visited two in one week. Local churches always put those events together and there are a great reminder of how life might have looked like in Bethlehem when Jesus was born. Not only are there animals to pet and feed (which my kids love the best) but there is also a nativity scene with humans in a stable as well as some crafts, hot cocoa and singing. 

Last Monday, Amelia and I visited A Night In Bethlehem: 

With lots of baby animals to pet: 

And a little video collage:

We also had a couple of mornings with snowflakes coming down, but unfortunately not enough to cover the ground. 

On December 6th, we celebrated St. Nikolaus Day and the children were very excited to find their boots filled with some goodies. They loved especially these miniature kittens (they even sound like a real ones). 

Showing off her new holiday dress:

That same afternoon, our friend Bettina came over to bake Christmas cookies with us. I was really surprised that both children lasted over an hour before they got tired and left us to finish the decorating and cleaning the mess. We made 4 different kind of cookies and they are all delicious:

As every year, my company supports Cottage Grove Urban Ministries in Nashville and the employees (yes, upper management and the CEO included) volunteer one Friday in December in two shifts to help decorate, assemble bicycles and wrap gifts for the less fortunate families in town. 

As a thank you and as part of the holiday season, the company caters a delicious lunch for all the employees. This is a truly a great way to help the community and it's amazing what our team can accomplish in just 7 hours. 

On Friday night, I attended a Christmas gathering for all the ladies at our church. Everyone brought a side dish and after a prayer and a little song performance, we all mingled and tried our hand at different craft projects. 

Even Santa came by for a visit: 

I enjoyed meeting some new faces at church and loved the crafts. The next morning, we ventured out to buy our Christmas tree and while I say this every year, we found the perfect one: 

600 lights and some ornaments later, here is the finished tree. The kids did a great job of not overloading the tree and I only had to rearrange a couple of ornaments this year (which if you know me, is nothing).

This year, I tried something different with the tree top and really like how those added branches add more volume to the top:

Sunday was a full day for us: it all started off with the Children's Nativity play "Angels Say What?" at church , which was great. 

In the afternoon, we drove down to Opryland Hotel to look at some of their Christmas decorations before Amelia's tap dance performance. 

Every year, Amelia's dance studio is invited to participate in the Gaylord Orpyland Holiday Show and this was Amelia's first time ever to dance in front of an audience outside of the studio. She was glowing with excitement and did really well. 

 Our tiny tap dancer:

We even had the chance to cheer on our little friend Everly and her class performing to Mele Kalikimaka. 

Despite it being already past their bed time when we left the hotel, we still stopped by Elliot's preschool to visit their Living Nativity. Here, we were able to feed the animals and have a family picture taken within the nativity scene. 

I even found myself a new little friend, I wanted to take home: 

Hearing the children sing about Jesus being born was the best way to finish off an eventful weekend. 

Luckily, due to icy roads, school was delayed a couple of hours this morning and we were able to sleep in a bit. Now, I'm resting at home as I have bronchitis and the flu (luckily, Elliot and Amelia tested negative) and I hope to be back to normal to celebrate my little boy's 5th birthday on Thursday. 

It's Starting to Look Like Christmas

Before we said goodbye to November, Derrick's oldest brother, Tony, stopped by for a quick overnight visit with his grandson, Hunter. 

And then, we pulled out the decorations and just like that, it started to look like Christmas everywhere. 

On Friday night, despite some drizzles, Amelia and I went to our town's tree lighting ceremony. Before the tree was lit, a Capella Group was performing Christmas songs. 

 Merry Christmas:

Then we headed to to see Santa at the Community Center, where my girl told the jolly old fella that she would like a guinea pig, please.

 There was hot cocoa, cookies, more singing and a craft table.

On our way out, we looked at all the Christmas displays on the lawn: 

And then it was December 1st, which means our two elves, Eli and Sparkle, are back to watch the children and do silly things around the house. 

It is also the first day of the Advent season, with lots of fun events happening this month. The children not only received their Milka chocolate calendar from Opa to open every day but they also enjoy the Christmas activity calendar. Even at 6am on a school day, you can find them drawing away in their calendars. 

And it was also our cat's 10th birthday. Happy birthday, Indy! She likes laying by the fire, preferably near or on top of my book, saying hello to our fish and cuddle on my lap after the kids go to bed. 

That Saturday, while the rain continued, it was our town's annual Christmas parade. Luckily, it only drizzled at that point, so that we were able to watch the floats roll by on Main Street. 

 The parade always ends with Santa riding in on the bucket of the firetruck, ringing in Christmas season:

After a quick stop at home to feed the children, we then went to the local park for Yulefest. Yulefest shows the old time traditions of past Christmas seasons, where the fort at Mansker Station comes alive with music, storytelling, dancing and demonstrations.

We love going there every year and a family favorite is the carriage ride as well as listening to the harp player. But every year we discover something new. This year, we learned about an instrument called a hammered dulcimer. 

Carriage ride thru the park in the dark.

It might have been a bit wet but so worth it. We will definitely be back. Sunday morning we went to church and in the afternoon, Amelia and I met up with my niece in downtown. After a hot beverage and some sidewalk art, we then went to a Choral Christmas Concert, where my co-worker performed a solo (the Magnifikat) in German. 

The first Advent weekend was full of fun and Christmas joy and the rest of the month will be no different. This is a special time of the year, where eyes lite up brightly and one can almost feel the Christmas magic happening, especially when you are surrounded by small children. They make this season so much brighter and their joy and laughter is infectious.